A
s fall turns to winter,
many fly anglers
reluctantly put their
rods away for the
year, dreading the cold
winter months to come. Winter means
reorganizing their fly boxes, cleaning
their fly line, and flipping through the
pages of fishing magazines, dreaming
of the warmer weather to come.
What few realize is that they can
extend their passion for fly-fishing
into a year-round endeavor and vastly
enrich their fishing by learning to tie
their own flies. Many fly anglers avoid
fly-tying for fear of difficulty, expense
or the time commitment they believe
it requires. What they find when they
finally try it is that, just like fly-fishing,
all it takes is patience, practice and a
desire to learn.
Why Tie?
There are many reasons why anglers
should tie their own flies. For one, it
cuts down on the cost of making wild
casts into the bushes. More importantly
though, fly-tying completely
immerses an angler in the art of fly-
fishing. Learning to tie flies leads to
understanding how fish relate and react
to their environment. A fly tyer can
create flies that are more effective and
more durable than those purchased
from a store. A tyer's flies will vary
with their personality. Some tyers use
established fly patterns that are highly
successful, easily repeatable and quick
to tie. These anglers may crank out a
dozen flies in an hour, while other tyers
attempting to create something new and
innovative may take the same amount
of time to produce a single fly. Either
way, those who discover fly-tying
quickly realize there was another half of
fly-fishing they had been missing.
How to Learn
Learning to tie does not involve a
tremendous investment of money. For
around $100, you can purchase a kit
that contains all the tools and materials
you need to start. These kits often
include books or DVDs that speed
up the learning process. Kits usually
Fly-tying is the other half of fly-fishing
that many anglers are missing.
Story and photos by Ryan Sparks
Many people think fly tyers only create small insect imitations, but this pile of large
musky and pike flies proves otherwise.
Fly-tying for Begi
46 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2017