My first fly...

[leahcim_dahc]

Yes it is just another easy to tie woolly bugger...but progressing through the books, it appears to be the initial fly to be tied. Why buck the trend...besides, tying anything else right now seems to be turning out to be a train wreck. Either way...I was pleased to at least produce something to justify the money spent on materials and tools. My plan is to pick one fly a week and tie them over and over...then fish the better looking one's. :-D

There are a couple mistakes I pick out right off...but other than that, I don't think it looks all that bad. I'll take it out here in the next day or so and see if I can catch any fish with it.

[kokes]

give it a hair cut. good fly for sure. trim the tail a tad to prevent nips.

[Lotech Joe]

Chad, hear is a thought.
Tie another one and use it. But maybe save your first fly for a shadow box to remember it with. Absolutely, save the first fly you catch a fish on. From what I can see, if you fish that fly in a lake with a slow retrieve close to the bottom, you'll catch a fish.
Have fun,

[Dave]

That looks like a great fly to me. Nicely done.

[leahcim_dahc]

give it a hair cut. good fly for sure. trim the tail a tad to prevent nips.

Thanks for the tip! I'll probably choke up the maribou a touch on my next one.

But maybe save your first fly for a shadow box to remember it with. Absolutely, save the first fly you catch a fish on.

I had thought about doing that. The fly I have been getting the most use out of is getting rather tattered and coming apart...about time for it's retirement. I'll be tying up a replacement for it.

[HillbillyGeek]

That's a great looking fly! Not sure if it matters, but I read somewhere that the ideal hackle length is 1.5 times the size of the hook gap. Your hackle looks a tad long, but I seriously doubt if the fish will notice... :bounce:

[Jordan]

leahcim_dahc one thing I know with flies is always have 2 of each fly! I have done it more than once where the fish seem to be hitting only one specific fly and of course I break it off or it comes apart and that is the only one I have... I learned to always have a backup of each fly! and the pic of that fly looks awesome! Nice Job!

[fishnislife]

leahcim_dahc one thing I know with flies is always have 2 of each fly! I have done it more than once where the fish seem to be hitting only one specific fly and of course I break it off or it comes apart and that is the only one I have... I learned to always have a backup of each fly! and the pic of that fly looks awesome! Nice Job!

Great advice Jordan.

Sweet lookn' fly leahcim_dahc. Nicely done.




fishnislife

[Marc Martyn]

leahcim_dahc
Nice job! The flash in the tail will help very much. Here is one suggestion to try:

When tying in the hackle, tie in the tip of the hackle instead of the butt end of it. This will give it a tendency to lay back more as you wind the hackle forward. With the heavier and longer hackle towards the front, the fly will take on a tapered look and the hackle will flow towards the back more.

The tail marabou should remain natural. I wouldn't cut it to shorten it. If the marabou is too short, it will not fluctuate when using a jigging motion. You can always tie the marabou in shorter, but don't cut it.

I'm glad you like the vise.

[leahcim_dahc]

Thanks for the tips and advice, guys! I appreciate it. I plan on tying several of each pattern I make...just as Jordan stated, having a hot fly, loosing it and only having one on hand would not make for a fun day of fishing. :-)

I tied a couple more...I tried to incorporate a few of the suggestions that were made...still needs some work, but it does look quite a bit better than the first. I choked up on the maribou, plus changed to a different brand. The new brand of maribou seems to be a bit more bushy and might give a bit more life to the fly in the water. The colors match quite a bit better now, as well. The lighting kinda sucked at the desk, bought a new lamp and getting better results.

With regards to the hackle, I tried to make it as close to the 1-1.5 times the hook gap as I could...still needs a touch of work there, but it's fairly close.

Any rate, thanks for the tips, advice and encouragement. It is much appreciated. I'll have quite a few questions, especially when I get into tying some dry flies and nymphs. :-)

Below is an image of my second attempt. Still needs some work, but overall not too bad. The colors of the chenille and maribou match better, and the whip finish is a bit more acceptable and not nearly a mess of knots.

[leahcim_dahc]

Finally got around to testing out the flies...apparently the fish are either gifted and bite at just about anything...or the flies actually work. Either way...I was pleased. :-)

[Marc Martyn]

That's a keeper:cheers:

That could be a good color for near the bottom. It is close to a crawdad color. Cutthroat have an appetite for orange. I don't really know why but it works. If you are practicing catch and release, you need to file down the barb.

You have a great start. Keep it up.

[leahcim_dahc]

Honestly, I don't get it. Everyone I talk to, every article I read tells me to fish them on the bottom. Bottom-bouncing, fast stripping, dead drifting...nothing gets even a nibble. As soon as I grab the oars and take off...game on! The fish start biting. I know fishing one style with a particular fly is a bad habit to get into, but when something works, I tend to fall back on it. Especially, when nothing else seems to. Whether it is self-inflicted or not. I am just finding it hard to justify sitting in one spot for a couple hours with no results, when I can paddle around for the same amount of time and get fish consistently.

Meh...I'll figure the game out, eventually.

If you are practicing catch and release, you need to file down the barb.

Yep, yep! Not filed, but pinched...

[Lotech Joe]

Chad,
The deal with the oars has been happening to me too lately. I'll fish slow and methodical for a while. Then when I get no results I'll put my rod in the rod holder and grab the oars. That's when a lot of my strikes come. I think what's happening is while I'm fishing slow, the fish are following my fly out of curiosity or something. Then when I grab the oars, the fly picks up speed and looks like it's trying to get away from the fish. The fish, thinking it's time to eat or go hungry, have a shot at the fly. If that's what it takes to catch fish, it's fine with me. At least it's a pattern of fish behavior. I've found that it's better to play the fish's game rather than try to get the fish to play your game. I wish I was a good at it as Marc.

BTW,I think your fly looks perfect.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

your 2nd fly looks lots better. That's the tail length you want. Orange is a good color to imitate crayfish and bigger trout eat them.

Also, if the trout are nipping at your woolley buggers... a shorter tail isn't the way to get them to bite it. What they are doing is trying to make the "leech" ball up so the trout can eat it. You need to figure out how to make your fly mimic a leech balling up to be successful. The way to do that is to stop retrieving the fly and let it sit there. It will get hit about one second later.

[leahcim_dahc]

Lotech Joe-

I think the speed is the important part. If I am motoring about relatively slow, I'll get no takers. As soon as I pick up the pace quite a bit, there seems to be more fish caught. It must force them to make a split second decision of whether to grab the fly on its way by or leave it. If they are following it...it must be moving at a speed consistent with whatever the fly may be imitating. That doesn't always work, though. My first time out I fished at Swofford Pond...trolling there is just barely creeping along. However, every other lake I have fished, the speed has to be quite a bit faster to get any attention. I think the speed may be related to the overall depth of a lake, and the depth where the fish are holding. Swofford is only 15 ft. at its deepest, Tanwax is about 20-25 ft., and Clear Lake around 90 ft. Each one of those I have to troll progressively faster, with the deeper bodies of water trolled the fastest.

I've found that it's better to play the fish's game rather than try to get the fish to play your game.

I couldn't agree more.


zen leecher aka Bill W-

Thanks! The picture I posted is a bit deceiving. It looks more orange than it actually is. The color of the maribou and chennile is called dark cinnamon. It does look reddish-brown in better lighting.

What they are doing is trying to make the "leech" ball up so the trout can eat it. You need to figure out how to make your fly mimic a leech balling up to be successful. The way to do that is to stop retrieving the fly and let it sit there. It will get hit about one second later.

I need to work on that. For the most part I have taken a different approach. When I get a nip, I pick up the pace a bit (thinking it might imitate a critter trying to get away), and usually get strikes a couple seconds afterward.

Thanks for all the tips it is much appreciated!! :thumleft:

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

It goes against conventional thought to stop retrieving when trout are nipping on buggers. But what the trout are trying to do is get the leech to go defensive and when they do, leeches ball up. Trout do this when eating larger leeches.

This is how I came by the "zen leecher" handle about 10 years ago.

[leahcim_dahc]

It goes against conventional thought to stop retrieving when trout are nipping on buggers. But what the trout are trying to do is get the leech to go defensive and when they do, leeches ball up. Trout do this when eating larger leeches.

Thanks! That does make sense...just never thought of it that way. I will work on using that technique more in the future.

[ruthven78]

When tying in the hackle, tie in the tip of the hackle instead of the butt end of it. This will give it a tendency to lay back more as you wind the hackle forward. With the heavier and longer hackle towards the front, the fly will take on a tapered look and the hackle will flow towards the back more.

So what are you saying exactly? Which end will be in my hackle pliers as I wind the hackle on?

I really need to break out my vise and start tying....I havent tied a fly in a couple years I think......been on the lazy end this year and just bought some instead....even though I did buy some new material this year.

[Marc Martyn]

Craig-

Tie the point of the feather on to the hook. You will hold the fat end of the feather with the hackle pliers.