Best tie for a first time tier?

[paraschus 0]

Hello All,

 

I recently turned 22 and got a fly tying kit for my b-day. I was wondering if any of you wonderful people would like to give me, a novice, some advice about good first ties. I have a couple of books to work off of, but would love to hear from the true experts

 

Thanks!

[Old Hat 0]

Paraschus - first off, congratulations. The best advice I can give is to keep it simple at first and to tie patterns that will catch fish anywhere. You'll got some good help here for both of those. If you want to get off on the right foot, I can't stress enough, to get a handle on what we call thread control. This means proper handling of the bobbin, thread tension, tight even wrapping, head finishing, tying in materials. This is the foundation of tying quality flies. As you begin, slow down and concentrate on getting it right, not just the "that'll do" approach. You will be slow and a bit frustrated at first but before you know it you'll be whipping out beautiful well-tied flies.

 

I start all my beginners on what we call "spider" patterns. These don't represent spiders but mayflies, caddis, and more. These are some of the easiest flies to tie yet really let you focus on thread control without a lot of big bulky material in the way.

 

This is a simple Partridge and Orange spider pattern. Doesn't look like much but will catch fish anywhere. The body is thread and the hackle is hungarian partridge. You can use any color thread you want and just about any soft feather. Use the techniques in your books to tie it or search for spider/soft hackle patterns on this website. Hatches online magazine has a step by step to these patterns. As you get comfortable with this you can start to add fur to the body at the thorax area or the entire body with ribbing material. Add a tail, bead head wing etc and your off on your tying hobby. Good luck and welcome to the board.

 

[Arkansas Mike 0]

Welcome, paraschus. I agree with Old Hat. Spiders and soft hackles are a good "first tie".

You may also consider Wooly Buggers, Gold-Ribbed Hares Ear and Pheasant Tail Nymphs...

classic patterns that are easy to tie. I also agree with Old Hat about the importance of learning

thread control. Proper thread tension, handling the twist and flatness, etc. Check some of

the flies out in the database and pick one you like. Then tie about a dozen of that pattern.

Hope you enjoy your new kit and tying. And hope you enjoy our forum.

 

 

Mike

 

 

[mayfly09 0]

Go on Youtube and search Davie McPhail, fly tying. What are you looking to tie? Wet, drys, lures or nyphms? For trout or Salmon? im new here so there might be a fair bit on here to help you. if not then youtubes a good start.

tight lines and good luck once you get into it you get much better, enjoy

[aaplant 0]

Welcome paraschus, great to have you on board. I am a novice also and have found a lot of great advice and ideas from folks on this site. All the advice from the replies to date is great and should get you on your way. I started out tying one of this pattern, one of that pattern and then something else. Recently I have been tying at least a dozen of each pattern and have found that this has helped with technique and getting the right proportions and quantity of materials on the hook. Hope you enjoy this new journey, but be warned - it is highly addictive!

[txflytier 0]

Hi paraschus

 

Welcome aboard and sucks to be you. You have just started using the most addictive drug there is know to man FLY TYING.

 

I hope you use as much or more then we do here.

 

I would have to say WOOLY BUGGERS and WOOLY WORMS you should have all the materials needed to tie them. And they are great to fish for bass panfish trout just about every thing.

 

I really hope you enjoy your new hobby. I is relaxing and you will never know everything about it and you will start paying more attention to bugs and insects that are in the waters you fish and arround them as well.

 

Hope this helped you in some way.

Chance