This was my first two real attempts at fly tying. An attempt at a wooly bugger.
it looks buggy, it ought to catch fish. try building up thread behind the hook eye to keep the bead from creeping forward over the eye.
Eric
looks good. for me more tailing is needed and is the bead recessed on both sides? if not try reversing the bead. looks to me like it’d be difficult to thread a tippet and maybe the bead would hammer the tippet to breaking against rocks.
If you can get a line through the hookeye take it fishing. There’s something out there that will think, “I haven’t had one of those before, looks yummy, probably tastes like chicken!”
It’ll catch fish. Keep going and keep tying.
Check out Al Campbell’s tutorial here at FAOL.
Good job!!!
yea the bead slipped up over the eye. thanks for the advice, I will try and wrap some thread in front of the bead, thats a good idea.
David
Very nice first attempt and like the others said, it will certainly catch fish. I suggest that you keep that fly somewhere safe and not to fish it. Tie lots more to fish with but keep first one off the vice to compare to other flies you tie after a a couple months of tying. You’ll get a kick out of how much better you get in a very short time. Just one more option…
Jim Smith
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Most beads made for fly tying have one hole bigger than the other. Put the small hole toward the hook eye and it shouldn’t be able to go over the eye. You can build up the area where it will go with thread or something to help keep it in place as well as building up a head in front if it’s needed. Most tyers wrap three of four turns of lead or lead substitute on the shank and force it into the rear ( toward the hook bend) of the bead but if you don’t have that anything that will fill the opening is better than nothing.
Hi David,
You are started and underway. Things will improve with some practice, but you have a good start.
It might be worth your time, if you haven’t already done so, to look at Al Campbells tutorials on this site. It is under fly tying on the left side of the home page, click on it, and then go to beginning tying. Good advise from Al Campbell.
At any rate, good first effort. Keep it up!
Regards,
Gandolf
None of the material i used was made for fly tying actually. I picked up stuff at hobby lobby while shopping for birthday decorations for my daughter.
David
David,
You’d be surprised how much tying material is purchased at hobby shops and sewing centers. I get a bunch of stuff in those places. Have you priced pheasant tail feathers at a craft store? Way cheap.
That fly looks buggy as all get out, as Eric said. You’ve already recieved great advice from the other guys on some improvememnts. It’s kind of nice to keep the first fly, then after a monhth or two of tying look back at the first one. You’ll see great improvement.
Congratulations on joining in on the addiction.
REE
Right on! I just bought a bag of pheasant feathers from Michaels, and have tied some sparrow-type wet flies with it.
I’m always impressed with everyone’s “first flies”. Way better than what I did.
I remember what my first fly looked like, and I still can’t stop laughing about it. I decided to add some wire for weight…after the rest of the fly was done. It looked like a big tangle of wire by the time I got done, could barely see the chenille beneath. But, I took it out, used it, and caught fish on it! Gotta love bluegills! 
This probably spoiled me (catching fish on such an abomination)…and so my flies still look fairly hacked together.
I suggest a moment of silence for another poor, hapless soul who has wandered into the morass of fly tying. Welcome!
Ed
I use lots of stuff that supposedly wasn’t ‘made’ for fly tying. Go to your local fly shop and look at the tiny little 2" by 4" sheets of foam for 3 or 4 bucks for a package of 3. Then go to Hobby lobby and look at the Foamies craft foam at a buck or less for an 8.5x11 sheet. (half that at WalMart) It’s the same stuff! Many of the feathers are quite easy to tie with and they have all kinds of other stuff to make bugs with.
My dog thinks I am nuts for bagging the hair I clean out of her brush and save for dubbing. I get alpaca wool from one of my wife’s cousins, and I follow flocks of geese through parks for the feathers.
My point is that it does not have to come from a fly shop to use it in a fly.
Sometimes it takes a lot of winds of thread to build up a snug fit under the bead. Another way is to add a touch of Crazy glue after you spot the bead where you want it. I hpe you pursue the craft. It’s a lifetime hobby.
Who’s turn is it to throw bail for Kevin, this week.
Warm regards,
Ed
There are many flies I want to tie and I have a couple hundred hooks, mostly various size 10’s, 12, and some 14’s. Most of my fishing is warm water lakes and ponds for crappie and bluegill. So I need to sit down one night and tie up a bunch of hoppers, spiders, and leaches and I saw a recipe for earthworm that looked pretty easy.
David
I think the real telling sign of when you have gone beyond the point of no return is when you notice a dead animal on the side of the road and you get out to check on how fresh it is. I confess to having heavy scissors in my pickup to salvage squirrel tails.
Very buggy…
But I noticed something. Is the fly as old as the date on the picture?
