D-I-Y FLIES You can buy your flies, if you like, from a sporting goods store, fishing shop, online, or even at Wal-Mart. This is good to begin with, but once you really start getting into fly fishing as a hobby, you are probably going to want to try your hand at tying your own flies eventually. There are all sorts of books on the market that will teach you how to tie flies. They contain in-depth information for the advanced tier. What we‘ll do is try to cover just the basics in this section. After all, fly tying is just a small part of fly fishing, although it is important overall. The first thing you need to know about tying your own flies is to know a little bit about the flies themselves. Dry flies are simply flies that float. They usually represent adult insects that are emerging (breaking out of their nymphal shuck), drying their wings so they can fly away, or returning to the water to lay eggs. Since dry flies are the most fun to use (you get to see the fish take the fly), more fly patterns have been designed as dry patterns than any of the rest. Some people separate emerger flies from dries, because they usually float.
Wet flies are simply flies that don‘t float. They usually represent nymphs and pupae that are swimming toward the surface of the water or trying to break through the surface film to become adults. Since many insects become lunch menu items during this stage of their existence, it‘s useful to know how to tie wet flies.
Flyfishing Guide-© Copyrighted. All Rights Reserved, 2012
Page 40