1-21-12 experimentation March Brown

[Kelly L.]

Yes, I tend to forget to flatten the thread when doing the head. It is hard for me to tell when the silk is flattened, it is not like looking at thread. I made a couple with the guard hair tips towards the eye, then bending them back, and tying in. I still had bulk, and the tips were not exactly even. I am going to give it a rest this evening, and tackle it again tomorrow. I may try to put the squirrel in a dubbing loop or something. I made two flies this evening, and they might be better than these photos, but not noticeably probably. (unless you study them close...lol) I am also considering tying in the hackle before bringing the thread to the bend of the hook. I have never done it that way with these flies, but I will see how that turns out. If the squirrel guard hairs were longer, it sure would be much easier. I cannot seem to do a split thread worth a flip. I fray the thread and it breaks, or I cannot get the strands separated. I was wearing my bifocal head band thing too, and it did not help much. I think the fly will fish well regardless. I thought I was using March Brown dubbing, but it was tan. So I pulled out the March Brown dubbing this evening. After the squirrel was tied in, you couldn't tell a bit of difference between the two colors really...as the squirrel hairs over ride the dubbing. I am too tired to work on this more this evening. Plus I need to give my eyes a rest. I will tackle this again tomorrow.

[Kelly L.]

Okay, this is the exact same fly as yesterday...but, I used a 200R hook instead. I also applied the pine squirrel in a dubbing loop. I also used a neck feather off the same hen as before. Sorry the pics aren't good. My camera takes bad pics with a white background. Do you like this fly better than yesterday? The top fly here has more pine squirrel dubbing mixed with the guard hair, making it a bit darker. The second fly is my favorite here though. The head is not perfect, nothing unusual about that.

[CreationBear]

Definitely like both of these, though I'm a sucker for the TMC 200r.

[Kelly L.]

Thanks for letting me know that. I tried one with a darker saddle feather...but I think I like the one in the second photo better. I will try one with another LONGER darker feather, and see which I prefer. So your thoughts do help. I appreciate you telling me.

[Mataura mayfly]

Kelly, I think they are both very good ties and I am a believer that one needs variation within a pattern in ones fly boxes. Sometimes a subtle change can be just what the fish are looking for.
But I am also leaning toward agreement with you in liking the second one a little better, I like the sparcer collar on that one. Have you tried to wet the flies yet? Would be interesting to see what you think of the head size then.

[Kelly L.]

Thanks. That feather on the second photo is really nice...light tips. I need to take photos of these. Tom Waits gave me these feathers to try. He is starting to raise chickens for their feathers, and he has a nice little flock going. I told him I really don't need the dry fly stuff really, since I'm hooked on using the hen feathers for these type of flies lately. I have a darker hen feather someone else gave me. I am gonna try it too. I also have a Greenwell still in the freezer that is ready to pull out.
As far as wet flies, I have not done much with them, but they are on the list. I have fell in love with several patterns, and want to try them out. Mark got me to come here, and all that flew out the window. Yes, I know some of the wet flies do have rather large heads, for sure. I have always had a problem with large heads. But I am getting better. I also plan to do some MOM flies too. But while I am in the mood for something, I tie that. That is how I do things. I tie whatever I feel is pulling me at that time. I was also in a nymph tie a long, actually I'm still in it. Two more of those, and the tie a long is over. I know one thing, that TMC 200R hook, and the way I tied in the squirrel, with the dubbing loop, it's a whole lot faster, than what I was doing before. It was a much more enjoyable tie as well. I feel like this will be a good fish catcher. I wish I had smaller 200R hooks. I have 6, 8, and then some real small ones somewhere. I tied these last ones on a size 8. A 10 or 12 would of probably been better. Oh well.

[Kelly L.]

I just said on another thread...after viewing some March Brown photographs, I am gonna tweak this some more. I originally started with 2-3 fibers of the Golden Pheasant Tail feather, for the tail. Then I decided it looked better unsplit. Now I see that might of been a mistake. I even ran the copper wire through the Haretron this evening...ribbed it all the way up. Still it is lacking something. Maybe a thicker wire, or a very fine tinsel. Tinsel looks good, but it doesn't hold up very well. I don't think I have much thicker wire in copper. I will look tomorrow and see what I can round up.

[Kelly L.]

1-22-12


1-23-12 am
darker hen collar/saddle


1-23-12
afternoon furnace/Greenwell hen


I still have another hen feather to try out. Thoughts? Oh, I like the longer tail, with two fibers better. 3 fibers for a tail split, was too hard to control, so I am gonna stay with 2 on that.

[CreationBear]

3 fibers for a tail split, was too hard to control, so I am gonna stay with 2 on that.

I like all of these--since you're running the copper wire all the way to the eye anyway, one thing you could do is wrap the hen hackle all the way through the thorax, catch it with the wire, then bind the feather down as you wrap the wire back up toward the eye. (Dennis Collier on Han's site does this--very much like wrapping a secondary hackle on a Stimulator.) It's a neat effect, and it might give you some options in terms of proportion.

Otherwise, I think "control" is pretty much illusory when it comes to softhackles once they hit the water, anyways...not to mention the "damage" just one fish can/will do.

[kanutripr]

Definite winners Kelly, and your proportions are just getting better and better. Those are going to catch you some fish!

Two thumbs up!


Vicki