Critique my fly (tear me limb from limb)

[seanengman]

Here are my flies I tied. I tied on my breaks at work. Aren't as good as my sister's though;)
Sean
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[Derek Day]

Just keep tying, try other patterns and challenge yourself-- you'll work the kinks out. Those would probably fish fine. The hook looks a little short for my wooly buggers, tying bigger flies is often easier. Also, you might want to reinforce the flies with super glue. I know a lot of my early ties fell apart on me, and glue will help to minimize that.

[seanengman]

Thanks. I haven't fished 'em yet, but looks like they might catch fish. Will get glue.
Sean

[Sourdoughs]

First, they'll catch fish and look good. These critiques are meant to help. So...

Generally:
I agree with Rocky on the hook length. Also the bodies are a bit inconsistent in thickness. Try tying in the chinelle toward the eye of the hook, then make consistent, tight wraps. Lastly, I'm not sure which direction the palmering is going so I'll say this: tie in a wire (gold, silver) at the butt end, wrap the body forward, then tie in the palmering hackle, wrap back toward the butt and secure with the wire going forward. The wire secures the entire body as well as the hackle.

On the first fly, it looks like the palmered hackle is clipped, which isn't ideal. Finding the right size will come with time, or you can buy one of those hackle measure tools.

On the last fly, it looks like the mylar wrap is a bit loose. It can be hard to get it tight, but it's important. If it's too loose, when fished the mylar may slip entirely to the butt of the fly.

All in all, a great start!

-Marc

[seanengman]

Thanks all. I like that criticism, it makes it so I know what is needed to be better. Flies are tied more for the fisherman than they are the fish, and I am particular, I just have figured exactly what to be particular about. Tight lines.
Sean

[kodiaksalmon]

On the first fly, it looks like the palmered hackle is clipped, which isn't ideal. Finding the right size will come with time, or you can buy one of those hackle measure tools.

My thoughts too. But I clipped some of my first flies as well. Must be a natural tendency. Keep at it. With time and practice comes consistency and uniformity, and the ability to take flies in your own direction and tie them like you want to without giving it a second thought.

But yeah, they're sure as heck catch fish.

Jeff