It’s been a while since I posted anything and the reason is this guy. I’ve been lurking from time to time and there have been some truly spectacular flies. Bravo!
This fly has been in my vise for close to a year. Probably my 3rd, 4th attempt with a married wing. Lack of wanting to tie and intimidation being the primary reason. I wanted to challenge myself to dress the best fly I could. Not wanting to move to the next step until I was happy with the last. That has meant restarting the fly twice and setting and resetting the wing more times than I can say. Getting the underwings to set like a knife blade so that the wing would set right was painful. The wing was intimidating. Finally I was happy. And now the toppings. It took a little time to find ones that I was happy with and and a little more time to see how much I could manipulate and shape them. Done. All that is needed now is to trim the stems, shape the head and coat with some Sally Hansen to lock every down. Fresh razor and… man, I don’t remember golden pheasant crest stems being that hard to cut. Ok press a little harder, a little harder and S#@%T!!! the stems moved. Now the wing’s a little off. Let’s straighten that out. Oh no. Now the underwing is not setting right. After several attempts, now the back of the wing have splayed apart. Well, things are looking ehhh. Thinking about tearing it apart. No. Don’t want to waste those turkey feathers. Finish the fly. Need to practice shaping the head on these flies. Was thinking that this is a failure, but no. This was a huge learning experience. Still learning about materials and how manipulate them. Enjoy!
Keith
This fly has been in my vise for close to a year. Probably my 3rd, 4th attempt with a married wing. Lack of wanting to tie and intimidation being the primary reason. I wanted to challenge myself to dress the best fly I could. Not wanting to move to the next step until I was happy with the last. That has meant restarting the fly twice and setting and resetting the wing more times than I can say. Getting the underwings to set like a knife blade so that the wing would set right was painful. The wing was intimidating. Finally I was happy. And now the toppings. It took a little time to find ones that I was happy with and and a little more time to see how much I could manipulate and shape them. Done. All that is needed now is to trim the stems, shape the head and coat with some Sally Hansen to lock every down. Fresh razor and… man, I don’t remember golden pheasant crest stems being that hard to cut. Ok press a little harder, a little harder and S#@%T!!! the stems moved. Now the wing’s a little off. Let’s straighten that out. Oh no. Now the underwing is not setting right. After several attempts, now the back of the wing have splayed apart. Well, things are looking ehhh. Thinking about tearing it apart. No. Don’t want to waste those turkey feathers. Finish the fly. Need to practice shaping the head on these flies. Was thinking that this is a failure, but no. This was a huge learning experience. Still learning about materials and how manipulate them. Enjoy!
Keith
its a lot easier.
