How to Tie a Fly

Anglers will find a wide assortment of perfectly suitable flies wherever fishing supplies are sold but many anglers prefer to tie their own. To tie one’s own fly means to make one’s own lure to use for fly fishing.

Since fly fishing is all about tricking a fish to believing your lure is actually a succulent fly flitting along the surface of the water, the most successful anglers know how to tie a fly that closely resembles the real thing. Fortunately, fish enjoy a wide variety of insects for dinner so there’s lots of room for creativity. No need to stress out if your wooly bugger or royal wulff isn’t exactly perfect. The fish will never know.

The first step in learning how to tie flies is to determine which type fly you want to start with. Each type of fly mimics an insect that would hang out around your favorite fishing hole so spend some time studying its natural food chain. How you fish is also an important consideration for how to tie a fly for fly fishing. Again, a look at nature helps since various types of fly represent the various stages in the life cycle of an insect.

DRY FLIES
Dry flies are the most popular because anglers have the most fun catching the fish when this type fly is used. Dry flies represent the adult, winged, stage of the insect and they are meant to float on top of the water, where they stay dry, just like an insect laying eggs or drying out its wings. Dry flies can often coax the fish out of the water, getting the catch off to the exciting start so many anglers crave.

WET FLIES
Wet flies don’t float. Instead, they represent the insect in its pupae or nymph phase. This phase occurswhen the insect is mature enough to swim for the surface in its quest for adulthood. Insects lay an abundance of eggs, knowing most of them will be eaten before reaching maturity. Fish love them for their abundance so wet flies are important. Anglers learning how to tie flies for fishing will want to make lots of these flies.

NYMPHS / LARVAE
Nymphs don’t have the flamboyant feathers and hairs dry and wet flies do but they are extremely important to the fish. The insect spends most of its time in this stage of life and can make up as much as 95% of a fish’s diet. Every respectable tackle box is loaded with flies that represent nymphs and larvae.

STREAMERS
Streamers are not flying insects at any stage of their life cycle but fish eat a more varied diet than just flying bugs. Streamers are made to represent other parts of a natural fish diet, which includes small things that swim through the water.Streamer flies often mimic minnows, crayfish, worms, leaches, and the like.

Fish and tackle shops offer a smorgasbord of fly-making tools and equipment.They usually employ an angler or two who can tell you what works best in local waters and help you find exactly the right tools and embellishments you’ll want.Be careful, though. One problem many fly-tying anglers run into is that the fly
tying is as much fun as the fly fishing!