Starting to tie flies.
 

I’ve had the equipment for a while but never really got into tying my own flies until this year. I tied my first pheasant tail and used feathers from our own pheasant as well. Looking forward to trying them out next season. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...931d148143.jpg

Be gentle on a newbie tier!

SS


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is very well done for a first fly! Better proportions than mine after a few years!

Looks great to me! That is going to catch you some fine fish :)

Do you have any head cement on there? Hard to tell but that would be my only thought to add. Also try a gold bead head as well. Takes up some room but great if you have slow enough water so you can fish it naked.

I do have some head cement on there. I bought some gold beads but they were a bit too big for the size I was tying. I wrapped the thorax with weight instead so it would sink a bit better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! :)

Incorrect proportion and crowding the head are usually the two biggest rookie mistakes which you avoided nicely,,, Good job,, well done,,, that PT nymph will catch fish and once that happens,,, be prepared to be hooked into a lifetime addiction of forever trying to tie that perfect fly for each and every conceivable fishing situation you might possibly encounter in your lifetime!!!

Thanks all! I tied a couple Stimulators earlier this summer. My proportions were off with them I think, but it did fool a nice cutthroat when I was able to put it to use.

PB, you’re right. Catching on a fly you tied takes the excitement to a new level!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b5fdd08a63.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks great! add weight ;)

Great job on the flies!! Nicer than my first bunch of flies.

Nice ones!
One thing that i was told, and is a great way to improve, is to tie at least 3 or 4 of the same fly one after the other. You actually save time as you have all the material prepared and you can really see the evolution from the first one.
Welcome to a new addiction!

I remember learning to fly fish 30 years ago on Staffer Creek ran into an elderly unusual fly fisherman who carriers a fly tying kit with him. In his vest. He showed me how to tie a fly. This guy could whip up any type of fly in minutes. While chatting he made me 2 fly’s told me to try them some where else! I did on Prairie Creek later in the fall and caught myself a small brown trout.

The fly fishermen I met gave me some other advice “Don’t fish Stauffer until I knew what the hell I was doing!” Like I said odd but friendly sort of way.

I never gave up fly fishing that summer or fall, I did get better too.

OP that’s a helluva good looking fly. You’ll be hooked I’m sure.

BW

I think that fly looks great but ultimately, it's the fish's opinion that matters most! :) If they're working, they're good flies, period. Granted, if the fly falls apart after 1 fish...maybe there IS room for improvement. :)

Keep up the good work!

PS~I get more fish on bead-head PTs than on standard ones. It's my go-to searching pattern. Actually, a bead-headed Prince Nymph is my favorite...but they're fussier to tie. I'll whittle up a dozen or so in the winter, and once used-up during trout season...I'll use something else. lol

Awesome start! Us new tyers are so lucky to have a goldmine of online resources to guide us. You can literally dial up any pattern you want, and follow along as someone does it on YouTube. As a visual learner, I can only imagine how tough it must have been to figure things out from a single pic and a recipe in a book.

Check out the post about the Superfly sale...would be a great place for a new tyer to get some materials for cheap!

^that was me. :) I did start-off with a book I had to get through mail order, called "Fly tying made clear and simple" by Skip Morris. That was a LONG time ago. I remember reading that cover-to-cover about 3 times before I even attempted to tie my first fly, but things worked out just fine. The internet, obviously, makes learning from a book a bit antiquated, but it's extremely well illustrated/explained.

Good job on the flies.

If you're a newbie, I can't wait to see your work in a few years. You'll put Hans Wellerman to shame me thinks.

Nothing better in fishing then catching fish on your own flies, well, maybe if you caught them on a fly rod you made too.....:thinking-006:

Once you get the 1,000,000,001 techniques and tricks down pat, books are still great resources. I think after 30 years of tying I'm about 10% there. If I live to about 597 years old, I might have learned most of them....:sign0111::lol:

Using the patterns books are really easy once you learn the basics on fly types and proportions. Literally just follow the recipe order and the fly should turn out okay. I alter a lot of patterns from their recipes or from YouTube. The nice thing about fly tying, your way of tying the pattern is always right, for you and that is all that matters. Have fun and catch fish.

Materials
 

This is a great time to get materials that you can use for years. I recommend some Elk hide, I use mine for caddis flys and grasshoppers. These are the flys that I fished the most and they always stay dry.

Some of the fellows here can tie flys as well as any I've ever seen.

There's a ton of good websites on a whole slew of patterns but a good book with step by step text and photos can't be beat, IMHO.

One in my library is "Nymph Fly-Tying Techniques" by Jim Schollmeyer (Frank Amato Publications). The first 53 pages are devoted to basic tying techniques, with excellent step by step photographs. These are then used in subsequent chapters based on the types of bodies, rather than the typical wet fly, dry fly, nymph, leech, etc., organization in other books. Highly recommended.

No matter what books, videos,etc. you choose to use, get yourself a big bottle of ZAP-A-GAP (medium).
It forgives almost any tying sin.
Haven't found anything that works as good.
You're welcome.

There are no sins in fly tying, only vices:sHa_shakeshout:

:rolleye2:

Nice start to an endless hobby.
 

Once you start catching fish with them flies you'll be hooked! There's no feeling like catching a fish with a fly you've tied! I've been fly fishing for 4 years now and I've never bought a fly. Good way to learn aside from books is You Tube videos, just type "how to tie a (the name of fly) and you'll get some live professional instructions from great tyers and some not so great!:)

Yes, initially it is exciting to catch fish on flies that you tied yourself, but it doesn't take long before you only use flies that you have tied. At this point, ALL the fish you catch are on flies that you tied and it becomes a moot point.
Tying is enjoyable. You will, however, tie hundreds of flies of dozens of different patterns that will never see the water.
Eventually you'll realize that you use the same dozen or so patterns all of the time.
That's OK because the joy is in tying them.
Good luck and you should start making space somewhere to put all of the tying stuff that you will soon accumulate.

These are my 3 favourite YouTube channels for fly tying.

1. tightlinevideo
https://www.youtube.com/user/tightlinevideo
Tightlinevideo is the best educational resource. He ties an arsenal of super useful trout flies with many indispensable tips and tricks.

2. InTheRiffle
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0g...n32oawn5lMrIsg
InTheRiffle is a good complement. Tightlinevideo will cover most of the same trout flies, but this channel also has some good pike/bass flies

3. Davie McPhail
https://www.youtube.com/user/DavieMcPhail
Davie is an artist and master. He ties many flies that are not so useful here (like salmon spey flies), but it is so soothing just listening to him. His trout dry flies, though, are pure magic.

Starting to tie flies.
 

I’ve been watching IntheRiffle when I tie. Find that they are nicely done and easy to follow.

Another thing you will soon discover is that subsurface flies don't have to be perfect. Roll them out and get fishing. Dry flies, on the other hand, require more precision to be most effective.

flys
 

Time spent at the vise is time well spent,good past time on cold winter snowy days,we are always striveing for perfection---The Terra nova river in central nfld a beautiful salmon river,my 1st time there i met an old gentleman who had fished the river for over 40 yrs ,he told nothing fancy on this river go with a black doctor--Back at the vise ,before the next trip i decideded to tie up a doz of this simple pattern,Then well---i got in the screech,perfection out the window----wow fat,ratty,overtied,oh boy,how did i get so much material on one hook--Back on the river with nothing moveing i put on one of those freaks--you guessed it,limited out in no time,now the hero i passed out my deadly doctors to other fisherman,good success--just could never again mess it up the same---such is the life of the fly fisherman--the fish do decide----

flies
 

PS--If you bend the barb down it will make it easier to release--that way they can put on some weight for next years release----

First ones I tied were Tap's bugs I think, not very pretty, but, had a great time the first time out with them. I had a heck of a time with proportions on mayfly nymphs, still do some days.
One of the things that may overwhelm new tiers is the number of "new flies" under a new name out there. 90% are the same old fly from 30-100 yrs ago, with new materials tied on them. Many of the materials are virtually interchangeable between brands. Some of the new materials are maybe a bit nicer to tie with and give some more options than the old ones. I see more stuff coming out on tying the originals, like they were something new, from similar to the original materials, which in some cases cannot be had these days.
Bob Clouser just put out a little tribute to Lefty Kreh on the Deceiver. Between a Clouser and a Deceiver and the Half & Half, there is enough new ties on those 3 basics to fill volumes, hell of a tribute to both Clouser and Lefty all on their own.