Crowding the Eye

 

This week's to-do list included filling in some gaps in my trout fly boxes. Mayfly and caddis patterns are in good supply, but terrestrials were a bit thin, especially ants. 

Charlie Craven posted a video recently of his Fat Angie, a foam ant pattern. After watching the video,  a materials list was hurriedly jotted down, followed by a masked appearance at my local fly shop. Returning home I  laid out the materials and deployed the tying desk.  

My tying tends to be in spurts, with long droughts between. After an absence from the vise, it takes a few flies to  knock the rust off my tying skills. The Fat Angie was no different. 

 When I started tying flies, all the new skills needed was overwhelming. The biggest challenge was learning proper proportions of particular pattern. While this has become easier over time, a new pattern can make me feel like a rank beginner. 

The biggest tell-tale sign of improper proportions is when materials come too close to the eye of the hook, known as "crowding the eye". In addition to marring the aesthetics of a well tied fly, trying to coax tippet through a partly clogged hook eye can be an exercise in frustration. Too many of my flies suffer this indignity.

 Usually the problem is corrected after sizing up a few less than desirable flies, noting their deficiencies and making adjustments. Some get razored off and the process begins again. Others get fished, as long as they can be threaded onto my tippet. 

A hook shank is as fretless as a fiddle, with few "you are here" clues to tell you when you are running out of space.  

I have a hard time getting my eyes to believe that less material is better. When I go to a BBQ I dont want to see any open plate space - I want that spot covered with burnt ends or ribs. Apparently that spills over to my fly tying.

Eventually I give in and put my flies on Weight Watchers.  Proportions hedge a little closer to ideal, and I can actually see the eye of the hook unobstructed. 

But then comes the head cement. Alas, another opportunity to make a fly almost unusable. 

Back to the vise.