Lots more women are fly fishing than ever before. Once they get a taste of how much fun it can be to catch a fish on a fly rod, many of them switch over completely to using flies for all their fishing. Pretty soon they find themselves becoming intrigued with these tiny bits of fur and feathers that they are fishing with, and begin asking what the various flies represent, what materials are used to make them, and how to pick and choose among them to find the right fly for the fishing they’ll be doing that day. These women are definitely ready to start tying flies in order to expand their knowledge of fly fishing.
Almost everyone needs to take a class to help them get started in fly tying. That’s because there are fundamentals to learn, materials to become familiar with, and basic skills and techniques to master before a lot of the information on the CDs and videos that you find in the fly shop makes sense.
So, where does a woman find a fly tying class and what should she expect to learn in a basic class? First off, visit www.womensflyfishing.net/clubs.htm to see if there is a fly fishing club for women near you that might be offering a fly tying class. Many do so in the winter months. If that doesn’t pan out, then contact any/all of the fly shops or fly fishing clubs in existence in your area. They all offer fly tying classes or clinics of some kind, and many are specifically designed for beginners. You can locate a Trout Unlimited club in your area by visiting http://www.tu.org/about-us/council-chapter-search-1 and typing in the name of your state. Alternatively, you can search the Federation of Fly Fishers clubs.
Beginning fly tying classes are usually small (6-8 people in a class) and designed around students learning basic skills and basic fly patterns. The organizers of the class will usually have all the equipment and materials you need to get started. If they require that you have your own equipment to take the class, see if you can borrow some or rent some until you see if you like fly tying enough to buy your own. The basic equipment consists of a vice to hold the hook, thread, to tie the materials on the hook, a bobbin to hold the thread, and a small scissors. After you take the class you’ll have a better idea of what to buy.
Usually beginning fly tying classes start with an introduction to the various types of flies used for fly fishing. They are, 1) dry flies that float on the surface, and 2) wet flies, that are fished under the surface. Nymphs and streamers are the two most common types of wet flies. Nymphs represent the immature life-stages of bugs, and streamers represent things like leeches, or little bait fish. Because these different flies come in different sizes and designs, fly tying requires hooks of various sizes and types to tie them.
Fly tying also requires that you learn some of the basic materials used in the construction of flies. (In case you didn’t know, fly fishing and fly tying are referred to as the sport of “fooling fish with fur and feathers.”) Basic materials include, among other things, marabou, deer hair, chenille, something called “dubbing,” and long beautiful feathers of different colors called hackle. You’ll probably use both the stiff and skinny “dry-fly” hackle and the wider “saddle” hackle in your class.
The basic skills you should learn in a beginning fly tying class are how to insert the hook in the vice, how to anchor the thread on the hook, how to select and tie the materials that create the fly onto the hook and make them stay there, and how to “tie-off” or finish the fly with the proper head, and knots that will keep the fly from coming un-tied when you are fishing with it. Depending on the flies you tie, you might also learn to use “dubbing” (soft bits of rabbit or other fur or synthetic materials) that adhere to the thread and the hook to look like the body of a real fly, to “palmer” the hackle (tie it on and spiral it toward the hook) to make it look like legs, and to make tails out of different types of materials.
Just wait until you tie your first fly!! You’ll be so proud of yourself, and you’ll be amazed at how life-like your creations look. The only problem may be that the water is too hard for you to go out and use them right away. That’s o.k. fly tying is one of the things that fly fishers do in the winter to help us wait for spring and summer. By the time that summer comes, you’ll have tied lots of flies to use and you can brag that you tied them all yourself!
When you do go out and fish next summer remember,
The first great thrill in fly fishing is the first fish you catch on a fly, but the second greatest thrill in fly fishing is the first fish you catch on a fly that you tied!”
Good Luck! Pudge
