# New tie from a beginner



## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

Just getting into tying and thought I'd try to tie something I saw on the Midcurrent website. I didn't have all the materials and color (blue buck tail, lavender buck tail,and junglecock) the pattern called for so I had to improvise. Any comments/criticisms/suggestions any welcomed and appreciated!


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## wtbfishin (Dec 2, 2011)

Looks good!! :thumbup:


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## Patriot (Jun 4, 2009)

Actually....that's pretty good!!!!

Keep looking at patterns and recipes. I'll start putting some recipe post on here to help with the learning curve.


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

Patriot said:


> Actually....that's pretty good!!!!
> 
> Keep looking at patterns and recipes. I'll start putting some recipe post on here to help with the learning curve.


Thanks! Man, that would be great...looking forward to those recipes!


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

wtbfishin said:


> Looks good!! :thumbup:


Thanks. I paint, so this is really appealing to me. It's an art form all its own!


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## Patriot (Jun 4, 2009)

Bspoon.....Very cool. Azevedo16 is just starting and wants to get together. Same goes for you if interested. 

I am just getting back into painting and could use your help. 

Here's a quick sketch of a piece I am starting. Head is not right and the body needs to show more bend and depth. I am essentially just getting back into painting and kinda starting all over from the basics. I have a pompano and a few fly renderings also in sketch form. Wanting to go acrylic for final painting.


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## wtbfishin (Dec 2, 2011)

I'm the farthest thing you can be from an artist, but I do enjoy tying flies .


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## River Hooligans (Dec 26, 2012)

Looks good man. If you want to get together sometime and tie let me know. I went out Saturday, didn't get into anything. It was real tough with the fly rod no fish came with in range.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Looks great! I'm heading back home today. I'll get a step by step of my squid fly up this week, give you something else to try


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## DAWGONIT (Jan 16, 2009)

that looks very appealing from a human perpsective, thus suspect that the usual [pelagic] critters will eat it up.

catch 'em up.


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## cliphord (Oct 28, 2011)

Uh, I have tied a few flies and mine would look like pieces of torn up jeans if placed next to yours. Nice job.


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

Patriot said:


> Very cool. Azevedo16 is just starting and wants to get together. Same goes for you if interested.


I am most definitely interested... Just let me know when and where! 



Patriot said:


> I am just getting back into painting and could use your help.
> 
> Here's a quick sketch of a piece I am starting. Head is not right and the body needs to show more bend and depth. I am essentially just getting back into painting and kinda starting all over from the basics. I have a pompano and a few fly renderings also in sketch form. Wanting to go acrylic for final painting.


I haven't done any fish but what about making him longer and adding a little shading in the bend you drew about 2/3 to the end? All of my sketches always look terrible because I just draw in where I want shadows and highlights. Adding in the paint will make a huge difference. 

Most of what I do is like this (acrylic with a palette knife) :


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

wtbfishin said:


> I'm the farthest thing you can be from an artist, but I do enjoy tying flies .


I really enjoy it!


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

River Hooligans said:


> Looks good man. If you want to get together sometime and tie let me know. I went out Saturday, didn't get into anything. It was real tough with the fly rod no fish came with in range.


Definitely. I truly do not k ow what I'm doing so I'm down to learn from anyone willing to help out!


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

Chris V said:


> Looks great! I'm heading back home today. I'll get a step by step of my squid fly up this week, give you something else to try


Thanks! Looking forward to that squid fly how-to!!


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

DAWGONIT said:


> that looks very appealing from a human perpsective, thus suspect that the usual [pelagic] critters will eat it up.
> 
> catch 'em up.


I hope so. I have a bad habit of deciding what I want to try to tie based on how I like the style and color scheme. :/


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

cliphord said:


> Uh, I have tied a few flies and mine would look like pieces of torn up jeans if placed next to yours. Nice job.


Thanks, but I'm sure that's not true! I wish I could take credit for the pattern and colors but I just copy other people's work at this point! :/


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## Patriot (Jun 4, 2009)

Bigspoon.....I'll get in touch with you about the painting. That sketch is pretty 1-D and paint will definately help with dimension. I teach you to tie flies, you teach me to paint...... 

Here's a tip on your fly. You need to know which side of the fly is up when you are building. The hook will fly up with only a slight amount of weight added to the shank. Hook down patterns are pretty common in dry and wet fly patterns andlook cool from the human perspective and with the hook down and easier to tie on the vice. No necessarily the case with the bigger saltwater fies for our parts. Like said above, pretty flies aren't necessarily the best for catching fish. 

So for your fly if you added barbell or lead wrap to shank....all you need to do is swap the colors. White on keel side with hook pointing up. Darker colors on top. 

When I don't weight the fly, I put a slight bend in the hook eye. That helps right the fly when working it. 

Action of the fly is FAR more important than the look of the fly. Wiggle/noise always trumps pretty. Most people buy pretty though and disregard the ugly fly with great action. 

I've actually caught fish using a strip of chamois marked up black with a permanent marker. Wiggled and looked like an eel. 

Most of the pretty flies I tie prob won't catch anything based on how the look over how their action looks to the fish, but I enjoy tying them and making up patterns to pass the time. 

Maybe I'll make a video and post it up here to show different actions of patterns. Already going to do it for captken flies from his last post.


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## Patriot (Jun 4, 2009)

Material plays a big part also.

Bucktail is hollow and very bouyant.
Feathers less bouyant.
Firs absorb water and add weight.
Sythetic fibers add bulk and shed water fast.
Flash will foul the hook if it is not protected with bucktail
Spinning bucktail and palmering hackled help the fly push water....thus noise.
Lighter flies make less splash...good for bonefish/pomano....not good for reds, specs, BFT, Mahi....they light up on wiggle/niose.


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

Patriot said:


> Material plays a big part also.
> 
> Bucktail is hollow and very bouyant.
> Feathers less bouyant.
> ...


Thanks for the info! That is very helpful to know the characteristics of the different fibers! 

You mentioned BFT and Mahi... Add reds to that list and you've got my three most wanted on a fly! :yes:

Thanks again for all the info... I really do appreciate it.


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## cliphord (Oct 28, 2011)

@ bigspoon: those paintings are awesome. I have been an artist for 20 years and I really appreciate your expression. I would love to see what you could do with some fish!


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

cliphord said:


> @ bigspoon: those paintings are awesome. I have been an artist for 20 years and I really appreciate your expression. I would love to see what you could do with some fish!


Hey, thanks! This thread has gotten me thinking about it. I think painting a good-looking fly pattern would be fun, too!


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## Patriot (Jun 4, 2009)

bigspoon17 said:


> Hey, thanks! This thread has gotten me thinking about it. I think painting a good-looking fly pattern would be fun, too!


That's exactly what I was doing.....


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

Patriot said:


> That's exactly what I was doing.....


Well let's see it when you're done! 

Also, I meant to say earlier that I did have a little weight to that fly. I wrapped some mylar tubing around the hook shank. Not much weight, but something more than thread.

So were you saying earlier that that fly is going to turn upside down when put under water? I guess I could throw it in the sink and find out, huh...


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## Patriot (Jun 4, 2009)

The bucktail will more than likely float the the shank so you probably ok.


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