# My 1st Ever Attempt to Tie



## lunker23 (Jun 28, 2013)

Finally decided to give tying flies a whirl. Started with a Buggar as it seems to be one of the easiest to tie. I need to practice the whip finish, but nothing a dab of head cement won't fix until I get the hang of it.
Don't be too rough on my work as I'm sure over time it'll get better. I'll be stoked when I catch my first fish with one of my flies....


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## lunker23 (Jun 28, 2013)

Hmm, no negative comments so I must be doing it right.


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## Bwana J (Sep 12, 2010)

That's not bad, you should have seen my first. The more you tie the better you'll get, just hang in there. After you catch your first fish on a fly you tied you'll be hooked. There are some really good utube video's on tying. Check them out, you might pick up some good tips.


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## ejsell (May 3, 2012)

Ditto what bwana said. I'm trying my first pheasant tail nymphs now. My first one ended up a with the biots a little to the side. The carp who stole it didn't seem to mind.


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## ldrjay (Apr 2, 2009)

I didnt use the whip finisher yill this year. Been tying for three seasons now. Marabou jigs are even easier if you do jig and maggots at all. Looks good to me.


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## Bwana J (Sep 12, 2010)

One more thing, your only limitation in fly tying is your own imagination. Every old stand by pattern was at one time an experiment. Have fun with it.


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## lunker23 (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks guys. I've tied a dozen Buggars so far and it's getting easier. I think another dozen and then I'll switch it up a bit with trying my hand at Sucker Spawns.


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## kritterkare (Jul 30, 2014)

http://dailysnark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/simpsons_nelson_haha2.png


http://31.media.tumblr.com/63aed12a27ba4adf83e760926ce8a38f/tumblr_n5kwzefy711r4uu13o1_250.jpg


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## kritterkare (Jul 30, 2014)

kritterkare said:


> http://dailysnark.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/simpsons_nelson_haha2.png
> 
> 
> http://31.media.tumblr.com/63aed12a27ba4adf83e760926ce8a38f/tumblr_n5kwzefy711r4uu13o1_250.jpg


Just kidding, it does not take long to find what tying methods work, I have likely tied hundreds of flies that I did not use for whatever reason and gave away or stripped for the parts or still have but tying is a great hobby especially in the winter to keep you going.


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## lorainfly24 (Jun 21, 2014)

I dont rember where I picked this up at but, I pinch my marabou tails off with my fingers to equal lenths and give it a better look than just cutting them off. I dont know if this makes it catch more fish (I doubt it). but I like it and it gives me a little more confidence when fishing it. The fly looks great though and will catch fish. To me fly tying is one of the most addicting and fun parts of fly fishing.

A good tying tip that took me a long time to get used to is leave yourself enough room to finish the head of the fly off. It makes the fly finish so much cleaner.


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## kritterkare (Jul 30, 2014)

lorainfly24 said:


> I dont rember where I picked this up at but, I pinch my marabou tails off with my fingers to equal lenths and give it a better look than just cutting them off. I dont know if this makes it catch more fish (I doubt it). but I like it and it gives me a little more confidence when fishing it. The fly looks great though and will catch fish. To me fly tying is one of the most addicting and fun parts of fly fishing.
> 
> A good tying tip that took me a long time to get used to is leave yourself enough room to finish the head of the fly off. It makes the fly finish so much cleaner.


Good tips, evening the marabou a bit will help the tail last longer and some krystal flash strands help in the tail. I also like to use a few strands of rubber legs in the tail and some on the body. 
Lunker make sure to pull on the ends of the tips of the feathers and you will find often enough that the ends are brittle on some feathers making them about useless, better to find this before you tie them in and feathers from beginner kits are often the worst of the worst.

Small dumb bell eyes are good for weighted patterns and for floating flies I like to use a bit of foam before wrapping the body and shorter stiffer body hackle. 
Keep tying and as mentioned youtube vids and classes or groups if there are any around, I have not bought many flies since I started tying some 15 years ago and tie the smallest trout patterns down to 24 all the way up to bass and pike patterns.


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