Thank you all for your advice. I'll refer back to this thread as I progress. Here's what I've tried since.

1. Tension- I think this was part of the problem with my earlier flies, the later ones still haven't unraveled.

2. Knots- I've worked on keeping the thread tense as I tie two or three half hitches to finish the fly. I also picked up a whip finisher over the weekend and began practicing.

3. Glue- So far I've borrowed a bottle of clear nail polish from my fiance' and applied it to a few of my earlier EZ nymphs (FAOL Beginner tying series). I'll see how that works and maybe later pick up some fly tying glue.

4. Materials- I picked up some more materials to make some EZ Nymphs and Wooly Buggers (just olive and black chenile and marabou, unsure of what hackle I needed) so we'll see how they turn out. BTW materials for two flies in two sizes each was surprisingly expensive. I know it works out later, but the initial start up cost is not cheap.

Take care and thanks again