Beginner Fly Tying Suggestions

[phillyfly]

I am brand new to this forum and fly tying but have been fly fishing for a little over a year now. I have only really tied some egg patterns, buggers, weenies, BHPT, princes, and a few hares ear because I use a lot of them. I just entered the world of dubbing and I see a lot of various patterns use this material. I am looking for some suggestions of patterns some of you guys/gals started out tying that were pretty simple to tie and used a decent amount on the streams as well as how you would use them and what time of year. This would be extremely helpful to me becuase I am far from an entomology major and I dont want to tie something just because it looks easy but is not really effective in PA or MD streams.

Go easy on me

 

[pcray1231]

You got most of my subsurface stuff covered, though I prefer PT over BHPT. They do fine to imitate most mayfly species, be sure to tie them in sizes from 12 all the way to 24, really. Might want to add a scud pattern.

You've got no dries!

Start with the basics, mayflies and caddis.

Mayfly: While we get ultra realistic with our mayfly colors and life stages, in reality you can do ok with just an Adams in various sizes. Comparaduns do a decent job at imitating emergers, duns, and spinners all three. Parachutes do an ok job as well.

Caddis: I like CDC style, which is incredibly easy to tie. Just some dubbing for a body and CDC wing, the end. Elk or deer hair wings are popular too, and they work. If you put some hackle over the dubbing, and add the elk hair wing, you have a high floater that can be skittered, which can be deadly at times.

Learn to tie an Adams comparadun and a CDC caddis in various sizes, and your at least in the ballgame for 90% of dry fly situations.

Other thoughts:

midges (dries and nymphs)
terrestrials (wet and dry ant do very well)

Welcome to the forum!

 

[MKern]

Start with wingless dries, but just enough to learn proportion and "standing/floating" ability and appearence.

You can go wrong with a size 14 black ant.

I'm fond of synthetics (not premade parts) so I also recomend tubing, floss, and foam.

 

[phillyfly]

Pcray,
I havent even considered tying dries yet becuase I was thinking I had some time before I would actually use them. I probably should have mentioned that. The CDC seems pretty popular through some of the other conversations I have read. Do they fish well all year long?

 

[pcray1231]

Depends on location. There are streams where caddis dominate, and streams where mayflies dominate.

Caddis dominated streams: Steady, but not overwhelming caddis hatches for most of the year, but probably not mid-winter. Say, late March through November. My local stream, the Tulpehocken, is an example of such a stream. There are many different varieties of caddis, so various colors and sizes. CDC often work well at these places as they seem to do better for smaller caddis varieties, in my experience anyway. I did fairly well in early November, for instance, floating size 20 and 22 CDC caddis imitations.

Mayfly dominated streams: Probably the more common experience through most of the state. Most of the central PA limestoners fit this mold, and in my experience mayfly imitations do better on most small streams too. Some of them do get a monster caddis hatch at isolated times, like the grannoms on Penns or the LJR in April. I mean, like a blizzard. Otherwise, there's always a few caddis fluttering around throughout the spring, summer, and fall but they are a secondary food source. I usually use a elk or deer hair variety, etiher to match the grannoms, or as a searching fly. Swinging traditional wet flies also does very well during the bigger caddis hatches.

 

[osprey]

MKern...........the black ant suggestion is a great one , it's easy to tie , it floats well (foam) , durable and last but not least will catch trout , including big pickey ones. That's good honest info there.

 

[yea-who]

Griffth Gnat
http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=138
Adams
http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=133
Caddis
http://www.theanglersnet.com/Fly-Tying-Videos/play_video.asp?section=6&VID=130

 

[gfen]

Soft-hackle wet flies, like the partridge-and-peacock. Easy to tie, cheap materials, highly versatile.

Its probably got a name, but I don't know it. Bright green dubbing, ribbed with gold/copper/green (whatever's close) short thorax of peacock hurl, and a black head all on a scud hook. Great little caddis imitator.

Finally, I don't care what anyone says, the Royal Coachman is a winner. It not only works, but its a timeless classic and pretty to look at it.

 

[littlelehigh]

Dubbing isn't hard just remember use half the amount you THINK you will need. You can alway add more but it's a pain when you put to much on the string.

As for flies to start with make a PT with a brown/olive dubbed thorax it don't get any easier than that. Other patterns you can mess up because they are suppose to look ugly are shrimp, cressbugs, and JayL's favorite walts worm.

Gfen's pick are all simple effective patterns you should carry to.


Which ever one you choose tie 6 of them before moving on and you'll be a master in no time. Don't be itimidated!

 

[afishinado]

phillyfly wrote:
I am brand new to this forum and fly tying but have been fly fishing for a little over a year now. I have only really tied some egg patterns, buggers, weenies, BHPT, princes, and a few hares ear because I use a lot of them. [color=CC0000]I just entered the world of dubbing and I see a lot of various patterns use this material. [/color] I am looking for some suggestions of patterns some of you guys/gals started out tying that were pretty simple to tie and used a decent amount on the streams as well as how you would use them and what time of year. This would be extremely helpful to me becuase I am far from an entomology major and I dont want to tie something just because it looks easy but is not really effective in PA or MD streams.

Go easy on me

A couple of suggestions. First, synthetic dubbing is easy to work with and is usually best for dry flies for floatation. No need to go crazy buying every color under the sun though. Get some basic colors of synthetic dubbing (Brown, white, olive, gray, black) and mix them to achieve the color you are looking for. Nymphs are usually better tied with natural dubbing having spiky guard hairs. Consider getting a hares mask for nymphs. The mask has sections on it with white>cream>tan>brown>gray>black. You can tie an awful lot of different colored buggy looking nymphs from one mask. Here is a link to everything you could think of about dubbing:

http://ukflydressing.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sbs&action=display&thread=4046

The most expensive fly tying material is dry fly hackle. I recommend you don’t buy a cheap neck, because you really get what you pay for. When I first started to tie, I thought it was impossible to tie a decent dry fly like the ones in the fly shop. I tied them with “Indian” necks. I finally saved up my money and sprung for a “Metz” neck, the best at the time, and voila!…my dries became masterpieces all of a sudden. Try buying Whiting 100’s in the size and color you need at first. At some point you may want to buy a neck or saddle. Whiting bronze grade ¼ saddles are a good value and have the sizes you will need. Also do a search for “comparadun” patterns. A swatch of deer hair is relatively cheap, and tying comparaduns instead of parachute or Catskill flies using hackle is a good compromise because the fish love comparaduns as well.

Finally, get a hatch chart or just ask on this site which dry flies are important in the streams you fish. No need to tie a Quill Gordon if you will never see one. Also no need to worry about tying a Slate Drake (Isonychia) right now if they aren’t hatching until later in the summer and fall. Maybe try a BWO (Blue Wing Olive) pattern, surely, when spring comes they will be hatching on most PA streams. Here are two decent sites with tutorials for fly tying:

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/index.cfm

http://hipwader.com/flyfishing/oreillys-fly-tying/tying-fly-patterns/fly-tying-dry-patterns/


HTH, good luck.

 

[phillyfly]

Not to sound too dumb here but what is the differences in sizes of hackle. For example what size dry should I tie with a 1/4 hackle?

 

[afishinado]

Generally flies have proportions based on the size of the fly. Here are some articles and general rules for you to read:

http://derekspace.net/prop.htm

http://www.sexyloops.com/flytying/proportion.shtml

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jxn174/jjn531b/dryflyproportions.html

http://flytyingworld.com/article-detail-6-DryFlies.html

HTH. Good luck.

 

[Bruno]

The hackle needs to be proportional to the size of your hook when wound around it. Get or make yourself a hackle gauge. You could print the image below and glue it to a block of wood or something then you have a gauge.

 

[troutslammer]

bwo nymphs and dries ....easy to tie

 

[osprey]

phillyfly.............let me suggest something , actually two things , first i'd say learn how to tie a passable foam black ant dry fly , take that fly to the nearest bluegill pond you can gain access to , and have at it , you'll learn so much in a few hours fishing it will amaze you. The second thing i'd suggest is consider using bait on a few small trout streams , practicing catch and release of course , using barbless hooks , but using bait to get the feel of rod handling , boredom will be reduced to a minimum because you will be catching fish and missing fish and landing fish , all the while gaining a little bit of info at a time , at some point in the future impose the restriction on yourself of "no more bait" but to gain the rod handling , casting , catching , releasing , etc. skills you need to get to that point consider bait. I hope my suggestion doesn't offend the folks on here , i'm seriously trying to help a person who is just starting out , and will evolve into one of US if we can hold their attention and create an interest , It's that old Steelworker Organizing mentality rearing its head again. fillyfly........most important of all WELCOME ABOARD.......HAVE FUN!!!!!