A Minimalist Approach to Fly Tying

I started tying my own flies about a year ago. I wanted to have the ability to customize my flies, but more importantly, I didn't want to go to a fly shop every time I needed a fly.

As I researched fly tying equipment and techniques, I repeatedly came across the same sentiment:

"You won't save money by tying your own flies"

At first, I was incredulous. How could a few tufts of hair and feathers tied to a hook cost me $2.00 or more? 

As I researched further, I started to realize why people find fly tying so expensive. It wasn't that any one material is all that expensive, it was a desire to tie an assortment of flies rivaling the Orvis catalog. If you want to tie a huge variety of flies, it will cost you an arm and a leg to get all the materials, but if you only tie a few, it won't. Luckily for me, I really don't fish too many patterns. 

The following 8 flies account for the majority of my catches:

Elk Hair Caddis

Yellow Humpy

Comparadun

Adams

AZ Mini Hopper

Hare's Ear Nymph

Pink Squirrel

Wooly Bugger Variants

By making a few easy substitutions, I can tie all of these patterns with relatively few materials:

• I use Elk Hair for the Comparaduns in place of Deer Hair, Hare's Ear in place of Squirrel Dubbing for the Pink Squirrels, and Hare's Ear in place of Chenille for the Wooly Buggers. 

• I use either a light tan or dark brown dubbing for all my dries, which leaves me able to match most light and dark naturals. 

• I use only white, black and pink thread.

• I use only grizzly hackle for any fly that calls for hackle. 

The fish haven't seemed to mind my substitutions, and I've started to focus more on stealth and presentation over fly selection.

A good assortment of dries tied with few materials

Over the past year I've spent about the same amount of money on fly tying materials as I did on flies in previous years, but now I have hundreds of flies, rather than the 20-30 I had at any given time before. So on a per fly basis I've definitely saved money, and found myself much better equipped. 

This is not meant to discount fly tying for the sake of art - I understand that's a major part of the appeal for a lot of people. This is just meant as proof that you can indeed tie flies on a budget and that you don't always need a huge variety of patterns. 

My style of fly tying may not be ideal for the most technical fishing, but I've found it very successful for most of the places I fish. It's not for everyone, but it's a great way to tie if you just want to keep yourself well-equipped so you can focus on fishing.

Looking Forward to a Week of Fishing

I'm coming home to MA tomorrow for spring break, and with temperatures forecasted in the 50s and 60s all week, our small streams should be on fire. One stream with a gauge I watch is already at 46 F and will likely continue to rise. That should bode well for dry fly fishing! I've been tying up some comparaduns and humpies that I'm hoping will get some action this week.

Stocked Dry Box

Some small streamers for salters 

I'm hoping to hit streams all over the state, and if I have luck there will be reports to follow. Hopefully the fishing will be good for all!

A beautiful day at the Mississippi

Bald Eagle

A Salter Fly

I had most of my success during my recent salter brook trout fishing trips using one fly. It's basically a small wooly bugger variant, but it uses a smaller hook than a typical wooly bugger and dubbing in place of chenille.

Hook: Size 14 Streamer
Bead: 1/8"
Thread: Any Color (color is seen only in collar)
Tail: Marabou (Any Color) and Krystal Flash
Body: Hare's Ear Dubbing
Hackle: Grizzly

Start out by building up thread behind the bead to hold it in place. 

Tie in marabou in a color of your choosing to form a tail roughly 1 shank in length. Leave the excess marabou alone for now.

Wrap forward over the marabou up to the bead to form a thickened body, then cut off the remainder of the marabou feather. 

Return the thread to the tail and tie in a few strands of Krystal flash.

Tie in a grizzly hackle feather.

Dub the body with hare's ear. You don't need much - the body is already thick from the marabou. 

Palmer the hackle forward and tie in behind the bead. Remove the excess hackle.

Build up a small collar of thread behind the bead, whip-finish, and you're done.  I add a little bit of head cement, but that's optional. 

Rainy Day Brookies

Yesterday the forecast called for temperatures in the high 40s and rain. Those are far from the most comfortable conditions for fishing, but they were perfect to get the fish active. The influx of warm (relatively speaking) rainwater into the stream warms it faster than the air alone, and the fish let their guard down a little in higher flows.

So, I explored a couple of small streams in Central MA in search of wild trout. The first stream has it's source on the flanks of Mt. Wachusett, so it was, predictably, quite cold. I didn't catch any fish, so I moved on.

I drove to an old standby of mine. This stream is very small, but it's full of brook trout, and it was one of the first wild brook trout streams I explored, so it will always be special to me. Here I found fish.

I stripped a small wooly bugger-ish fly I tied through the first pool and soon felt a strong tug. I pulled in this brookie, which turned out to be the largest of the day.

As I moved downstream I had strikes or hookups in nearly every pool, although many got off due to the difficulty of setting the hook in tight quarters. After a couple of hours the rain picked up and the water started to show a slight stain, so I decided to head home.

A JT Special Variant

I was inspired by Jo's recent post on FlyFishMA to put my peacock herl to good use. I decided to try to imitate Jo's streamer pattern - the JT Special.

I didn't have any white marabou, so I substituted white crosscut rabbit, which I palmered and then propped up with my thread to form a wing. The final appearance is pretty similar to the original, but it will be interesting to see how the action of the rabbit in the water compares to marabou. In my experience, marabou compresses more in the water, but also moves more, so my variant will likely be a little fuller-bodied, but with less movement.

I can't wait to give this fly a shot at the Swift this winter!

A Baby Brook Trout Streamer

Brown and brook trout coexist in many streams in both New England and the Driftless. Because browns tend to be somewhat larger and more piscivorous, it's likely they feed on smaller brook trout from time to time. Plus, insect hatches are over for the most part at this time of year and browns are fattening up for the spawn, so now is a great time to fish streamers.

With that in mind, I set out to tie this baby brook trout streamer. I'm sure someone has made something similar in the past, so I'm not claiming any originality here. The olive back and white belly give a good general impression of a brook trout, while the rubber legs look a bit like a brookie's orange fins and provide some movement. Given that many species of fish have a dark back and a white underside, this fly could also imitate any number of baitfish or juvenile gamefish, especially with differently colored legs.

Hook: Size 8 4XL Streamer
Bead: 3/16" Brass
Tail and Back: Olive Marabou
Body: Palmered White Crosscut Rabbit
Legs: Orange Rubber Legs

This fly worked well on the Upper Kinni, helping me land this brown near the mouth of a small brook trout stream.