So you have decided to start fly tying and want to get started but aren’t sure how to go about it. In this first post, lets examine why you want to start fly tying. I started fly tying because I bought into the message extolled by fellow fly fishers … and in retrospect I perhaps shouldn’t have taken it up for the reasons that I did. If like me you subscribe to a wide array of monthly fly fishing magazines you are bombarded by a new array of fishing flies each month that the experts in our field, renowned ex-internationals and guiding gurus of the sport, have “invented” to address situations like hard to catch fish in pressured small stillwaters. They will even go as far as telling you how to fish the flies for best effect. I was also a member of a fly fishing club at the time and the big guns who caught loads often caught on flies they had designed and tied themselves for these waters. I started fly tying because I thought that it would give me an edge and improve my catch rate as I could tie flies which I simply couldn’t buy online.
Now that I am older and wiser having read these magazines for more than a decade I can honestly say that a large part of this message is simply hype and one might cynically conclude are flies invented to meet the need for an article and to get paid for doing so. There are some genuinely new flies, using new techniques or materials, that are worth taking note of but like most things in life you need to winnow the grain from the chaff. Similarly, you come to realise that the exotically named flies fellow club members use, but which they couldn’t let you have a sample of because it was tied with a rare dubbing in a colour that is no longer available, are not more effective than the store bought flies you have access to, it was in part my fishing technique that needed addressing and in part my loyalty to one online store and their set selection of flies that was the issue.
Fly tying requires not only a fair investment of time to learn the craft and each new pattern it also requires a large investment in tools and materials …. don’t let anyone tell you otherwise …. you will end up spending far more than you could ever imagine as all the £10’s and £20’s amass into £100’s and then £1000’s before you know it. So unless you fish a lot, and by a lot I mean several times a week, then you may wish to rethink whether fly tying is where to invest your time and money. If like me you are a working professional who struggles with your work life balance as it is and making space for fly fishing in that mix is not what you would like then I would rethink whether adding fly tying into the mix is worthwhile. You could instead try investing your time reading, learning, planning and fishing and your money as follows:
- Buy a wider selection of flies from a wider array of stores – the reality is that there are a wide array of patterns available online if you hunt around, for example:
- Craig Barr sells novel patterns that work for specific venues like Draycote Water or worked for him in key matches like the Lexus Championship.
- Fly tying companies, like Fulling Mill, introduce new flies each season taking account of new patterns and materials. They also have a range of Pro Patterns that are grouped by country and then river/water and season as well as flies by renowned fly designers and tiers like Davie McPhail (if you do take up fly fishing then I would recommend joining Davies YouTube channel) or Paul Proctor.
- Some retailers stock flies designed by renowned fly designers like Hans Van Klinken.
- Hire a coach and improve your casting and fishing technique.
- Hire a guide – I had never hired a guide before last summer but decided to do so as I was not confident enough to fish a large Scottish Loch on my own without guidance. This was a good investment as you get >8 hours of not only unsurpassed local knowledge of the water you are fishing but also hours of tuition on casting, fly selection, fly retrieval, reading fish feeding behaviour, fish handling and fishing stories and adventures that will inspire you to fish more and question why you are working in an office at all.
I have been fly tying for 7 or 8 years now and use it to fill spaces where I couldn’t have fished anyway, e.g. during foul weather, and as a stress reliever (although a mastering a tricky new pattern or technique can be less than relaxing). Then there is the added joy of catching a fish on a fly which you tied. But if I am being honest I don’t make time for fly tying like I should and in order to fish when I get the opportunity I buy as many if not more flies than I tie. So before you shell out loads of money and invest lots of your precious time learning the art, perhaps pause and examine why you are going down this route and what your alternatives might be.
Tight Lines
Greg