How to Start Tying Flies: A Beginner’s Guide

Someone told me I’d save a lot of money if I start tying flies on my own. That was a fib, though it was said with good intentions, and it missed the point. Tying flies isn’t really about saving a few bucks. It has much more to do with making an angler a better fly fisherman. The fly-tying task is a pleasant chore to help pass a rainy evening (or the winter), and has value beyond the cost of the vise, tools, hooks, feathers, hair, and other materials that all tyers accumulate. As an added bonus, tying flies is supported by wonderful friends and characters that add enormously to the overall fly-fishing experience.

An upside is that there is a big advantage to creating flies that match the natural bait or insect hatch where you locally fish. Home-tied flies are generally significantly more durable than factory-tied ones and can take a lot more abuse from raspy-toothed striped bass and largemouth bass.  Even sharp-toothed chewers like bluefish and pickerel do less damage to fly wraps protected by resin or acrylic coatings. Adding a dab of Hard As Nails or CA glue at every step of the process adds enormously to a fly’s durability. 

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Other important advantages include the ability to infinitely customize your selection of fly patterns as to size, color, length, fullness or sparseness, flashy or plain, and to vary the size and choice of hooks. In total, all these factors come into play and give the fly-tyer a huge advantage over the angler who buys factory-made flies.

Take a Clouser, for instance. My Clouser box has about two dozen flies in it.  Some are tied bushy in chartreuse for better visibility in dirty water; others are sparsely tied in olive and white for clear water; some are long and thin like a sand eel; still others are short, more like an anchovy.  A few have the eye at mid-hook while others are tied with the dumbbell eyes lashed closer to the hook eye for a more pronounced up-and-down action.  

Of course, you can customize any fly. You can make them full like a shaving brush or very lean and sparse. You can lash in lots of tinsel for a glitzy appearance that bluefish relish or mute the presentation to appeal to stripers with only two or three flash strips. Controlling the length, fullness, amount of flash, and even the materials themselves, such as bucktail versus nylon hair versus ostrich herl or rabbit strips, are potential choices.  

You can also choose hooks that are more fly-fisherman friendly than what’s shown in a book’s tying instructions. While many textbooks and online videos call for a certain hook size, going to a smaller hook often gets more hook-ups and allows the fly to work with a more lifelike presentation. I look for hooks with large eyes because it’s easier to re-tie a knot to the fly when fishing at night. The eye of an Owner AKI 5170 or AKI Light 4170, a traditional Eagle Claw 254 or 253, or Mustad’s 34007 are a lot friendlier for those of us who need “cheaters” to tie the fly to the bite tippet. 

Getting Started: Keep It Simple

If you’re just starting out, the task of choosing tying equipment and supplies can seem daunting, so a visit to a local fly-fishing club or a local fly-fishing tackle shop is a good idea to check out what’s required and the cost of the equipment, tools, and materials. Resist the temptation to buy everything “right now.”  Shopping around is more about being sure what you to purchase rather than getting the best price possible. You might save a few bucks on an impulse buy that sounds fantastic today, but next month, you may find that it doesn’t really fit your needs or lacks quality. A visit or two at a local fly club will identify the specific tools necessary to tie the most fish-catching flies for the local area where you fish.  Back that up with more information from a local tackle shop. 

Veteran tyers often suggest starting simple. You don’t need every tool, every color feather or bucktail, or every possible hook  You can start with the basics of black, white, and maybe chartreuse threads.  All the other stuff like various stick-on eyes, an extensive hook selection, special coatings and curing lights, multiple scissor options, weights, tool stand, and tying desk aren’t needed in the beginning. While veteran tyers often have dedicated work spaces, a kitchen table or basement workbench are just fine.  

At the heart of the fly-tying equipment list is a vise, which is also the most expensive tool in a fly-tyer’s workshop. Bargain-basement vises offer tempting prices, but some of them lack long-lasting quality. Some cheap vices have soft metal jaws that may not hold a hook securely over time. Without question, it makes better economic sense to put your money toward the purchase of a basic but better-quality vise.  

Buying a used vise is an alternative that can save a lot of money. Fly shops often have great prices on trade-ins from customers replacing a basic vise with something more sophisticated. Many fly clubs host annual flea markets where you can find a bargain without sacrificing quality. A starter vise with fewer whistles and bells, like Renzetti’s Apprentice vise, costs around  $150, and basic vises from HRH, Peak, and Griffin coast about $50 more than that. Not only are the prices reasonable, but these basic vises will last for years.  

It’s also a good idea to get opinions from experienced tyers at fly-club meetings, from instructors at tackle shops, or from tying classes. Check out the websites of quality manufacturers, then visit your local fly shop to see a vise in person and check out how it feels. Is it big or small, high or low, and do the controls work for you? Some fly shops have vises and tying tools for sale at popular winter fly-fishing shows scheduled for New England, New Jersey, Long Island, and the mid-Atlantic areas. Several shops give a discount if you purchase the vise and basic tools at the show, or they might throw in a complimentary tying lesson. They want your business and will often go to considerable lengths to make you a happy customer.

Beginner Fly-Tying Resources

Nothing beats personal tutoring and guidance to build a good foundation of tying skills. For instance, Paul McCain at River Bay Outfitters on Long Island offers in-person tying classes at the shop and unique Zoom online classes where you tie at home, backed up with personal online instruction from Paul himself. River Bay provides a special package of materials that’s mailed to you containing everything required to tie the featured fly.  

Fly Tying Classes

Search online for the following fly clubs and their meeting schedules, along with winter and spring fly-tying sessions. Some are free, some charge a small fee, others have online video fly-tying libraries, though all are entertaining and welcoming to newcomers and experienced tyers.

Connecticut – Connecticut Fly Fisherman’s Association

Delaware – Saltwater Fly Anglers of Delaware

Massachusetts – New England Saltwater Fly Rodders, Crossroads Anglers Fly Fishing Club, South Shore Fly Casters

New Jersey – Atlantic Salt Water Flyrodders, Bayshore Saltwater Flyrodders, Coastal Flyrodders, South Jersey Fly Casters

New York – Long Island Flyrodders, Salty Flyrodders of New York

Rhode Island – Rhody Flyrodders

Virginia – Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers

There are several excellent books that provide step-by-step directions and detailed tying recipes for popular flies—everything from coastal striped bass, weakfish and bluefish, and  pond-dwelling panfish and bass.

Good Reading for Beginner Fly Tyers

These books offer interesting reading along with detailed, sequential photos and text instructions for proven patterns from old-time tyers to new, innovative patterns of the modern age. They include some history, along with fishing tips and interesting background information about the original tyers. Some are recently published titles and are easy to find at most fly shops or online. Some you’ll have to search for on eBay, such as Ken Bay’s Salt Water Flies from 1973, Joe Bates’ 1950 (1966) classic Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing. All are great references and enjoyable reading. There are dozens more to be found and it’s easy to get hooked on collecting fly-tying books. Check out upcoming fly shows for more titles.  

The Orvis Guide to Essential American Flies; Tom Rosenbauer, Universe Publishing.

Fleye Design; Techniques, Insights, Patterns; Bob Popovics and Jay Nichols, Stackpole Books.

Essential Saltwater Flies; Ed Jaworowski, Stackpole Books.

Making Better Flies; Lou Tabory, Stackpole Books.

Salt Water Flies; Kenneth Bay, Lippincott Co.

Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing; Joseph D. Bates, Jr., The Stackpole Company.

The internet is another valuable source for fly-tying information. While I find a book much handier as a reference, nothing beats a live-action video to show the steps, hand motions, and tying techniques that professional tyers use to create neat, effective flies. Watching how an accomplished tyer wraps the threads to secure the materials, shapes the fly, and shows a step-by-step sequence can significantly benefit both experienced and newbie tyers.

One of the best is Tim Flagler at Tightlines Productions. He’s filmed over 700 entertaining and educational videos that include specific fly patterns and close-ups of the fly-tying sequences to make them. Tim covers sweetwater and salty fly patterns, and his library also includes knot-tying tips and techniques. 

A winter visit to a local Trout Unlimited chapter meeting or a salty fly club is always rewarding. Most clubs host tying clinics or classes; some have fly-tying speakers with special presentations and many offer in-club swap meets to buy and sell tying equipment and fly tackle. Information about TU chapters is available online. Fly Fishers International is another great source of fly-tying information, with an extensive library of online tying videos and a state-by-state list of their numerous supporting clubs, both fresh and salt, that offer local classes and support.

So, whether you’re a new tyer ready to learn the basics or a veteran looking to learn about new patterns you haven’t tried yet, there’s plenty of hands-on personal instruction available through clubs, fly shops, and friends.  Those can be backed up with excellent books, detailed YouTube videos, and other online sources. If you’re not yet tying your own flies, this winter is a great time to start. Choose a simple pattern with only a few tying steps. Learning to tie a fly with 68 steps is tedious and not much fun, while an hour at the vise tying a simple fly will melt away quickly. It’s creative and fun, relaxing, and distracting. For some tyers, it’s about clearing their heads from the day-to-day stress of business, politics, commuting, or lousy weather.  Others simply enjoy the fun and relaxation of filling up their fly boxes for the coming season. Catch ‘em up!

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Perfecting Your Fly Presentation

Sand Eel Fly Patterns for the Fall Run

Fly Fishing for Stripers: Tips from the Montauk Masters

Source: https://onthewater.com/how-to-start-tying-flies-a-beginners-guide

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