Tying the fly of a life time

When I first got into fly fishing, my grandma introduced me to tying flies. She would always have me over on the weekends and she would either help me tie flies or get one of her friends to teach me how to fly fish. Eventually she wanted me to tie flies with her and she even took a class for tying flies just so she could make me happy. The one fly that I attempted to tie again was her favorite. She always wanted me to tie her one whenever I opened up my fly tying kit.

This fly is probably one of the best flies I've ever tied. In the book "Essential Trout Flies" by David Hughes, he talks about the golden age of streamers: "The golden age of streamers lasted two or three decades, ending in the 1960s. But these beautiful flies represent things that trout still eat, and they still catch trout" (85). This shows how you can still make beautiful flies and still catch trout. 

To tie this fly I used the materials: red and orange dyed buck tails. Like Hughes once said in the beginning of the book, you don't want to use cheap material because they tend to not be as durable as more expensive material. These two buck tails were about $10-15 each.

This fly will always be held close to my heart. It's a beautiful fly and it will always remind me of my grandma. Hughes said these flies tend to usually be big flies, size 4 and 6 but they give a lot of positive results when they are tied in sizes 8 and 10 like the one I tied. The hook I used was size 10 because the trout here in Washington tend to be on the smaller size.

From the book "Essential Trout Flies" by David Hughes, I learned that you can tie any fly, any shape or size and still be able to catch trout. I also learned that tying flies is truly an art because how much time and patients you have to put into it. You have to not only replicate but master the ability to examine and copy what flies actually look like in nature.

To continue on about tying flies, do you think tying flies should be considered an art? why or why not?

Second shot at Dry Flies

In my last post, I talked about one of my first experiences with tying dry flies. This time I'll be telling you about my second dry fly which I added rubber legs. This dry fly wasn't my greatest fly of all time because of my choice to use black thread on a pink body. But the cool thing about this fly was the fact that I added rubber legs. This fly is intended for the species called Steelhead Trout, which is a trout that has traveled to the ocean and back and is considered a salmon. 

In the book "Essential Trout Flies" by David Hughes, on page 59 he talks about how you should add your own variations to compensate what you need out on the field. The reason why I'm using bright pink is for the ability to catch Steelhead Trout during the spawning season for trout and or salmon. Hughes also talks about adding the addition of rubber legs, even though it makes the fly lose its resemblance to natural insects, but we're after trout who have a brain the size of a pea. Hughes goes on about how you need to tie your fly in the eyes of a trout.

If I ever went back and tried to tie this fly again, I would make my thread look a lot neater. It looks like if a spider web was black and someone walked through it and broke it.

Even though I made the mistake of not using red or pink thread to tie the fly it still can work for fishing with. Just like Hughes was talking about, you're fishing for a species that has a brain the size of a pea. Also if you look at the "wonderful" fly I just made you can look at it and see plenty of things. You see a row of eggs, a pink fly, and a pink fly with water legs. I had a lot of fun tying this fly because of having a chance to bring in a new aspect of fly tying, adding rubber legs.

Tying flies helps me out in the real world by making me become more patient with things and give me the ability to sit down and work things out. It also makes me calmer because I can just sit down and recreate insects that I've seen out in nature. Also it give me the ability to go outside and explore nature to find out about more insects and what insect fish are going after the most. 

For anyone out there that has ever tied flies, what's your favorite one to tie?

My shot at tying Dry Flies

When I used to tie flies/use them, my favorite fly to use while fishing was a dry fly. I never got to tying them but I loved using them. The reason why I liked using them was because the way they float through the water. They glide elegantly on top of the water. In the book "Essential Trout Flies" by David Hughes, he talks about what dry flies are, what they do, and how you're supposed to use them.

Whenever I tried to tie dry flies I would mess up because how light/loose the material was. This time I was very patient and made sure I securely tied down the material to the shank of the hook. I tied the fly with a bigger hook because I wanted to be able to practice on a big hook so I could see everything I was doing and make sure I didn't make any mistakes.

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In the book "Essential Trout Flies" by David Hughes, he mentions when you tie dry flies, you wanna make sure you use light material. He also goes into detail about the fly having to rest lightly on the water before lifting off to freedom (46). I used a type of olive dubbing. I also used medium dun CDC for the wings. 

If I could go back and tie this fly again, I would try and use a green thread instead of black thread because it really shows on the fly. Also I would use a smaller hook and be a lot more careful with the eye of the hook. I could still use the eye of the hook if I used these flies but I would have a hard time getting my line through it. Also in the book on page 46, Hughes talks about three different types of CDC's (cul-de-canard which is translated as "butt of the duck") and I would of tied a harder one next time I go through these steps.

For anyone else that has tied flies, what are some tips that I could use to help me become more successful with tying dry flies?

Essential Guide to Fly Tying

 Learning how to tie dry flies has always been a major goal for me. Before reading this book "Essential Trout Flies" by Dave Hughes, I didn't know how to tie dry flies. The reason why I never learned it was because tying flies was a huge hobby for my grandmother and I until she passed away. We never made it to tying dry flies but I loved the way they floated down stream and the fact that you see the fish break the surface of the water to take the fly.

This time I figured out that my problem with tying flies was, not using a green background. In the book, "Essential Trout Flies" by Dave Hughes, he taught me, "Whatever type of tyng area you use, cover the surface behind the vise with a sheet of light green artist's mat board" (Hughes 6). This gives me an advantage while tying flies by allowing me to differentiate the threads/strings apart from each other. This will help especially when I get into tying advanced flies when I'm using multiple threads and materials at the same time. I found out that you can use any thing as the background as long as it's green.

The picture below is the materials I used for the fly I'm tying. "Dry flies should always be tied with materials that repel rather than absorb water. Dry flies are the flies that float on the water instead of sinking hence the name dry flies" (Hughes 18).

The picture below is of me doing the basic Soft Loop (Just like in the last post) which is the main way to tying the material you are using to the hook with your thread. "You'll use a soft loop nearly every time you tie a new material to the hook shank- tails, bodies, wings, whatever" (Hughes 14).

Next I made sure to create the thorax region of the mayfly which is fatter than the back half. "Wrap five evenly spaced turns of hackle forward over this thorax" (Hughes 22).

Hughes emphasizes to use strong and good quality materials when tying dry flies. He does this because the quality of material really makes what type of fly you're tying. In this picture, I'm using the soft loop technique to tie a new material onto the hook. "Any stiff, web-free rooster neck or saddle feathers are best for dry-fly hackles and tails, soft and webby hen or poor-grade rooster for wet flies, nymphs, and streamers" (Hughes 18).

After this, you wanna make sure you trim any excess material hanging over/in the eye of the hook. This is a key step because if you don't then when you completely tie off the fly you will close the eye of the hook. To completely tie off a fly, you want to use some type of cement. I use clear nail polish because its the easiest to come by and the easiest to apply straight onto the fly. If you have a closed eye of a hook you can't get your line through it so you can't tie the fly onto your line. "Be sure that the eye of every fly is clear of both thread and cement before you make the final transfer from the tying bench to your fly box" (Hughes 16).

These are pretty bad dry flies but this helped me get used to tying stiff material and trimming material on the hook. I don't think I would ever fish with these flies because they aren't that appealing and I think I used to much fur. The fly looks bigger than what a natural fly in Washington would look like.

One piece of advice I can offer someone with this experience is that when you tie a dry fly, make sure you are ready to tie on your material when you cut it (especially if its a stiff material). If you aren't ready to tie it on but you cut some off, you will most likely have a hard time holding the material while trying to thread the hook. I made this mistake when I was tying these flies, I cut a piece of the deer fur off before I was ready to tie it on and I ended up dropping it all and making a huge mess. Another piece of advice is to use anything that is the color green as the back drop behind your vise. This was so much easier on my eyes because I didn't have to look super close to see where the threads were and where all my feathers(materials) were. A third tip is if you don't have fly head cement, then use clear nail polish. It dries faster and it's a lot easier to be more precise when going around the eye of the hook.

Do any fly tiers have any tips to help me tie more appealing dry flies?

Citation:
Hughes, Dave. Essential Trout Flies. China: Jim Schollmeyer, Tracy Patterson and K Yonenoi, 2000.

Essential Guide to Fly Tying

 I've always wanted to learn how to tie flies more in depth. Before reading this book "Essential Trout Flies" by Dave Hughes, I knew how to tie very basic flies. The mixture of colors and specific amount of material just seemed too hard for me to master.

One of the main things I was doing wrong was that I covered the point of the hook in the clamps. In the book, "Essential Trout Flies" by Dave Hughes, he taught me, "Don't try to cover the point of the hook with the jaws; that crimps the wire, weakening the hook" (Hughes 14). I always wondered why my hooks were so weak. I would cover the point of the hook because it helps shield the thread from the sharp part of the hook. This saves the risks of weakening the thread you are using to tie with. I found out that if you put the hook farther down in the clamp, the point of the hook isn't covered up but it is still shielded. This makes sure it doesn't cut the thread you are using to tie with. Using this technique doesn't weaken the hook.

The picture below is of me doing the basic Soft Loop which is the main way to tying the material you are using to the hook with your thread. "You'll use a soft loop nearly every time you tie a new material to the hook shank- tails, bodies, wings, whatever" (Hughes 14).

Hughes suggested practicing the Whip Finish method. The Whip Finish Method is basically a technique to tie off the thread so it doesn't unravel when you cut your thread. "You must finish every fly head with a whip finish. Many experienced tiers execute the whip finish with their fingers" (Hughes 15). Even though I'm not an experienced tier, I prefer using my fingers because it's a lot faster. Also it's one less tool to deal with in your workplace. In this picture, I'm using the Whip Finish Tool. I practiced this Whip Finish Technique a few times on a hook that has only been threaded.

This isn't the best fly but this helped me get a feel for tying flies again. This helped me practice, threading the fly, adding material to the fly, centering the hook, and Whip Finishing.

One easy tip for tying flies is to find short cuts for yourself. For example, I don't use this Whip Finish tool to save some time. Another tip is to keep yourself well organized, have all your fly materials labeled and in a spot that you can easily find them, grab the amount you need and tie away.

Do any fly tiers out there have any other tips to help me in my journey to tie flies?



Citation:
Hughes, Dave. Essential Trout Flies. China: Jim Schollmeyer, Tracy Patterson and K Yonenoi, 2000.