These are my first attempts at some dry flies. They may be an odd combination of colors because I just used what I had available. I need to pick up some grizzly hackle and some blue dunn (gray).
click on the thumbnails to see a larger version.
My first Dry Flies
These are my first attempts at some dry flies. They may be an odd combination of colors because I just used what I had available. I need to pick up some grizzly hackle and some blue dunn (gray).
click on the thumbnails to see a larger version.
Jeff,
Nicely done for a first attempt. A couple points though. The head on a fly should be about as long as the hooks eye. Most folks either crowd the eye of the hok or make the heads too far back.
Wings should normally be about the same length as the hook shank.
When dubbing on dries, less dubbing usually works best for me.
One of my favorite tools on my bench is my hackle gauge. I'm really lousy at eyeballing hackle that is the right size for the hook.
Keep us posted on your progress.
REE
I second the hackle gauge. The balance and appaerance of my dries improved dramatically once I stopped trying to "eyeball" it.
They will catch fish, although they don?t conform very well to any "standards" which are widely propagated. This is not a "bug", it?s a "feature"!
You may find that the fish like them a lot! There is a reason even for "beginner?s luck". It may well be that beginners are not so pressed into doing things in the "accepted" or "conventional" manner, and this often works better!
Annoys the hell out of the "profis" !
I would fish those flies with confidence.
TL
MC
Hi,
Looking good, especially for first ties. I'm glad to see you're tying a variety of patterns, with the collared dries, palmered, and parachites. Personally, I really like palmered dry flies. These are great patterns to represent caddis or beetles.
- Jeff
Tying God;
I already commented on your flies, when you sent me the pics in your email, I'm glad to see, others agreeing!
Also nice to see, that you've "changed materials" and are, (I'm sure, only temporarily), leaving Leslie's poor puddy-tat alone and using different dubbings!?!
Saint Paul-"The Highly Confused"
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
If those are your first attempts, you are off to an excellent start.
By the way, I lived in Florence, KY for a short time about 25 years ago. I bet few people outside the area know that the Cincinnati Airport is located in Florence, KY.
Deezel
Guys,
Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't really trying to copy any specific pattern. I was mainly trying to get used to working with the materials and just working on proportions & getting them to look like a fly.
I didn't really have a lot of dry fly appropriate materials. Back in Feb. when I got started on tying, I thought it would be a long time before I had gotten past the woolie bugger stage. I had no idea how much fun tying would be or that it would be something that just kind of came to me.
The only dry hackle I had measured out between 16 and 14 on my hackle gauge and was light cinnamon brown. It worked OK on my 16 size hooks, was far too small for anything like a 12 and a little big for some of the 18's (as indicated by the photos).
Once I get some different size and colors of hackle and some deer hair, I'm going to start working on copying some patterns.
OK, I have a couple questions.
1) where's a good place to get dry fly hackle without sacrificing my son's college fund?
2) are "wings" really necessary on dry flies to catch fish? (or are they mainly for us to look at)?
Thanks again for all the feedback, please keep it coming. I'm interested in learning and having fun.
Jeff
1. There are many sources for good quality dry fly hackle. In fact from what I understand, even the lesser stuff today is far better than the best stuff from times past. Whiting, Metz, Collins, Jay Fair, among others. Denny Conrad at Conranch Hackle www.conranch.com, is a great person to do business with, has outstanding products, is reasonably priced, and is a sponsor of FAOL.
2. I don't really know the answer to this, but I have started doing simple posts rather than divided wings on many of my winged flies, for whatever that's worth. I know some folks leave them off altogether, but a bright white calftail, or poly yarn post seems to be easier to see upon the water.
I looked at the hook and hackle half capes at the Midwest expo a couple of weeks ago and they appear to be a reasonable choice for the beginner. For very little more money you could get a pair of half necks from Conranch in their grade two which might be a better choice. I would recommend a grizzly and a brown to start with in either case but I don't know how to fish without a box full of Adams dries. If you are going to tie wings on your dries you may want to look at hen necks also. Hen hackle tips make great wings and I often use the rest of the feather for soft hackles
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