And another addiction begins maybe?
 

And the addiction begins. Size 14 and size 12 beadhead Zugbug flies.
Spent part of the morning and afternoon learning to tie. First meeting up to gather material and the rest of the tools that I've had for years and done nothing with. The only thing that's left is to catch some fish on them.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...91f7f42fea.jpg

Those look great. Buggy af, you'll definitely pick up fish on those.

Well, I finally got the stuff out again. I only tied 6 today, 3 in #12, 3 in #14. First time trying something different than the Zug Bug. Not perfect by any means but that will only get better. Some better quality material might help as well. Hopefully in the spring time I'll be able to get more in to it, but I am definitely enjoying it. I have also of about a dozen flies on my list of what I want to learn.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...95c0418453.jpg

Great job

Thank you. I've gotten a few more tips this afternoon to, hopefully, make things looking a bit better too. Just more practice and.more practice.

On this forum you'll get more free tips and advice from members than home gardeners trying to give away rhubarb and/or zucchini, but that's a good thing.

Have you picked up any books on the subject?

Only book I have is the Fly Tyers Bible. It was my dad who started teaching me, only the one fly with him so far, this one was literally just reading and looking at the pictures in the book.

I do pick up the occasional FlyTyers magazine, or another fly magazine. I do a lot of reading online about the different patterns, what they're for species wise, etc, but still have a long way to go.

I need to pick up a bunch of material but the next bigger purchase will be a vice. The one I have now is ok, and it works, but I want smaller jaws, and a couple other options over the simple vice.

nice one!
I would be happy if my first early flies looked like that.
A great way to spend the cold winter days

Thanks Chucky.

I got bored and decided to try something a little different. I don't know if it'll work or not, but its still the mechanics of tying.

Its still a Griffiths gnat, but I used white thread, Peacock herl, and ginger dry neck hackle. Easier to see the wraps to see whats actually happening during the process.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f3cfaa5a51.jpg

I grabbed some size 16 dry hooks. I tied up 4 zug bugs. My eyes are hurting from trying to focus on something so small for so long. I’m still not very quick at this at all.
A new vice with smaller jaws will be in order and maybe a magnifying glass/light set up as well. I don’t think I’d be able to tie anything any smaller with what I currently have given how much trouble I really had, mostly with the legs for the underside of the hook.

Check out Davie Mcphail’s YouTube channel, he does great instructional videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC16...G7rm60e9pl89fw

I wouldn't get too concerned about perfection as in pretty to the human eye, remember if the fish wants it and it mimic's the hatch etc then gets devoured. Yours look great. Some of my flies/lures look beat all to heck yet still produce.

More of a personal pride thing than anything. Nature isn't perfect, nature isn't repetitive, why should I be? Ego I guess, lol.

One of my best producing flies last year was a size 12 (I think, I'd have to double check) Adam's. It has over 50 fish on it, most of that was over two days. The biggest fish on was maybe 14" at most. It's going to get retired now as I don't really trust the steel of the hook anymore, but it is beat up for sure.

And, I almost forgot. Thank you

there definitely are some very talented people on this forum.

Thank you, I will check him out.

Thank you :)

I've learned a lot through davie McPhail's videos, he's great

I tried another one. This one is big, but I will go smaller. I have one that was sent to me in an order, bigger than what I ordered, in a size 10. I don't have any hooks that big so I settled on a 12. I have a selection smaller, but I wanted to just try another pattern.

Still learning, and trying new things, but really enjoying "most" of it, lol.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...41f75f3b6c.jpg

Went tko drop some stuff off and pick up some stuff at the parents place, Christmas and otherwise. This is what my dad gave me and wanted me to open then and there. This is one of the ones on the short list for me and I can't wait to try it out.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8e29807d32.jpg

I think you are doing a great job. I started tying about 25 years ago. My first fly Is still sitting on my tying desk. It was awful. You are heading down the right path. It’s all about learning the techniques and proportions. Starting with simpler flies gets these dialed a lot easier.
I wish I had YouTube when I started. It’s a great resource to learning techniques. As you tie more, you will start to feel comfortable with thread pressure which makes a big difference in efficiently tying flies.
From experience, keep tying flies fit to your comfort level and expand from there. It’s easy to get carried away with materials and complex flies.
Adams is a great fly and a good one to learn.
Getting tips from an experienced tier can also help.
It’s a great hobby that is rewarding. Last week I tied about 180 flies (thanks Covid).
Glad to see folks with the enthusiasm. Congrats on your ties.

I just picked up some dubbing to do some Adams even though I have lots. I’m going to grab a different color dubbing, maybe tomorrow, depending on the roads, and try some BWO’s instead. Very similar technique from what I can see. I don’t have any of those.

I tied another mosquito on the new vice tonight and I like it way better than the other vise I have. Just more room to get around the hook. I may look at picking up some of the midge jaws to make it even easier for the smaller hooks, maybe not. I’ll try some on this set up first. I do want the brass screws so that I can take this down for storage easier first.

And thank you for the kind words.

I am enjoying this thread. I know "Santa" is bringing me a Wapsi fly tying kit for Christmas and I signed up for Thursday Night Live with the Fly Fishing Bow River crew so I am about to dive into a new addiction too!

Cheers
Steve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well Stosh, here's another one just for you then.
I ended up venturing out to the fly shop to grab the stuff to tie some Blue Wing Olive's. This is the first one I did, size 12. Not particularly happy with it and I know that changes I want to make, just not sure how to go about it. I'm just not happy with the wings.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2cf16c92ae.jpg

Interesting but back to the drawing board.

Thinking about it, I know I'm not happy with the wings. I was thinking some deer or elk hair but im really not sure. I need to look at a few more recipes and a few more pictures. Im using what the one tying guide said but maybe I just it wrong.

You tube is something you can spend many hours on when it comes to fly tying.
Jack Dennis put up a bunch of Gary Lafontaine's Caddis stuff and Randall Kaufmann's Stoneflies as well. Friday Nite Flies has been entertaining. Phil Rowley and Gary Hanke have some good stuff on there as well.

X2

Your last one will catch fish,
keep at it!

I'm not sure who's videos I have and haven't watched with the exception of Gary Hanke. I have watched his and chatter with him via social media a couple of times.

Yes, there are some great videos available. One of the best times to.be a tyer in terms of the knowledge and creativity floating around right now.