Fly Tying

Fly Tying

While you can buy pre-made flies, there’s nothing more satisfying than tying your own flies and being able to share with your friends the fact that you caught a 4 pound fish using a fly you made yourself. While it’s not complicated, fly tying can be a very delicate art.

You can start of with a few items and then build your fly tying box as you go along. Some of the items you will need are assorted hooks, different colored thread, fly vice, scissors, bodkin, hackle pliers, bobbin and assorted fur and feathers.

The craft store or old sewing box is a great place to find some different materials. Also, keep an eye out for bird feathers, floating about when you are out for walks.

The first piece of equipment you will need when fly tying is a fly vice. This will hold your hook while you are tying the material on. You will want a vice that can hold all different shapes and sizes of hooks, and one that is easily adjustable. The old vices were more like woodworking vices then the precision ones of today! With vices you basically get what you pay for, although you don’t need a fly tying vice with all the bells and whistles on it when starting out.

Get a bobbin that will hold your thread. A bobbin will keep your thread tight and organized while you are tying your fly. Bobbins come in a variety of sizes, but they all basically do the same thing, which is hold the thread and make it easy to wrap the thread. Spend just a little bit more money on a bobbin and you won’t have to worry about cut threads before you are through.

You need to also splurge on a good pair of scissors. To start out with, one pair of scissors is enough, but as you get better at fly tying, you’ll want to have a variety of shapes and sizes to meet the needs of the flies you are tying. The loops should fit your fingers comfortably, and they should be kept sharp. Normal kitchen scissors are too big and are not precise enough to get close to the fly and trim thread and material.

Hackle pliers are small pliers with enough constant tension designed to wrap hackle feathers around the hook. As with scissors, they come in all shapes and sizes, but they all do basically the same thing.

Find a good bodkin too. A bodkin is basically a needle in a handle. You can use a bodkin not only to tie the fly, but also for delicate work that requires a small, sharp point like separating out pieces of feather and fur.

Of course, you’ll also need a large selection of materials like feathers and fur, to match the different types of flies you want to build. Mink fur and pheasant feathers are good materials to work with, as are peacock feathers. More synthetic materials are being used today with good results in tying the fly and the look of it.

There are some good books and videos, (I probably should say DVD’s) available that can teach you fly tying. Like fly fishing though, there is nothing like actually doing it first hand. Don’t worry if some of your flies look like a big ugly monster from the blue lagoon rather than a delicate mayfly imitation.

Start out doing basic nymph patterns then some wet fly patterns before you progress to dry flies. The best way to learn how to tie your fishing flies is to experiment and keep doing it. You’ll eventually find techniques that work for you and be well on your way to becoming an expert on fly tying for your fly fishing needs.

Sometimes you don’t even have to wet your line in the water to enjoy yourself. Fly tying can just be as addictive!