MAINE - Life in the Slow Lane
My honest opinion ? Yes the placement of the biots can cause the fly to tumble at times. Or even spin. Now have you ever studied how the nymph acts in the currents. I have . They spin they tumble they roll over they struggle to get upright. My thoughts like Koda said . The fish are the ones you have to trick not a perfectness of a fly tier. Unless your using your fly for display or competition I would not worry about what they have to say. Now for the beads and the size , I think the first ones were a bit large but that might come in handy in a faster current situation. Now for substitution of materials. That is the great part of fly tying. Some great patterns have come about by tiers tinkering with original patterns. That is my 2 cents hope it helped. Dave V
Dave
I think we have traveled similar paths. Many hours were spent on the Mad river turning over rocks looking for nymphs. In that crystal clear water you could watch a dislodged nymph struggle in the current. And the trout zeroed right in on them. If he managed to get the erratic natural behavior of a nymph built in at the vise he's ahead of most already.
Today there are many man made materials available to the fly tier that didn't exist even 5 years ago. Some that I like are super absorbant which makes them great for nymphs and trolling flies. Other materials simply can't be sunk, great for dry flies.
The addition of a strand or two of flashabou, that stuff that looks like a fiber optic Christmas tree can make a huge difference sometimes.
What a lot of folks don't realize is most waters have different shades of clarity. A fly that is productive in one place may not be in another because it looks altogether different in that water.
The man that breaks down a particular stream, pond, or lake will probably make out better in the long run than the one who hops from one to the other.
Another 2 cents worth 
Thanks for the information guys. I don't know what I aspire to do, but honestly... I am a perfectionist at heart. If there is a right and wrong way, I want to know the fastest most efficient manner to end up doing it RIGHT.
Just the way I'm wired I guess. I can't help it.
I am going to get some lessons in this winter and my skills should continue to develop. I am very interested in the spinning deer hair thing as well. It is so artistic. I think that has a lot to do with my love of tying. I am artistic by nature. As a child I spent many days drawing and painting in my room. I and a couple of kids I grew up with became phenomenal artists in high school, but I guess you could say I lost interest and some point grew out of it. Although occasionally I get the itch and whip up something cool.
Theron
I tried that once, spinning deer hair. Took over a week before I got the explosion off the bench. IMHO, would be easier to cast the whole deer on a 3 weight than to engage in that hair packin adventure 
Quote by: KodaI tried that once, spinning deer hair. Took over a week before I got the explosion off the bench. IMHO, would be easier to cast the whole deer on a 3 weight than to engage in that hair packin adventure
But Koda, those flies tyied with deer hair spun work great, the Muddler Minnow is a go to fly for me. Granted I don't tie my own just buy them.
See Yah
Lee
Koda,
I'm with you on spinning deer hair. Tried in many a time. Only succeeded in getting deer hair clippings all over where I was tying (I have no man cave) and getting the wife mad at me 
I leave anything with spun deer hair to the pros now 
T_Bone,
I think the copper johns look great. I tend to use Hungarian Partridge for the legs. I'll have to try what you did with the BIots. I agree with the group though, natural insects are active in the water and if yours spinds and flips, a better imitation. If you can find some partridge, it's not too expenisive (I don't buy the full cape, just a bag of the feathers) I would get some. The stuff is addicting! It's very soft and in my opinion works great for legs on many flies, not just a copper john. It also works great for simple soft hackle flies. Anyway, this winter when we get together tying I can show you a bunch. I've got so many supplies I could share as well.
Check out this link, I think your copper johns look awesome, but this is how I learned. I'm not sure if you've seen this site, but I pretty much taught myself how to tie flies from Fly Anglers Online!
-Nic
Nic
I edited your post and changed the link so it will open in a new window, easy to do. Just type out what you want the link to say, in this case Fly Anglers Online, highlight the text then click the link icon and paste the link in there. After that go to the Target Tab and select new window.
I have to check and see if I have Fly Anglers Online is on the links page here, should be if not.
Just checked and it was not, now it is there under Fishing Info.
See Yah
Lee
Lee,
Thanks! I was not aware, I got it half right though, thats a start! Thanks a bunch for adding that into the links page! It really is an extremely valuable resource. Vidoes are nice, but I'm more of a book person, and the format of that site wiht all the pictures is a huge help! It wasn't however able to teach me how to spin deer hair
-Nic
Quote by: NicLee,
Thanks! I was not aware, I got it half right though, thats a start! Thanks a bunch for adding that into the links page! It really is an extremely valuable resource. Vidoes are nice, but I'm more of a book person, and the format of that site wiht all the pictures is a huge help! It wasn't however able to teach me how to spin deer hair
-Nic
Not a problem Nic. That site at one time was a nightmare to get around, they have cleaned it up a lot and it is a lot nicer now. Should have had them in the links page before this, MY BAD.
See Yah
Lee
Theron
The true judge of your flies will be......the trout! They aren't into proportions or anatomically correct. They just do hungry
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