Spey & Classic Flies

I have not been tying classic salmon and spey flies for very long but something about this style of fly has me captivated. Seeing full dress salmon flies, married wing flies and beautiful presentation flies makes me envious of the talent and skill that these tyers posses. I have been jumping back into things full blast and trying to get setting wings down. It is a maddening process usually ending up in lots of ruined feather strips around my desk and me fuming mad.

However when that wing sits just right the feeling I get and the look of the fly is just amazing. Here are a few of my more recent ties:

 

The fly above is the latest I have tied. It was my first try at a herl butt and I think that aspect of things turned out good. My body work is getting more consistent but I am still having major problems setting wings without having them collapse or pinch down. I have been moistening the tye in point as well as pinching the fibers down before tying in and while it is helping a bit my technique and feel is just not refined enough yet to get consistent results. I went through 8 sets of wings trying to get this wing tied.

This fly I easily spent 4-5 hours tying...the majority of that time was spent on the wings, I used an entire matched pair of turkey and did not set a single wing I was happy with...some nights things are just not flowing and I think I would have been better off stopping after a few ruined wing sets instead of wasting an entire feather. Ultimately this fly ended up as a hair wing out of frustration.

I was not all that impressed with the body work on this particular fly. Also there is a pinch on the tye in point of the wing that is concealed with a few fibers of Lady Amherst tail. I like the look of the fly but think I may try some herl butts in the future to create some contrast between the sections of the body.

These are the first few flies that I tied after jumping back into the classics and speys. I usually go through phases of tying certain types or styles of flies. After a few weeks of trout flies, tenkara flies and streamers I felt the need to start filling the salmon/steelhead box with some pretty stuff and continue to work on my wings. I am still learning and practicing and trying to implement some tips and advise from more experience tiers.