by Mike Buss, Virginia Beach Fly Anglers
Just about everyone I know who fly fishes has thought about tying their own flies. Usually, they begin to think about tying their own flies after a particularly expensive fly fishing session where they decorated trees along their favorite stream with some of their more expensive flies or managed to break a number of flies off on underwater snags. It seems an unwritten rule, the more expensive the fly the higher in the tree or the more securely it will be snagged.
How do you get started fly tying? First, contact your local fly club or the Trout Unlimited club, as most clubs offer fly tying classes periodically though out the year. Many fly shops offer these classes as well and if you are near an Orvis shop, they offer classes all year long.
Many beginners make the mistake of buying a large number of tools along with a large amount of materials like fur and feathers. The basic tools needed are a vise, a bobbin, scissors, and a dubbing needle. You will also need some head cement and fly tying thread. I recommend selecting your favorite fly patterns and searching online for the menu of materials needed to tie specific flies.
If you are not able to find a fly tying class, there are step-by-step videos online showing how to tie almost any fly. Simply follow these instructions and donât worry if your initial attempts donât look like the professionally tied flies you see in your favorite fly shop. With practice you will get better.
With practice, fly tying is easy and enjoyable. Do try to tie as often as you can, even if only for 30 minutes or so every day. Also, try to keep to just a single pattern until you can tie it to your satisfaction before attempting another pattern. Be sure to select patterns you actually fish as the objective is to tie flies that will find their way to the end of your leader and hopefully into the mouth of a fish!
If you come across a new fly that interests you be sure to purchase two of them and then look the pattern online for pictures of how to tie the fly. If you only find a menu for the fly and no step-by-step pictures, take one of the two flies you purchased and reverse engineer the fly. By this I mean take the fly and slowly âuntieâ it with a razor taking off the materials that are tied to make the fly. Be sure to use your cell phone and take a picture of each item you remove from the fly. When you have removed all of the materials, simply put them back on the hook in reverse order from the way you removed them. When you are finished your creation should look like the fly you purchased but did not cut apart. To tie another just refer to the menu and collect all the materials listed that will be needed to tie the fly.