New to Fly tying

[ibrown]

Hi all,
I am new to tying about a month or so. I was fishing the Usk last week and the only thing in the air were small black flies and the odd yellow may. I have been looking for patterns of both to try but couldn't find any. So I made up my own idea's. Please can you give me advice on what i have done wrong and right, too much too little etc.. I have uploaded 2 pictures i have one more but not ready yet.

Many Thanks
Ian

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/...7376513e0d.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/...b324cd55dd.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/...92801b0767.jpg

[Chris Reeves]

Ian,

It is very difficlt to tell from those photos,
The Black fly for example appears to have a bead head, now this may be just too much silk and varnish , or it could be a bead, or it could be the photo.
If there is no bead and itms not the photo then thats your first starting point. Go for a neater smaller head. I do deliberately use large heads on some flies but not on dries.
Apart from that, for me the body is too thick for the proportion of the wing which is a bit short. Size 20 hook? I also don't like cut wings but that is purely an aesthic. Have you tested this one out yet. does it float?
I presume it a reed smut that you are trying to imitate?

The Yellow fly looks a lot more fishable but do I see a big shiny head?
for me this type of parachute works best if the body is tighter and neater , the hackle looks a bit big but I susopect that is the effect of the camera flash.

There you go, your first "savaging"
Seriously your flies are fishable and apart from the comment on the floating issue I'd happily use them. Keep practicing.

Regards

[ibrown]

Thanks Chris for your comments. The Black fly is an tied on an #18 TMC 2457. The Head was small and i put a dob of black varnish on it to make it look more like a head. The body was one tiny pinch of wapsi super fine dry fly dubbing. from what you say i should of just used thread and no dubbing. The wing is black cdc, I thought it was to long it shows how much there is to learn thats why i put the thread on.

The second was my interpretation of a Sulphur Emerger - Yellow May ( page 30 Matching the Hatch Peter Lapsley)

Sorry about the quality of the photo's i loaded them onto Flickr and copied the url.

I have added my 3rd picture which is again an atempt at a Yellow May

Regards
Ian

[ibrown]

I put the Black fly in a jug of water and i think it looks ok. Not sure what it is meant to look like but i remeber watching an Oliver Edwards dvd with his fly in the water and it looks something like his.

Here is a picture i hope
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/photos/da...y_in_water.jpg

[Chris Reeves]

That fly is in a super position in the film for an emerger, now try it again with 12" of flurocarbon attached, I bet it sinks. Then try it with ordinary mono, it will probably still sink. Another thing, did you add soap to the jug before dropping the fly in? The surface tension in an enclosed vessel is much stronger than on a river, hence the soap.
This was trick I learned from shotting up pole floats when I was a disciple of the dark arts.

I'd double the amount of wing material, I usually use the tips of 3 cdc plumes on a size 20

Cheers

[ibrown]

nothing added to the fly or water. I used 2 cdc feathers. How long would you have the wing on a size 18 hook? That one is 6mm long

Thanks for your help

Ian

[emerger1981]

Originally Posted by Chris Reeves

That fly is in a super position in the film for an emerger, now try it again with 12" of flurocarbon attached, I bet it sinks. Then try it with ordinary mono, it will probably still sink. Another thing, did you add soap to the jug before dropping the fly in? The surface tension in an enclosed vessel is much stronger than on a river, hence the soap.
This was trick I learned from shotting up pole floats when I was a disciple of the dark arts.

I'd double the amount of wing material, I usually use the tips of 3 cdc plumes on a size 20

Cheers

what does the soap do?
does it lubricate the inside surounding to weaken the tension, iv never heard of this before, yes the tippet factor must play a part when tying drys wether the tippets been greased it still causes tension on the fly. good point

Tight lines

[Chris Reeves]

I am not a physicist so can't answer the question why it works, but it is a trick that does work.

It was shown to me by a guy who was (still is? ) a top match angler using the pole to win many matches here in the south. He shotted up a rig perfectly in a jug and then took it out and dropped it into the lake where it sank like a stone.

Then he added fairy liquid, just a drop, re shotted the rig and dropped it into the lake and this time it floated as it had done in the jug.

I bet someone here knows why it works though.
As to wing length, I usually have my dry wings tied at hook length or a little longer, I want the hook to lie on or in the surface in a horizontal position. If I want a dangling hook then I change the style of the fly.

Regards

[ibrown]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the info it has been very helpful. I will try a fly with 3 cdc feathers and a bit longer.

Regards
Ian