latest attempt

[WebFreeman]

See my latest attempts. Two questions:

1) On the zebras, there is a gap between the bead and the hook shank. The bead would cover the eye, but that seems like a bad idea since it would be hard to tie to the leader and seems like it could knick the leader. What should I do about that?

2) On the scud, I can't dub to save my life. That's wire making the segments, but it's showing up black for some reason in the pic. Any tips. It's a flashback. I know a lot of you swear by trout crack. I don't have the back material for that, though I know some recipes don't call for a back at all.

The are all size 18 on scud hooks.

Thanks for your advice in advance.

[Danoinark]

Web, I really can't tell from the picture but you may have the bead turned the wrong way. The little (one with less opening) should be facing the hook eye. That should keep the eye free. The only other idea might be to try a smaller bead. Outside of that looks like a fish catcher to me.

Scud looks ok, they need to be buggy. I would just trim the top of it and the dubbing below the hook point / gap.

Dano

[Terry Beeson]

OK... the zebra midges look pretty good from here, but is the bead the right size? Did you put it on "backwards" with the larger hole towards the eye? Is that why it's covering the eye? What do you mean by the "gap between the bead and hook shank?"

The larger hole in the bead should be opposite the eye and I use a couple turns of lead pushed up in the bead to help hold it in place. Then I build up some thread right behind the bead to hold the lead in and give the body to head a bit of natural taper.

The scud looks OK except maybe the wire ribbing is too large for the size hook you're using. Plus, what type of dubbing are you using? I like mine to look a bit "fuzzy and buggy" for some action in the water. Gives the scud a more natural live look.

You can use a small rubber band for the back instead of V-rib which makes a nice looking scud.

[WebFreeman]

thanks guys.

The beads looked the same from both ends, but I'll take another look. It was getting kind of late Saturday night when I did those.

Re: the dubbing, Terry, it's gray and has scud dubbing written on the baggie. I bought it at Backcountry years ago. I use to use too much and they were too tight. I think I didn't use enough this time. I've got some gray, stretchy scud backing, but I've never really liked it. Have you guys tried use a baggie before? I've read that a few places.

Re: the gap on the zebra, the bead doesn't wobble, but could if I wanted it too. I think I probably did put it on the wrong way.

[WebFreeman]

I re-cropped the pic. I think I probably put the bead on the wrong way.

[Terry Beeson]

  WebFreeman said:

I think I probably put the bead on the wrong way.

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt...

As for dubbing, "less is more" has always been the rule of thumb for most tiers. Are you going to make any of Sowbug? You could get a good dubbing lesson from SEVERAL really good tiers there...

[motroutbum]

Less is deffinitely more when it comes to dubbing. make sure that when you are dubbing the fly, you dont dub all the way to the eye of the hook. That was one of the things that I noticed when i hosted the fly swap and looked at the patterns. a good majority of the flies had extremely sloppy heads to the point that you couldnt get a tippet through the eye. Its just something to work on. On the zebras, make sure you have the hook size and bead size matched up. If anything use a smaller bead than what is called for. Most of the water you guys have back home isnt moving fast enough to throw tungsten or to over weight the flies. You want those zebras to almost just float in the water not drag and get hung up on the bottom. It just depends on how you are fishing also...I never use an indicator ever!!! but if you use an indicator then youll be able to adjust how deep they are. just some advice!!!