My first fly

[MatthewS]

I have just started tying my own flies. I have tied three ptn's and a pink jobbie so far. The ptns are a disaster, but I know I can improve it before posting pictures I hope you don't mind me posting a picture of my pink jobbie though. Here it is



I'd really appreciate some input from you guys. Any input.

My own thoughts. It started out as an effort to tie a GRHE variant, but variance took over and I don't know where I ended up really. I used Glister sparkle dubbing in pink. Could have done with a buggy hook. Abdomen is too fat or out of proportion with the body? (there's copper wire twisted underneath for a little weight). I don't know why I added the case (?) on it's back. I've been reading that Grayling quite like pink bugs, hence the effort I thought the rib of gold holographic tinsel was quite good though?

Or is the whole thing a disaster and would need a blind fish to strike it?

[t1978d]

The tying looks good, the proportions seem a bit off on the thorax. The best advice I can give is just to visualise the order in which everything is tied. The vast majority of flies are tied in the same order; tail, rib, body/thorax, hackle wing etc. Have a look at other flies and see how much room they leave for wings and the thorax etc.
There are some great step by step guides on this forum.

[darkuser80]

you'd be amazed what the fish will take.

One hint, run the thread back to the beginning of the bend, use a small amount of dubbing at a time, take what you think you need, half that , roll it into a ball and then use half of that ball. It's easy to put mor on but not so easy to take off. pink is a good colour for graling and a fly like this works well in winter for grayling. Leave some room at the head for the eye it looks a little crowded ( I still make this mistake and it takes practice and time to judge. A slimmer body with a defined abdomed and use the copper as a rib over the dubbing will give the weight and the flash of the rib. The wing cases are a little slim so next time try to use a little wider band and make sure they are flat. Otherwise a good attemp, keep going and use the ones you tied and yuo will see that the fish are not as fussy as the tyer.

[darkuser80]

or a better approach to what you were trying to achieve would be to tie a PTN with a glister thorax in pink, that would probably look more buggy and pretty.

[Scratch]

Maybe photography would be more your bag?

Only kidding mate. Good effort. My first effort was a Peter Ross.. it looked like something the cat had sicked up and would surely have disintegrated on the first back cast! ..and if the internet had existed back then, I would have sold me mam to avoid it being shown online. Twas truly abominable
Upwards and onwards mate. well done.

....The Peter Ross is a **** fly anyway.

[scotfly]

Mathew, good first effort. Now go catch a fish with it!
The plus points on the fly are.....
You managed to get the dubbing on the thread.
There is a distinct abdomen and thorax area.
The thorax cover is spot on.

The points which need a little work are...
Proportions, the thorax is too long and a little bulky.
The abdomen is a little short and a little bulky.
The eye is crowded.

How to fix the minor points.
As a rule of thumb the proportion should be roughly 3/5th abdomen and 2/5th thorax.
Use a lot less dubbing and tear it in your fingers before applying it to the thread, this will make it more manageable and will give it a better, "buggier" appearance.
The golden rule in dubbing is "little and often" it is easier to add dubbing than it is to remove it. You will be surprised at how little you will need.
Try taking a tiny pinch of dubbing, what you think will be about 1/10th of what you need. Then tear it with your fingers and apply it to the thread. When you apply it make sure you spread it thinly, then wrap and see the difference.
On the fly shown you have started the body roughly halfway between the barb and the point, try taking another two or three turns of thread so that the body starts opposite the barb.
When tying the thorax remember that you need to leave enough room to finish the fly. With experience this can be as little as one or two turns of thread, but to start with you might find it easier to leave enough room for four or five turns of thread.
If you have applied too much dubbing at the thorax, don't be tempted to wind it on anyway to use it up. Instead pinch any excess off.
As I said these are minor points and quite easily fixed, so don't look at this fly as inferior or a failure, look at it as the first of many successful steps on the road to fly tying nirvana.

If you haven't already looked, take a look at the post I did on dubbing techniques in the step by step section.
If you haven't already done it, send a pm to Tango51 and politely request a copy of the flytying DVD I sent him, there are a few clips on dubbing in it.
Finally, don't forget to post regular pics of your flys so that we can see your progress and help you when necessary. That is, until you get to the stage where we come to you for advice.

[.D.]

Hi Matthew,

Lots of useful comments from Scotfly, and others above.


Not really advice but an option:

There are easier "high glint" dubbings to use than the Veniard's "Glister" stuff ( I presume it is that one). It is relatively coarse, and has a very long staple ( quite tricky to pinch off a little bit!).. You might ( ) want to get your credit card out again and have a look at some of the other options . I like "Ice Dub" ( Hareline Dubbin): a little finer/ shorter of strand, and easier to control how much you address to the thread. Not sure if it comes in such a lurid shade of pink though!

Maybe .



Cheers,

.D.