New to tying

[Kevin2023]

Started a few years ago. Haven't had much time to put in. only about 30 min few and far between with my other hobbies and tying related aggrivation. My biggest problems so far is proportions and amount of material as you could probably tell. Any comments or tips on how to improve would be greatly appreciated. From top to bottom: 1/0-6 flash fly, 1/0-6 sparkle shrimp, #4 double teeny nymph, #6 ESL. Go Beavs!:D

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Flies.JPG

[etacada]

Jeez, I've been tying for over a decade and those look better than anything I've tyed up.

Nice work.

Love the Teeny nymph's, great producers.

Chris

[dirtyCut]

Ive only been tying for about ten years, those'll fish just fine! One thing Ive found to get proportions down was repetition, practice on the same pattern for 25-30 flies. I started with trout flies around size 14-16, and later started doing the 18-20. A few years later was introduced to steelhead, I dont tie trout flies anymore and working with the bigger materials and hooks is soooo much easier! I am still going to be taking a tying class. Too much to know to try to learn on the web or out of a book. One last thing too - I wouldn't be too concerned about having them look picture perfect as some of my uglier bugs hook em up!

Good luck and stick with it, just takes a little time and dedication I guess.

[crobarr]

if your like me, then you like your flies to look as close to what you visualize as "perfect" as you can, or at least start that way. most times a ratty, fish chewed fly works just as well or better than a fresh fly, and some of my "experiments-gone-bad" really wack 'em even though they look like i ran them through the vacuum a few times.

make sure you tie for durability first and foremost. a fly that falls apart just from casting it is useless. everything else will fall in place later.



a few simple tips you have heard before i'm sure:

repetition helps with proportions.

practice and time at the bench will help with the amount of materials to use.

flash materials: flashabou, crystal flash, etc. are best tied in halved over. 1/2 as many strands as you want to use, 2x as long as required. tie in at the middle and fold back. they will stay put until the fly self destructs.

make sure you don't crowd the head. when you tie off the last material on your fly, fold the remaining material back (after securing with 2 or 3 wraps) and form your head back over what you just put on. this will keep your head small and neat while finishing the securing of the last material applied.

[SilverFly]

Uhh, those don't look like "beginner" flies to me! Nice job, those will fish fine. The only thing I would add is that I would tend to go sparser/thinner on materials than you would see with most commercially tied flies. As mentioned, - ratty, torn-up flies can often outfish new ones.

[Kevin2023]

[quote=SilverFly;2022391]
Uhh, those don't look like "beginner" flies to me! Nice job, those will fish fine.
quote]

As far as time invested and knowledge on tying I consider myself a beginner. The only reason the nymph and leech turned out ok is because I had the instructional dvd playing that came with my t-300 line:D. I can't look at a pic and make a fly.

Thanks for the input everyone. Due to the cost of gas and high water, I'll probably be doing more tying than fishing for a while.

[NCL]

Kevin,

Great job on those flies. I have only been tying for about 18 months so I am far from being an expert. You have gotten great tips already and I will try to add a few things that have helped me. When I starter I was told whatever you think you need for the amount of material halve it because it is easier to add than subtract. This has helped, especially when it comes to dubbing a fly. Also getting to know other tiers has helped to see how the tying is done. I also find that I use two fly tying books quite often, The Benchside Introduction to Fly Tying and The Benchside Reference to Fly Tying, these books demonstrate the techniques you need to tie a fly, once you are familiar with each of the different techniques you can tie any fly. If I was to pick only one of the above books it would be the first, the format of the book is that the pattern and materials are on the top part of the page with references to the tying technique, you can then flip the bootom part of the page to that particular technique and see how it is done.

[jdeona]

Kevin. If you like videos check out youtube & anglersnet.com... They have great tying videos... FREE:excited:

[telehead1]

While it may be nice to look at a beautifully tied fly, remember that fish are more or less opportunistic and tend to eat the easier meal. Most bugs they see are banged up in some way or another and if it's smaller fish you're trying to imitate, the beat up hurt variety are easier to gobble than the healthy ones. If you're worried about the thing looking perfect, remember there's a big hook sticking out of it, and it seems the fish don't mind that unnatural looking thing attached to the bug.

[Newbs]

When I first started tying I had a instruction video that I played over and over and over again. I had a small TV on my tying desk and I played the video every time I sat down to tie, even if I was tying something completely different I kept the video playing and watched it like a ball game...

Helps to instill the basics. :twocents:

[Newbs]

Kevin. If you like videos check out youtube & anglersnet.com... They have great tying videos... FREE:excited:


This is good advice. I didn't find much on anglers net but then I went to U tube and did a search for "fly tying". I spent the next two hours watching some really good tying videos.

Great tip.

[NCL]

Newbs,

Did you find Andy Burke's video's on U-Tube? He has 14 and all are good. I have watched the videos several times and have tied a couple of the flies. It is amazing that even though I have watched them several times I still pick up little details.

[Kevin2023]

Thanks for all the great advice. Hopefully I'll get a chance to devirginize some of the flies I've tied up over the last few weekends this weekend.