Critique My First Salmon Flies

[Diane]

OK, tyers.. a couple of weeks ago I tied my first couple of dressed salmon flies. One is a hair wing and the other a feather wing. I have no idea what I'm doing with these and have never seen any in person so I'm hoping for some constructive feedback. All wisdom is welcome. Thanks.

Diane

[Ronn Lucas]

Great first steps Diane!!!!! Watch the smallest of details as you tie. If you do something you aren't happy with, don't proceed, go back and try it again. Watch where you tie on and off materials to avoid bumps. Your heads are nice and small.

If these are your first tries, put them away and forget about them for now. Tie more of the same patterns until you get the level of perfection you want. I would suggest less turns of the ribs just to open the bodies up a bit.

Happy Trails!
Ronn

[Hans Weilenmann]

Diane,

The single item I would pick up on for otherwise pretty good ties is, as others also mentioned, the ribbing issue.

Reduce the number of turns for sure. Convention on atlantic salmon flies suggests (dictates) five turns for a standard body.

Some patterns split the body in two parts, generally with an ostrich herl divider. In those cases, each of the body halves has the 5 turns.

Keep going, you are on a promising road.

Cheers,
Hans W


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[Diane]

Thanks, folks. I appreciate the comments and the encouragement. I can see that the ribbing is uneven and I can definitely see that there are more than five turns! I'll stash these and try tying a number of the same patterns before moving on. Great advice! Thanks!

Diane

[Hans Weilenmann]

Diane,

The second of the flies looks very much like a Rusty Rat, but with one component missing. If it indeed was to be a Rusty Rat, you may want to incorporate peacock herl for the front 1/3 to 1/2 of the body. I would also have made the wing a touch sparser, but that could be fitted under personal preference.

Cheers,
Hans W


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=== You have a friend in Low Places ===
http://www.danica.com/flytier

Diane:

Your first attempts at tying Salmon Flies, is encourage, that you are attempting probably some of the most criticed tying of flies.

For a first attempt, they cannot be expected to be presentation level, but I think a fish would bit. Fish are the only judges in my fly tying world, that I pay attention to, everyone else is sitting in the "Peanut Gallery".

~Parnelli

[davpot]

Dianne: Very Nice flies for your lst ties! I would suggest you take a look at [url=http://www.flytyingforum.com:ca442]www.flytyingforum.com[/url:ca442] and just look over the salmon flies on the forum and decide which you like the form of. Once you decide that, take a closer look at them: notice the details you like. Let their images soak in...
then you might go to ronn Lucass site here on FAOL and checkout the step by step instructions on similar flies. Hope this will help you.
Good luck and Good Hunting
Dave/Oregon

[MR.JML]

Diane,
An excellent first job. With Atlantic Salmon
Patterns (frankly any good pattern) will get to shadow box perfection the more you tie of that pattern. You have received some valuable critique from some great tyers.
The Atlantic Salmon Flies all have a strict formula of tying that must be adhered to (ie. ribbing etc). I do love your work with the wings. If you go to the Mustad Scandanavian Fly Tying Competition web site
you will easily see many of the classic patterns, the basic fomulas, & the winning patterns from previous years (what it takes for a winning fly). Salmon Flies have always been a challenge for me (one reason in past years why I have competed with Mustad). FAOL, Fly Tyer Magazine, Mustad,
& many other web sites are loaded with valuable info. I think my biggest shortcomeing when it comes to tying these beauties is getting a hold of exotic feathers (& the price that incurrs). Don't try to tackle all these classic patterns at once. Pick one, practice & tie many of that one. When you feel that one pattern is perfected then try another. Go with a pattern that has the easiest level of difficulty...then move on to harder.
I like Steve feel the real judge is the fish
(that is unless I'm in a competition)

[Bugsy]

I have no idea what I'm doing with these...

no kiddin'

[Daniel J]

Diane,
You are on the way to tying good salmon flyz.
Proportion is the trick. (also spelling is key in any critique)....
If you wanna put a zillion ribs on the fly that's ok as long as they're all spaced out the same distance.
"Traditional" is different than "yer' own". If you wanna make it a cool pattern of your own design-that's ok. If you're going for the really traditional pattern then follow the traditional directions.
Heck, I have yet to follow the traditional pattern directions BUT!!! I try as much as I can to follow the proportion rules.
What guidelines/books/websites/ have you been following?
Best to ya'
Dan

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There is a fine line between fly fishing and standing in a river waving a stick, and YOU SIR have crossed that line!