Old is new to me

[Dwclapp]

Well, I had a bit of free time this afternoon to try something new. In my middle earth goddie bag, Ray included some mallard primaries. I've never done a classic winged wet (dont have the skills for such things yet) so what they heck. Why not try it? Here it is, My first traditional winged wet. Long way to be satisfied with it but it is a start.

Looking for constructive criticism and advice here.

My interpretation of a Blae and Black



Any tips on keeping rough hands from wreaking havoc on floss?

[Mataura mayfly]

Wear latex or light silk gloves! Or raid your better half's hand cream......
Hold the floss from the terminal end only and do not run it through your fingers as you wrap.
Or..... dip your rough hands into melted wax and let it set before playing with the dreaded floss.

With carpenters hands, I am hearing your plight. No easy answer there.

But if that is your first attempt at quill slip wings, I am giving up! I cannot get mine looking that good after 30 odd years of trying.
As far as critique go....... you might be a little long in your body. It should perhaps end in line with the barb or between barb and point. The floss might have come a bit far forward and left you with not a lot of room for the wing attachment and head forming. Your wings may be a fraction too wide, hook gape is regarded to be wing width.

But that is me being picky! I cannot tie them for love nor money and marvel at those that can.
Keep going, your a natural!

[redietz]

If that's your first attempt at setting quill wings, it's an outstanding job.

The classic proportion (at least the one I've learned is that the tip of the wing should come to about the mid-point of the tail. Yours is a bit short of that, but then again, it seems to be a long shank hook. The body seems to go back a bit further than is traditional as well -- point of the barb or bit forward of it is about right, (Again as I've been taught.) That's why the tail is point down a bit. Some of the British flies I've seen seem to prefer that, so I guess it's up to you. (And the fish won't mind either way.)

Check out the proportions of some of Don Bastian's work on his blog.

Again, excellent first try.

[Dwclapp]

Thanks guys for the input.

While this is my first up wing fly, this isnt the first set of wings I tried on this fly. I must have tied on/destroyed 7 or 8 pairs of slips before I got one that seemed to compress down properly (or at least the way the videos on youtube show it happening).

[JohnP]

Nice work. For the floss, you could try a floss bobbin.

[tie2fish]

Thanks guys for the input.

While this is my first up wing fly, this isnt the first set of wings I tried on this fly. I must have tied on/destroyed 7 or 8 pairs of slips before I got one that seemed to compress down properly (or at least the way the videos on youtube show it happening).

I have found that the proper "compressability" of slips cut from pairs of wing quills varies quite a bit with respect to the location from which they are taken. For example, slips cut from the bottom (large) end of the quills tend to be too soft to mount properly, while those taken from up near the narrow ends are too stiff. Real experts at mounting quill slips, like Don Bastian, can make nearly everything look good, but for amateurs like us, slips cut from the middle third seem to be easier to handle. The wing on your posted fly, with all due respect to the comments about length, is really very good in my opinion.

[William Anderson]

Darin, you've moved beyond my scope, but I enjoy hearing from the very seasoned veterans about the construction of these flies. I haven't taken this step. I'm impressed by your initial efforts. Nice post.

w

[fly_fischa]

For a first time attempt at a daunting winged wet I think you've done an amazing job. I think everyone's advise is on the money regarding proportions and the like. Tying quill wings is one o those things that's really easy to explain in person but tough to put into words. I'll try to give a few pointers which helped me a lot.
Make sure you create a flat base to support the wing that way it will sweep back parralel to the shank instead of kicking up.
When you have the paired slips ready to tie in pinch them between your thumb and middle finger. This gives you a flatter uniform support than using your index finger. Even just squeezing your fingers together without materials should make the difference obvious. Supporting the wings with the flats of you fingers make a soft loop around where you want to mount the wing, your fingers are stoping the wing from collapsing here. This is the part that's hard to explain, before you apply thread pressure to collapse the wing roll your touching fingers back like you are trying to make the tips of your fingers separate. This lets the wing collapse at the front whilst supporting the important portion of the wing. I hope that feeble attempt at explaining the finger rolling technique helps in some way. Once you've made the crucial 2 turns make sure each consecutive turn is towards the eye and not past the first two turns, this would undo your lovely wing set.

I'm certainly not an authority on this style of fly but having an amazing tyer show me those few tricks made the process a lot easier.

Thanks for sharing your first attempt, with the quality of this wing I can't wait to see your future winged wets.

Karsten