Fly Fishing

You can buy your flies, if you like, from a sporting goods store, fishing shop, online, or even at Wal-Mart.  This is good to begin with, but once you really start getting into fly fishing as a hobby, you are probably going to want to try your hand at tying your own flies eventually.

There are all sorts of books on the market that will teach you how to tie flies.  They contain in-depth information for the advanced tier.  What we’ll do is try to cover just the basics in this section.  After all, fly tying is just a small part of fly fishing, although it is important overall.

The first thing you need to know about tying your own flies is to know a little bit about the flies themselves. 

Dry flies are simply flies that float. They usually represent adult insects that are emerging (breaking out of their nymphal shuck), drying their wings so they can fly away, or returning to the water to lay eggs.

Since dry flies are the most fun to use (you get to see the fish take the fly), more fly patterns have been designed as dry patterns than any of the rest. Some people separate emerger flies from dries, because they usually float.

Wet flies are simply flies that don’t float. They usually represent nymphs and pupae that are swimming toward the surface of the water or trying to break through the surface film to become adults. Since many insects become lunch menu items during this stage of their existence, it’s useful to know how to tie wet flies.

Nymphs represent the nymphal or larva stage in an insect’s life cycle. Since insects spend most of their life in the nymph or larva stage, this is an important stage in terms of fish forage.  I’ve heard that up to 95 percent of a stream fish’s diet is nymphs and larva in some form. Need I say more about the importance of this type of fly?

Streamers are flies that represent minnows, crayfish, leaches and a variety of other life forms that swim under the surface of lakes and streams. Since fish often eat minnows, leaches and crayfish, this is an important type of fly to learn how to tie.

Hooks

You’ll need to start your fly tying expedition with a hook.  Hooks are what holds the fur, feathers, and any other material you will use to make your fly.  If you choose the right hook, your fly will be better proportioned and thus perform better in use. If you choose the wrong hook, you’ll have a flawed fly and your success with that fly will likely be less than the success you would enjoy with a properly tied fly.

Let’s take a moment to look at the anatomy of a hook. First, the hook has a "gape" or gap. That’s the distance between the shank (the part of the hook you tie flies on) and the point. Hook sizes are usually rated by the size of the gape. Second, the hook has a bend.

Depending on the shape of the bend, it will have different qualities and be more suitable to certain types of flies. Third, the hook has an eye. The shape and angle of the eye help determine the possible uses for the hook. Finally, the hook has a shank. As I mentioned earlier, the shank is the length of the hook where the body of the fly is usually tied.

Dry fly hooks come in a variety of shapes and size.  Some will have a straight shank and some will have a curved shank.  Plus, some are longer than others to accommodate the type of fly you are trying to replicate.

Wet fly hooks are usually heavier than dry fly hooks.  Hook bends and shank lengths vary depending on their intended use.

Nymph hooks vary in design more than any other type. Some are designed to tie scuds, others lend their design to stonefly nymphs and some are just good hooks for common nymphs like mayflies and caddis larva.  Try to select a nymph hook with a shape similar to the natural nymph you wish to imitate.

Streamers usually imitate minnows, leaches, crayfish or other swimming critters. Their hooks are usually longer than the rest and often have specific bends to accommodate the swimming pattern of the subject being copied. Some hooks are designed for use in poppers for bass and pan fish. These have a hump in the shank to prevent any turning of the popper body.

Fly Vise

When you undertake tying your own flies, the most important tool you’ll need is a fly vise.  There are many, many choices in fly vises and you might be confused as to which one you will want to buy.  Here are a few things to consider:

• The vise should hold a variety of hook sizes and shapes securely.  It shouldn’t hold just a few either, it should accommodate ALL hooks.  If it doesn’t, don’t buy it.
• The jaws of the vise must be positioned or be able to be positioned at an angle that allows you to tie flies of various sizes with it. Some vises have jaws that are too big to use with a variety of hooks. Others don’t have the jaws positioned at an angle that allows the tier to work with small hooks.
• Look for a vise that has jaws positioned at an angle that allows you to work around and with the smallest hooks you might someday use. That might be size 28, so check to see if the vise will hold this size hook securely while allowing complete access to the main length of the hook shank.
• Many vises have heads that pivot or rotate. These are nice features you should consider when shopping for a fly vise. Although a rotary feature isn’t a necessity, it is a convenient feature you should consider.

  Many expert tiers use vises with heads that are fixed and don’t pivot or rotate. You’ll have to decide if these are important features you’re willing to invest in. Keep in mind, a lot of extra features won’t make a vise hold a hook any better.

• A good vise should be easy to adjust to fit a variety of hooks. Although many vises will adjust to hold a variety of hook sizes, some are easier to adjust than others. Less adjustment results in saved time and time is money to a commercial tier should you decide to go that route.
• Avoid any vise that takes a lot of time or manipulation to adjust to a specific hook. One or two twists of a knob should be the maximum adjustment required to set any vise to a specific hook. After adjustment, a good vise should clamp down on a hook with a simple twist of a knob, squeeze of a lever or push of a cam. If it’s harder than this, let someone less informed monkey with the vise while you tie flies on your new, easy functioning vise.
• The size of the head and jaws of a vise will have an impact on how easy it is to use with certain size hooks. One specific vise on the market has a fast rotary feature that looks nice, but the jaws of the vise are so big it isn’t feasible to use with small hooks. Small jaws are easier to work with.
• Another thing you need to consider is how the vise is supported. A clamp is nice if you have a permanent tying bench or you want a vise that just won’t move while you’re putting pressure on a hook.

  A pedestal base is convenient if you are working on the kitchen table or traveling. It supports the vise with a heavy base that sets on the table like a lamp would, and it’s easy to move. Most vises can be purchased with either a pedestal base or a clamp. Some vises come with both support systems. Try to get a look at both before you buy a vise.

Tools

There really aren’t a lot of tools required to undertake fly tying.  Here are some basic ones, though, that all fly tyers need.

First is a bobbin to hold your thread.  The bobbin will also keep the thread tight while you are tying the fly.  Bobbins come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but they all perform the same duty.  Good bobbins never cut the thread and cheap bobbins almost always cut the thread, so it’s wise to invest in a good bobbin or two.

Good scissors are an absolute necessity for fly tying. This is another tool you don’t want to save money on. You’ll need at least one pair of scissors to start, but in time you’ll want to have several others. All your scissors should have finger loops large enough to fit over your thumb. Anything smaller is just too hard to use.

The first scissor you’ll need is one with small, fine points designed to cut thread and fine materials. This should be one designed for fly tying, not something you found at the department store. It can have curved tips or straight ones depending on your desires. The serrated scissors available from Dr. Slick are excellent scissors that will last you many years without trouble. Many other companies offer good scissors too.

Another scissor you’ll want to have is a heavy duty one for cutting hair. This can be any scissors designed for that purpose like a heavy fly tying scissor or a heavy hair scissor you might find in a beauty salon or barber shop. Make sure it’s stout enough to handle a heavy bunch of hair without working loose at the hinge. I also have an old worn pair of scissors I use to cut wire and other hard materials.

Hackle pliers are small pliers with a constant tension designed to wrap hackle feathers around the hook. They come in all sizes and shapes but all perform the same duty. Some even have a swivel head to make it easy to rotate the hackle around the fly. If you’re limited to one set of hackle pliers, select a midge one since it will do all the duties of the larger ones, and it will wrap hackles on flies that are too small for larger hackle pliers.

A bodkin is simply a needle in a handle. You can make your own or buy one at a fly shop. It has many uses including applying head cement, cleaning cement out of hook eyes, picking hair out of fuzzy flies and folding synthetic nymph wings. I’m sure you’ll find dozens of other uses, so it’s nice to have a couple of these handy tools around when you’re tying flies.

Hair stackers are designed to align the tips of hair you’re using for wings, heads and tails. They come in a variety of sizes from very small (used on small hair wings and tails) to very large (used on large clumps of hair when spinning hair heads on bass bugs). It’s nice to have a variety of these things, but if you can afford only one, get a medium sized one since it will do most of the stacking you need to do.

Now that you have your tools, let’s look at tying some specific flies.

Nymph

For this fly, you will need a size 10 to 16 hook, a pheasant tail feather, and black 3/0 or 6/0 thread.

Start the thread on the hook by wrapping it around the shaft a few times securing it with a knot.  Then follow these steps to tie your nymph.

1. Pull about 12 strands of feather fiber from a large pheasant tail feather. Since length is important, be sure to get these fibers from the upper 2/3 of the feather. Trim the base of feather stem material.
2. Position the butt ends of the feather fibers about 1/5 of a hook shank back from the hook eye. This leaves room for the head of the fly later. Using two loose wraps, start tying the fibers down to the top of the hook. If you don’t start with loose wraps, the fibers will twist around the hook. Once you have the loose wraps in place, you can snug them with downward pressure of the bobbin. This is a rule any time you start tying any material to the hook.
3. Use a slight upward lift on the fibers as you wrap them down to the hook. This will prevent twisting of the fibers and keep them on top of the hook. This is also a rule any time you tie in a tail or any other material that will extend over the bend of the hook. Tie the fibers down to the hook bend adding a couple of extra snug wraps of thread at the hook bend end of the fibers to keep them securely in place and prevent twisting. Wrap the thread back to just behind the hook eye.
4. Start wrapping the fibers forward toward the hook eye. As you get closer to the hook eye, you’ll probably need to use your index finger to hold the fibers in place so you can grab them and continue wrapping. Try to adjust your wraps to cover the hook shank yet leave enough fibers to extend to the hook bend or just beyond it.
5. When you reach the place where you started tying the fibers down, tie the fibers off behind the hook eye. Be sure not to crowd the head area just behind the hook eye. This is one problem beginner tyers seem to always have; they crowd the hook eye and don’t leave enough room for a proper head on the fly.
6. Tie the fibers down to the hook eye. There should not be any fiber wraps in the head area of the fly, just tied down fibers.
7. Using your thumb and index finger, fold the fibers back toward the hook bend. Grab the fibers with the thumb and index finger of the other hand and pin them to the hook. The fibers should be evenly distributed around the hook, not just on top. Tie the fibers down in the head area of the fly, forming a smooth head. You don’t need to make too many thread wraps here, just enough to form a smooth head.
8. Whip finish the head with six to ten wraps of a whip finisher. Since you are tying in the head area of the hook, any whip finisher will do.
9. Cut the thread and cement your wraps with a thin head cement. I’ve found Griffin Thin head cement to be a good type of cement for this task, but Flexament or any other thin cement will work.

Basic Dry Fly

For this fly, you will need a standard dry fly hook size 10 to 22, 6/0 to 10/0 thread to match the body color, and your choice of fur to match the type of fly you are replicating.  Then follow these steps:

1. Start the thread and tie in a tail about the same length as the hook shank.
2. Place a few pieces of the fur you are using on the shank and tie down.  A slight upward pressure on the tail fibers while tying them down will minimize the tendency for the fibers to turn around the hook.
3. Wrap the thread around the hook to form the body to approximately 1/3 of the hook shank back from the hook eye. Create a smooth tapered body.
4. Tie in a prepared hackle, curvature (dull side) facing up or forward adding more fur as you go.
5. Using hackle pliers, wrap the hackle forward, dull side facing forward. Keep the wraps even. It doesn’t take a killer grip to get the hackle to wrap tightly.
6. When you get to just behind the hook eye, tie the hackle off and trim. If you tied any hackle barbules down over the eye, trim them. You can carefully singe any hackle fibers in the hook eye with a lighter and a hackle guard over the hook eye to prevent singeing the rest of the hackle.
7. Build a smooth head, whip finish and cement.

Once you have the basic idea of fly tying, the rest is just up to your imagination.  Experiment around with what you have in your head.  Use some trial and error, but most of all, have fun with this new hobby you’ve learned to add to your other hobby of fly fishing.

So you’ve got your equipment, you’ve got your flies, and you’re ready to fish.  There are some things you should consider when it comes to finding fish to catch.