My first two flies

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bigcountryhuntr
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2012/03/08 22:12:21 (permalink)

My first two flies

Critique away. My criticisms, the elk hair caddis' proportions are off with too much elk hair and the head is trimmed wrong. The hare's ear either I started to far forward on the shank with the dubbing or ended to far forward not leaving me enough room for a good wing case and the thorax is not dubbed enough. But, for my first two flies ever I didn't think they were that bad. The only way to get better is to receive constructive criticisms and practice practice practice. Thanks dUUds.





post edited by bigcountryhuntr - 2012/03/08 22:14:21

If I agreed with you we’d both be wrong.
#1

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    bigcountryhuntr
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/08 22:13:06 (permalink)
    and sorry for the blurry pictures, still need more practice.

    If I agreed with you we’d both be wrong.
    #2
    Skip16503
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/08 22:42:18 (permalink)
    While either is perfect as you pointed out.... I can say for sure they will catch fish.....

    Welcome to the madness....

    Practice Practice Practice..... And then more practice.

     



    #3
    doubletaper
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/09 07:54:39 (permalink)
    kinda hard to see the caddis pic but i tie mine without as many palmered wraps. i'm sure it will catch fish though. i also tie my caddis with the head butts over the eye of the hook so that's not a problem.
    the nymph looks ok to me.
    if i was a fish though i wouldn't eat anything with a bead in it!
    post edited by doubletaper - 2012/03/09 07:55:01

    http://streamsidetales.bl...015/05/helles-yea.html
    it's not luck
    if success is consistent 





    #4
    mohawksyd
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/09 08:10:06 (permalink)
    BCH - compared to my first ties, yours are great. They'll catch feesh.

    Ask Steely - my first ties were brown wooly buggers that looked more like "morning after" goldfish. I mean...yuck. Keep at it. And as the Distinguished Gentleman From Sparty says, "Welcome to the Addiction."

    "For the supreme test of a fisherman is not how many fish he has caught...but what he has caught when he has caught no fish." - John H. Bradley

    #5
    bingsbaits
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/09 08:13:49 (permalink)
    Nothing wrong with those starter flies.
    My first buggers were horendous. Crowded eye, too long of hackle,..But they still worked.

    These fellas on here with their honest opinions and help have changed that a little.

    "Welcome to the addiction"....

    "There is a pleasure in Angling that no one knows but the Angler himself". WB
     
     


    #6
    bigfoot
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/09 15:55:18 (permalink)
    Ha ha, that very well might be true. But I every now and again I run across some that seem to have a fondness for a BHPTN. Size 16 in particular.
    ORIGINAL: doubletaper

    kinda hard to see the caddis pic but i tie mine without as many palmered wraps. i'm sure it will catch fish though. i also tie my caddis with the head butts over the eye of the hook so that's not a problem.
    the nymph looks ok to me.
    if i was a fish though i wouldn't eat anything with a bead in it!

    #7
    steely34
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/09 18:40:04 (permalink)
    Nice ties there for the first two - that's for sure. And like everyone stated - they'll work just fine.

    A couple items: On the caddis - like DT stated - try spreading your palmered wraps with the hackle out a bit. Looks a bit heavy to me. Also, I cannot see if the tips on the hair are even but you may want to try a hair stacker. Just a thought - one of the things I see others do that are just starting out is they tend to keep what I call a long bobbin when they are tying. What this means is they have too much thread between the bobbin and the hook shank which causes them to make very wide turns of the thread. Shorten up the thread so that you only have a couple of inches or shorter between the bobbin and the hook shank. Gives much better control - especially when wrapping and securing any type of hair. Learning thread control and tension is a huge part of this tying thing.

    On the hare's ear - you pretty much said it all on your own critique. And that's part of it my friend. Recognizing what you can improve on the next time.

    Welcome to the club. What you gotta do is find the time to go at it again. Take your time with it and along the way - critique yourself. Find and try different ways to do things. Even it it means not totally tying a complete pattern but practicing on a bare hook the different steps. Then when you do tie a complete pattern you'll feel more comfortable and confident.

    If I were you though - I wouldn't fish these. Keep them in a box somewhere. Then next year at this time when your tying the most difficult patterns with success - you'll be able to pull that box out and see how far you've come.

    "They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that's not quite it..... you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they're just not such a big deal anymore."

    John Gierach

    #8
    bigcountryhuntr
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    RE: My first two flies 2012/03/12 08:56:03 (permalink)
    Wow, thanks for the help everyone. It was actually quite encouraging to hear that my first flies weren't a complete failure. After I get a few things ordered (the started kit I have I found came with complete junk) I'll get back at it in a hurry. It's gonna be 70 on thursday, so I'll have to get a few more put together before then.

    If I agreed with you we’d both be wrong.
    #9
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