Stepping out of my comfort zone

[Albannach cuileag]

This is my first ever attempt at both a real emerging dry and parachute hackle so don't be too brutal with the criticisms. I know already looking at it that the head is too big but in general?

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[Highlander]

Its fine but I would be a bit more careful with the dubbing, using too much. Use a finer gold rib
The post could be a bit longer & the hackle quality is poor.
Think about getting a good quality saddle hackle. Always have been a bit dubious about the hook up rate with that kind of hook. Is it the TMC200R? not sure on that one.
Photo is excellent though

Tight Lines

[Albannach cuileag]

Highlander,

you are spot on with the hook, it is a size 14 TMC200R, the ribbing is brassie wire, the hackle is a tip end from the ****** saddle, I had this to hand when I tried it, the post, IMO, does the job required and I am always guilty of overdubbing with fur!
The photo is by my wife's Nikon L101, hand held as I cannot get the tripod near enough!
Anyway, thanks for the critique and hopefully future flies will improve. As they say, if you don't ask, you will never learn!

[Scratch]

Nowt wrong with that effort mate. It is what it is and as such, it is a perfectly acceptable fly in terms of proportion,quality etc...and it will catch fish. A fly can only be judged against a brief or a strict dressing and in the context of competition tying. As most of us tie 'working flies', we tie with a brief in our mind's eye and only we know how the fly measures up to that self imposed brief.
Yes, the hackle looks like hen or poor quality cock - this will probably not float as long or as well a good quality cock (preferably genetic).
The dubbing may be a tiny bit overdone - but, you will loose some of this anyway after a few false casts and a couple of fish, so as long as it's not mega overdone then don't loose any sleep over it.
Tie to the brief in yer minds eye. Decide what the style of the fly is gonna be,remember what job it has to do (float high/hang in film/sink fast) and judge it yourself against what you set out to achieve.

[t1978d]

Is the hackle tied of at the post, or the head?
Also, is floss a suitable post material?

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[Albannach cuileag]

It is my sad duty to report the sudden and tragic loss of my first born P.H.E.

One is always full of expectation for one's progeny even though they may not be perfect and I held PHE in high esteem as to his prospects of becoming a great fish catcher only to see his demise on his second cast as some behemoth from the depths took it upon himself to severe our connection with each other after engulfing him from the surface of the water where he was sitting daintily enticing the locals.

He will be sadly missed.

No flowers please.

PS - at least I still have a photo of him to remember his like.

Post withdrawn

[Albannach cuileag]

Originally Posted by Tuppsincomprehensible

The hackle should be tied around the post. the post should be the first thing tied when puting the fly together. You might find that if you use floss it lacks stability and as you wind the hackle around the post it will tend to flex and collapse. I find that if you take a piece of 3 strand white wool and unstand it to use a single strand it works very well. A lot of the manuals suggest using bucktail which works equally well.

I used Lureflash Antron wool for the post and applied some varnish to the base whipping letting it dry before tying the rest of the fly. This gave it some rigidity and was easy to wind around. The hackle in question was from the Whiting ****** cape - quality average -not yer Metz 1st grade but adequate.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice and pointers in the right direction, just a pity I was broken off with it yesterday.