Fly tying - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fly tying is the process of producing an artificial fly

Artificial fly

An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing . In general, artificial flies are the bait which fly fishers present to their target species of fish while fly fishing...

to be used by anglers

Angling

Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...

to catch fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

via means of fly fishing

Fly fishing

Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...

. Probably the most concise description of fly tying is the one by Helen Shaw, a preeminent American professional fly tyer in Fly-Tying.

"Fly-tying is a simple process of binding various materials to a hook with thread.".

Many fly-tyers consider fly tying an art, such as E. C. Gregg in introduction to How To Tie Flies.

"The object of this book will be throughout its entirety to teach in a practical manner the Art of Fly Tying in all its branches.”

At the other end is the apparent view of A. K. Best, a well known professional fly tyer and writer whose book, Production Fly Tying, suggests practical ways to streamline tying technique. Best emphasizes that fly tying is also a science rooted in careful observation of fish and their prey, and then designing and tying artificial flies to replicate that prey to catch fish. One of the first and foremost of these efforts was by Preston Jennings, in his classic: A Book of Trout Flies.

Fly tying requires some basic equipment, the appropriate materials for the fly pattern being tied and a fly pattern to follow or replicate. Fly tying equipment enables the fly tyer to efficiently and effectively assemble and secure the materials on the hook. Flying materials were originally limited to various fur

Fur

Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...

s, feather

Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...

s, threads

Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...

and hooks

Fish hook

A fish hook is a device for catching fish either by impaling them in the mouth or, more rarely, by snagging the body of the fish. Fish hooks have been employed for centuries by fishermen to catch fresh and saltwater fish. In 2005, the fish hook was chosen by Forbes as one of the top twenty tools...

. Today there many different types of natural and synthetic

Synthetic fiber

Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...

materials used to tie flies. Fly patterns represent the “recipe” required to create the fly—what hook size(s) types to use, what materials are to be used, what colors, in what sequence and by what methods are they assembled on the hook. These are the elements of fly patterns. Of patterns, there are thousands.

Hand-tied flies on the commercial market retail from less than a dollar to several dollars each. Fly tying is a challenging and rewarding hobby

Hobby

A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...

for some, a money-saving strategy

Strategy

Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...

for some fly fishermen, and a profitable commercial enterprise for the professional tyer. The professional, commercial fly tyer may produce upwards 3000 dozen flies annually, whereas the amateur

Amateur

An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....

fly tyer may tie only a few flies each season for personal use.

Fly tying history

The history of fly tying (and fly design) is inextricably tied to the evolution and history of fly fishing. Although from the mid-19th century to present times, basic fly tying methods have not changed dramatically. Changes have resulted mostly from the introduction and adaptation of new materials, especially synthetics and new hook designs. Images from early literature devoted to fly tying on the fly construction process are not significantly different from the process used today. Tools associated with fly tying today also evolved as technologies evolved. Flies tied in the mid-19th century were done so without the benefit of a hook vise. Instead the hook was held by the fingers while the fly was constructed. Consider this description: The Method of Dressing a Hackled-fly from Rod Fishing in Clear Waters (London 1860):

Your materials being now in a state of readiness, the hook must be first tied on with waxed silk to the finest end of the hair or gut left after cutting off the curled end, in this manner (Plate vii. No. 1) : Take the bend of the hook between your left finger and thumb, the shank projecting; place an end of the waxed silk, which should be about six inches in length, and the end of the gut along the underside of the shank; pass the silk over until you have wrapped it down to the end of the shank, and two or three turns back for the head of the fly ; take the feather or hackle as prepared (Plate vii. No. 2), put the point of the feather from where it is turned back with the outside next the hook, and hold it there with your left finger and thumb until you pass the silk over it, just where you left off, wrapping it twice or thrice on its downward rounds to the bend of the hook ; take your scissors and cut off the root of the feather, and the superfluous gut under the bend
of the hook, leaving it not quite so long as the body of the fly has to be made ; take the thick end of your feather in your tweezers or pliers and wrap it over three or four times close together, following the silk wrappings until it is all, or as much as you deem sufficient, twirled on; then take your silk and pass over the end once or twice; cut off the superfluous part of the feather and wrap up the shank with the silk, evenly and regularly, to form the body of the fly, and fasten off by a loop-knot or two; or,if you want a thick-bodied fly or one of flossed silk, turn down again and fasten off at the shoulder ; cut off the silk left, set the feather right with your needle and finger
and thumb, and the fly is made or dressed. This is the simplest method.

One of the earliest references to the use of a fly tying vise is in Ogden on Fly Tying (London, 1887). Other fly tying tools—scissors, hackle pliers, bodkins, etc. have remained remarkably similar for the last 120 years.

Imitation

Tying artificial flies has always been about imitating

Imitation

Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics.-Anthropology and social sciences:...

some form of fish prey with natural and/or synthetic materials bound to a hook. Significant literature exists, especially for trout flies, on the concepts of imitation. A Book of Trout Flies – Jennings (1935), Streamside Guide to Naturals & Their Imitations– Art Flick (1947), Matching the Hatch – Schweibert (1955), Selective Trout-Swisher and Richards (1971), Nymphs-Schweibert (1973), Caddisflies-LaFontaine (1989), Prey-Richards (1995) are but a few 20th century titles that deal extensively with imitating natural prey. However, from the human perspective, many fly patterns do not exactly imitate fish prey found in nature, yet they still are successful patterns. As such, a successful or killing fly pattern, therefore imitates something that the target species preys on. This has resulted in fly tiers and fishers devising additional terms to characterize those flies that obviously don’t imitate anything in particular, yet are successful at catching fish. These additional terms are inconsistently, but commonly associated with trout fly patterns because of the huge variety of patterns, both historical and contemporary. The term Attractor pattern has been applied to flies that resemble nothing in particular, but are successful in attracting strikes from fish (Trout Fishing, Brooks 1972). Dick Stewart in Flies for Trout (1993) characterizes these same patterns as General Purpose. Dave Hughes in Trout Flies-The Tier’s Reference (1999) describes the same flies as Searching flies and characterizes three levels of imitation: Impressionistic, Suggestive and Imitative.

Paul Schullery in American Fly Fishing – A History (1996) and The Rise (2006) explains however that although much has been written about the imitation theories of fly design, all successful fly patterns must imitate something to the fish, and even a perfect imitation attracts strikes from fish. The huge range of fly patterns documented today for all sorts of target species-trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

, salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

, bass

Bass (fish)

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

and panfish

Panfish

A panfish, also spelled pan-fish or pan fish, is an edible game fish that usually doesn't outgrow the size of a frying pan. The term is also commonly used by anglers to refer to any small catch that will fit in a pan, but is large enough to be legal. However its definition and usage varies with...

, pike

Esox

Esox is a genus of freshwater fish, the only living genus in the family Esocidae — the esocids which were endemic to North America, Europe and Eurasia during the Paleogene through present.The type species is E. lucius, the northern pike...

, saltwater, tropical exotics, etc. are not easily categorized as merely imitative, attractors, searching, impressionistic or something else.

Tools

The fly tying process benefits from the fly tyer employing the proper tools. According to Skip Morris, a professional fly-tyer, there are several tools essential to the creation of a properly tied fly. He lists essential tools as being: a vise to hold the hook of the fly to be tied, as well as bobbin

Bobbin

A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....

s, magnifying glass

Magnifying glass

A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle ....

for delicate work, hackle pliers, hackle gauges, lights, hair stackers, and scissors

Scissors

Scissors are hand-operated cutting instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, thin...

. Other optional tools are pliers, toothpick

Toothpick

A toothpick is a small stick of wood, plastic, bamboo, metal, bone or other substance used to remove detritus from the teeth, usually after a meal. A toothpick usually has one or two sharp ends to insert between teeth. They can also be used for picking up small appetizers or as a cocktail...

s, bodkins

Sewing needle

A sewing needle is a long slender tool with a pointed tip. The first needles were made of bone or wood; modern ones are manufactured from high carbon steel wire, nickel- or 18K gold plated for corrosion resistance. The highest quality embroidery needles are plated with two-thirds platinum and...

, dubbing twisters, blenders, floss bobbin

Bobbin

A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....

s, whip finishers, wing burners, and bobbin threaders.

Materials

Fly tying material can be anything that is used to construct a fly on a hook. Traditional materials were threads, , yarns, furs, feathers, hair, tinsel

Tinsel

Tinsel is sparkling decorative material that mimics the effect of ice or icicles. When in long narrow strips, it emulates icicles. It was originally a metallic garland for Christmas decoration. The modern production of tinsel typically involves plastic, and is used particularly to decorate...

s, cork

Cork (material)

Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...

, balsa

Balsa

Ochroma pyramidale, commonly known as the balsa tree , is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a large, fast-growing tree that can grow up to tall. It is the source of balsa wood, a very lightweight material with many uses...

and wire. Today's materials not only include all sorts of natural and dyed furs, hair and feathers but a wide array of synthetic materials. Rabbit

Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...

, mink

Mink

There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...

, muskrat

Muskrat

The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...

, fox

Fox

Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

, bear

Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

, squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

and other furs, deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

, moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

hair and chicken

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

, pheasant

Pheasant

Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...

, turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

, goose

Goose

The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....

and partridge

Partridge

Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East...

feathers were and still commonly incorporated into artificial flies. Neck and saddle hackle from chickens, so critical to many artificial fly patterns is being especially bred for fly tying to achieve superior performance and color. Synthetics have allowed fly tyers to replicate rare and sometimes illegal and endangered furs and feathers and well as create completely new types of flies. Synthetics such as rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

legs, plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

wings and transparent plastic cords, chenilles, and all sorts and colors of flashy materials that can be incorporated into wings and bodies of today's artificial fly are available to the 21st Century fly tyer. Whereas lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

wire was the traditional method of weighting flies, today's weighting materials include glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

, brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

and tungsten

Tungsten

Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...

beads and cones as well as lead materials. Silicone

Silicone

Silicones are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant and rubber-like, they are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medical applications , cookware, and insulation....

, epoxy

Epoxy

Epoxy, also known as polyepoxide, is a thermosetting polymer formed from reaction of an epoxide "resin" with polyamine "hardener". Epoxy has a wide range of applications, including fiber-reinforced plastic materials and general purpose adhesives....

, kevlar

Kevlar

Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...

thread and other modern materials are being incorporated in artificial fly patterns regularly.,

Hooks

The hook

Fish hook

determines the basic size and shape of each fly and is generally an important part of any fly pattern description. Hooks come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, lengths, and weights, and the hook must be selected to complement the pattern being tied and the method by which it will be fished. Additionally, flies constructed for use in saltwater are typically tied on corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

-resistant hooks.

The fly pattern

The fly pattern is the recipe

Recipe

A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...

for any particularly named fly. In older literature, especially prior to the 20th century, fly patterns were referred to as dressings. The pattern specifies the size range and type of hook to be used, the materials to use, to include type, color and size and in some cases specific tying instructions to achieve a particular effect or configuration. Fly patterns allow tyers to consistently reproduce any given pattern over time. A Light Cahill dry fly produced by one tyer will look remarkably similar to the same fly produced by a completely different tyer if the pattern is followed with reasonable accuracy with comparable materials. Patterns may also layout alternatives for different materials and variations of the fly.

Fly patterns are usually found in fly fishing and fly tying literature and periodicals to include on-line sources. Although fly patterns do provide some consistency, different writers may publish patterns that contain small to moderate differences across pattern descriptions for the same fly. In many cases, the greatest differences are in tying technique instead of form, color and materials. Fly patterns may or may not have an image or drawing of the finished fly to guide the fly tyer. Historically, fly patterns have been included in texts that discuss fishing a particular genre of fly, fly fishing technique or fly fishing for specific species or genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

of gamefish. There are however, texts that are pure fly pattern and tying references with little or no instruction on how to fish them.

Parts of an artificial fly

Salmon flies have historically been the most complex and gaudy of artificial flies. Texts describing fly tying techniques often use an image of a salmon fly to describe all the parts of an artificial fly. The parts described below are typical.

	Key to Parts of Salmon Fly Image A – Tag C – Tail D – Butt E – Hackle E2 – Throat Hackle F – Under Wing G – Over Wing HH – Horn J – Side K – Cheek L – Head

Fly names

There is no convention or consistency in the naming of artificial flies. Long-standing, popular patterns have names that have persisted well over time. Fly designers, amateur or professional fly tyers however, are free to create any fly they choose and name it anyway they want to. Angling writers, the popular angling press, and professional fly tackle dealers have always introduced new patterns, with new names. The only naming convention is that there is no convention. Flies have been named to honor or celebrate fellow anglers: Royal Wulff, Jock Scott, Quill Gordon, Adams; named to describe their color and composition: Ginger Quill, Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear, Partridge and Orange

Partridge and Orange

The Partridge and Orange is an Artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or soft hackle and is fished under the water surface. The fly is a well known fly with its roots set firmly in English angling history. It is an impressionistic pattern fished successfully during caddis hatches and...

; named to reflect some regional origin: Bow River Bugger, Tellico nymph, San Juan worm; named to reflect the prey they represent: Golden stone, Blue-wing Olive, Pale Morning Dun, White swimming shrimp; named to reflect nothing in particular: Woolly Bugger

Woolly Bugger

The Woolly Bugger is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or streamer and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box...

, Crazy Charlie, Club Sandwich and more often than not named to reflect the name of the designer: Copper John nymph (John Barr), Clouser Deep Minnow

Clouser Deep Minnow

The Clouser Deep Minnow is an Artificial fly commonly categorized as a streamer and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box, especially for bass...

(Bob Clouser), Brooks' Montana stone (Charles Brooks), Carey Special (Colonel Carey), Dahlberg Diver (Larry Dahlberg).

The following is an example of how flies get their names and those names evolve over time.

The Coachman

Most famous of all trout flies is the Coachman, originated by Tom Bosworth, who drove Queen Victoria's coach

The Royal Coachman

The Royal Coachman was first made by John Haily a professional fly dresser living in New York City. In writing of other matters, he enclosed this fly for us to see, saying "A gentleman wanted me to tie up some Coachman for him to take to the north woods and to make them extra strong, so I have tied them with a little band of silk in the middle to prevent the peacock bodies from fraying out. I have also added a tail of the barred feathers of the wood-duck, and I think it makes a very handsome fly." A few evenings later, a circle of us were together "disputing the fly in question", one of the party claiming that numbers were "quite as suitable to designate the flies as so many nonsensical names." The others did not agree with him, but he said: "What can you do? Here is a fly intended to be a Coachman; but it is not the true Coachman; it is quite unlike it and what can you call it?" Mr. L. C. Orvis, brother of Mr. Charles Orvis, who was present said: "Oh that is easy enough; call it the Royal Coachman it is so finely dressed!" And this name in time came to known and used by all who are familiar with the fly.

The Royal Wulff

I will be forever indebted to Dan
Dan Bailey
Dan Bailey was a fly-shop owner, innovative fly developer and staunch Western conservationist. Born on a farm near Russellville, Kentucky, Bailey is best known for the fly shop he established in Livingston, Montana in 1938...

[Dan Bailey] for his companionship and inspiration. Indebted, too, because it was Dan who insisted on giving my name to the Wulff Series and gave me stature I might never have had otherwise. We were fishing together on the Esopus in the spring of 1930 when I was trying out some new flies I'd designed in revolt to the then available Catskill patterns. The new flies had bucktail wings and tails for better floatation. I had planned to call one of them the Bucktail Coachman. It was Dan who insisted that I call them Wulffs and he started tying them under that name-Lee Wulff in the tribute in Mist on the River-Remembrances of Dan Bailey.

Typical fly patterns or dressing descriptions

The typical fly pattern will appear something like one of the illustrative patterns below for the Adams dry fly (without tying instructions) or the Clouser Deep Minnow

Clouser Deep Minnow

(with tying instructions). Based on the fly pattern, a knowledgeable fly tyer can reproduce the fly with the materials specified.

Typical Fly Pattern Descriptions
Fly	Pattern
	HOOK: #10–18 standard dry-fly THREAD: Gray 6/0. WING: Grizzly hen hackle tips. TAIL: Mixed grizzly and brown hackle fibers. BODY: Gray yarn or dubbing. HACKLE: Brown and grizzly hackle.
	HOOK: Mustad 3366, size 2, 4, 6 or 8. If you want a saltwater fly, substitute a tinned or stainless hook. THREAD: White 3/0 or 6/0. EYES: A 1/50 or 1/36-ounce dumbbell painted with vinyl jig paint. BELLY: White bucktail. FLASH: Holographic silver Flashabou, silver Krystal Flash, pearlescent Flashabou, and pearlescent Krystal Flash. Use only four to six strands of each. BACK: Gray bucktail topped with a little hair from the brown portion of the tail. Tying Instructions: Attach the thread behind the eye of the hook and wrap a spiral over two-thirds to three-quarters of the shank. Apply a smear of glue to the spiral of thread. Wrap a layer of thread forward over the wet glue. Reverse direction and wrap to about the middle of the shank. The glue will bond the thread to the hook. Attach the dumbbell with a few X-wraps of thread as shown here. Make sure that it's straight, and then secure it by wrapping diagonally in one direction and then the other. Keep the thread tight as you wrap. Finish with a few more X-wraps. Whip-finish the thread and cut it. Check the alignment of the eyes one more time, and then coat all the threads with superglue. Give the eyes a coat of white vinyl jig paint. Let the white paint dry, and apply a coat of yellow or red. After that dries, give the entire dumbbell a coat of clear vinyl jig paint. Let the clear coat dry most of the way, and then apply the black pupils. You need two bobbins for this operation. Load one with red thread and the other with whatever color you want to use for the nose of the fly. Attach the red thread behind the eyes. Tie on with the other thread at the front of the shank. Attach a sparse clump of white bucktail at the front of the hook. Trim the butt ends and bind them down. Whip-finish and clip the front thread. Pull the hair down behind the eyes and secure it with the red thread. Wrap a band of red thread. Whip-finish and cut the thread. Give the red band two coats of good head cement or one coat of superglue. Let the cement dry. Invert the hook and reattach the nose thread. Tie on the flash material. The flashy stuff should be at least as long as the bucktail. Attach a sparse clump of bucktail. Trim the butts, give them a drop of cement, and bind them down. This step is optional, but it adds a nice touch. Cut a very small bundle of hair from the brown portion of the bucktail. Tie this dark hair on top of the previous bunch. Not that the dark hair is shorter than the material beneath it. Trim the butts, bind them down, and finish the fly's nose. Cement the fly's nose, allowing a little cement to run back into the butts of the bucktail. One the finished fly, the band of red thread suggest a baitfish's gills. Since all of the thread has been cemented, the fly will hold up very well.

Fly pattern types

Historically, fly pattern types have evolved along with fly fishing itself and today there are generally recognized pattern types. However, none of them are absolute and there is much cross-over in patterns and pattern types. Typically the fly tyer will encounter patterns classified as: Dry Flies, Wet Flies, Soft Hackles, Emergers, Nymphs, Terrestrials, Bucktails and Streamers, Salmon (Atlantic) Flies, Steelhead and Salmon (Pacific) Flies, Bass Flies and Bugs, Poppers, Panfish Flies, Saltwater Flies, or Pike Flies. Even within these categories, there can be many sub-categories of imitative and non-imitative flies. For more detail on fly fishing with different types of patterns, see Fly fishing

Fly fishing

and Artificial fly

Artificial fly

A selection of historic and contemporary fly tying theory and pattern references

There are hundreds of fly fishing titles that contain fly tying instructions, fly patterns and information on fly tying tools and materials. Below is a selection of key American and British titles that span the history of fly tying theory from the mid-19th Century to the present day. Additional references on artificial flies and fly tying can be found in the Bibliography of fly fishing

Title	Comments
	Alfred Ronald's, whose Fly-Fisher's Entomology (1836) is regarded as the foundation document of that field...
	Online Version (1855 Edition) William Blacker (the Irishman who operated a tackle shop at 54 Dean Street Dean Street Dean Street is a street in Soho, London, England, running between Oxford Street to the north and Shaftesbury Avenue to the south.-Historical figures:The street has a rich history. In 1764 a young Mozart gave a recital at 21 Dean Street... , Soho, London) was acknowledged as one of the best trout and salmon fly dressers of this day. His fly dressing methods are described and illustrated in his book The Art of Fly-making which first appeared in 1842 and was reissued in 1843 and again in 1855.
	This was Halford's first book, and it launched the opening salvo in the decades long battle pitting fly fishers favoring the floating fly against those endorsing the sunk fly, an argument which today seems as appropriate as the house cook slipping on boxing gloves in preparation to picking out fly droppings from the black pepper.
	Flies from the North Country Though it seems reasonable certain now that many European fly fishers, at least since Aelian's time, used similar styles of flies, the first stop on any historical tour of soft-hackle authority and authenticity is a pair of scarce British angling classics, Thomas Pritt's Yorkshire Trout Flies (1885) and Norman Lee's Brook and River Trouting (1916).


	WHEN Mary Orvis Marbury died in 1914, the English Fishing Gazette acclaimed her as the most famous but one female angling author. (The other was Dame Juliana Berners, an Englishwoman who wrote A Treatyse of Fysshying Wyth an Angle in 1496.) Marbury's Favorite Flies and Their Histories, which became a best seller among anglers after it appeared in 1892 and went through nine printings by 1896, has recently been reprinted by the Wellfleet Press. Today, a fly-tyer and fisherman with a nostalgic bent might take pleasure in duplicating and testing the old patterns (32 color plates illustrate in fine detail some 290 varieties) or compare descriptions of the waters where he fishes with those of nearly 100 years ago. Favorite Flies, the first encyclopedia of American (as opposed to British) patterns, was a landmark publication. In addition to compiling the responses from more than 200 fly fishermen in 38 states, Marbury provided introductory material on stream entomology, which she had first written for publication in outdoor periodicals, as well as histories of the flies discussed (including a fascinating passage of Indian lore about How Glooskap conquered the Great Bull-Frog, and in what Manner all the Pollywogs, Crabs, Leeches, and other Water Creatures were created). Puntuating the chapters are poems by known (Tennyson) and little-known (Hezekiah Butterworth) writers that she fancied.-Ann Barry New York Times.
	Online Version The Salmon Fly enjoys a unique position in the literature of fly dressing since it brought order and system to the classification of salmon flies and the methodology of salmon fly dressing.



	Jennings was probably the first American Fly Fishing writer to tie the entomology Entomology Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology... of trout stream insects to the artificial flies and how to fish them in this 1935 seminal work.
	Matching The Hatch was the first American book to cover fly imitiation from a transcontinental perspective and is widely read and reprinted. According to Paul Schullery, Matching The Hatch set the standard for fly entomology and tying studies for the late 20th Century.
	One of the most important angling books of the 20th Century A Modern Dry Fly Code, Marinaro revolutionized American trout fishing with his experiences on the Pennsylvania spring creeks in the 1940s and 50s. Dr. Andrew Herd wrote: A Modern Dry Fly Code was first published in 1950 and it remains a popular work, having been reprinted at least twice. The Code attracted attention right from the start because there was more in it about terrestrials than there was about mayflies and also because the author focused attention on small imitations to an extent that had never been encouraged before. Marinaro was a brave man for doing it and for some time he stood out as a lone voice in the wilderness; he was challenged, for example, for suggesting that size 14 was the largest hook needed for a dry fly imitation (this was in the days before hooks were available in sizes below 20s). In retrospect, Marinaro probably kicked off a fashion for tiny patterns that went just a little too far before it corrected itself, but his basic point was well made.
	Helen Shaw was considered the First Lady of Fly Tying by Arnold Gingrich and was considered one of the premier professional fly tyers of the mid-20th Century. Fly-tying—Materials, Tools and Techniques was a fly-tying bible in its time

	Describes the flies and nymphs significant in trout fishing, and explains the procedures for constructing imitations
	A comprehensive look at all aspects of Atlantic Salmon Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific.... fishing and dressing Atlantic Salmon flies. Eight color plates of Flies.
	And probably the most far-reaching of all American fly-fishing books since World War II, Doug Swisher and Carl Richard's Selective Trout (1971) elevated our thinking not only in fly-fishing theory, but also, through its wonderful photographs of insects, in our basic understanding of what the flies really imitated

	Loaded with color photographs and descriptions of the natural materials such as fur, hair and feathers used in fly tying.

	The second is RARE AND UNUSUAL FLY TYING MATERIALS A Natural History. Vol. 1 – Birds. By Paul Schmookler and Ingrid V. Sils. Paintings and engravings photographed by Robert Rohonczy. Materials and flies photographed by the authors. Foreword by Eric Leiser. A lavish oversize volume about the birds that produce the feathers that produce the lures that flock together in fishing fly boxes. A prettier display than any fish will ever see.-Christopher Lehmann-Haupt-New York Times.
	RARE AND UNUSUAL FLY TYING MATERIALS: – A Natural History. Volume 2 – Birds and Mammals. By Paul Schmookler and Ingrid V. Sils. Illustrations photographed by Robert Rohonczy. Materials and flies photographed by the authors. Plucked from the wild boar, the collared peccary, the common American blue jay and a dozen other unlikely creatures, the fur and feathers in this spectacular volume raise the age-old question, for whom are fishing lures really designed, the fish or the fisherman?.-Christopher Lehmann-Haupt-New York Times.

	The Orvis Fly Tying Guide is a typical, comprehensive contemporary fly tying reference with excellent photographs on technique, equipment, patterns and tying instructions. "One of the finest texts on the craft of fly tying ever written ... should be in the library of every tyer."--Dave Klausmeyer, editor, Fly Tyer magazine
	A fly pattern reference for a specific genre of fly—the Clouser Deep Minnow Clouser Deep Minnow The Clouser Deep Minnow is an Artificial fly commonly categorized as a streamer and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box, especially for bass... --authored by the original designer of the fly. "Always an experimenter when conventional fly patterns are not working, Bob tweaks patterns, or even invents new ones, to fool fish. His Clouser Deep Minnow is undoubtedly the most popular fly pattern to be developed in the last several decades. Bob shares his solid experience to help you tie better flies and understand why you do or do not catch fish. This book is one of the most useful published in some time." --Lefty Kreh
	A typical contemporary fly pattern reference devoted to a specific genre of flies--Woolly Worms Woolly Worm (imitation) The Woolly Worm is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or nymph and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular pattern for freshwater game fish and was a very popular fly in the 1950s – 1970s in the west. Charles Brooks in Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout recommends the... and Woolly Bugger Woolly Bugger The Woolly Bugger is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or streamer and is fished under the water surface. It is a popular and widely used pattern for both freshwater and saltwater game fish and is generally listed as one of the top patterns to have in any fly box... s. Soucie's book clearly demonstrates that the Woolly Worm and Woolly Bugger style of flies have been spread out to a wealth of different types of flies, some so far away from the originals that it's almost crazy to put them in the Woolly family, but anyway. The book describes about 400 patterns, which can all draw their ancestry back to the Woollies. You will find everything from slight variations of the classical style flies, to something that is only vaguely similar. The selection spans from large wet flies for saltwater use to small dry flies, and leafing through pages is just one jolt of inspiration after another.--Martin Joergensen, Global Flyfisher Book Reviews
	Fishing Flies: A World Encyclopedia of Every Type of Fly "The most complete guide to fishing flies from around the world that describes every type of fly, both freshwater and saltwater. Every fly is illustrated and includes a recipe, with hints on how to tie the perfect fly, plus a specially commissioned photograph of that fly. In all over 1300 flies are covered in detail. Flies are tied by some of the world's most famous fly-tiers."

Fly tying history

Imitation

Tools

Materials

Hooks

The fly pattern

Parts of an artificial fly

Fly names

Typical fly patterns or dressing descriptions

Fly pattern types

A selection of historic and contemporary fly tying theory and pattern references

See also