Ready set go, I think?

[QPassage 0]

OK I've spent the last couple weeks buying and reading about flies. Dang it I'm ready to ty, I think?

I've been much like a kid in a candy store and buying, and buying, supplies, etc. It's addictive and I find myself looking to see is the wife is looking before I click the pay now button.

So now the dilemma, what to ty as my first? I plan on using my flies this spring and summer fishing for pan fish, stream trout and bass here in Kentucky.

I'm in need of a fairly simple first fly to tie.

Any ideas?

 

qp

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

2 words woolly bugger

[utyer 0]

The simplest and easiest fly I know is the Thread Midge larvae. It uses nothing but thread. One of the first things you will need to learn is proper thread handling, and control. The thread midge will teach you these things. Once you learn that, you can add a wire rib, gills, and other materials for the thorax.

[Jolly Red 0]

For the panfish and trout, one of the best and simplest is a soft-hackle. Just thread and a hackle, but you will do most of the basics.

[FrequentTyer 0]

Buy Charlie Craven's book and work through it start to finish. You will tie useful flies and build solid fundamentals.

[Polarbear78 0]

Pick one thing and practice that until you feel very comfortable with it. Then after you feel you have mastered it move to another pattern. My big problem when I started was trying to tie up a bunch of every which kind for everything... at the time I thought they looked good, but the more I did the more I realized they were garbage. I have only been tying for a little over a year so I am by no means an expert, I still consider myself a beginner... but I have really tightened the belt on my standards for flies going in my fly box to use and the ones that get stripped down or sent to that container of reject flies. Panfish and bass aren't really that picky so I'm sure you will be able to get some off the flies you tie up but if you try to master each fly before moving on to another one I think you will see better quality in a shorter time than if you just set out trying to tie up all kinds of different panfish, bass and trout patterns at the same time.

 

Some simple patterns for panfish are little wooley buggers, foam spiders, foam grass hopper, or a little soft hackle fly

Some simple patterns for bass are clouser minnows and wooley buggers

 

Do a google search for panfish flies, or bass flies... you will get lots of pictures, tutorials or even on youtube to see how it is done and what materials are needed...

[flytire 0]

fly tying lessons

[QPassage 0]

Thank you, this has been a great help. This forum is as well a wealth of information and help.

We have a fly fishers show this weekend in Louisville and I plan to attend, hoping that watching some hands on tying will help. Most of the video's show the fly up close and it's hard for me as a beginner to get the just of the set up and feel for the tools and how they are to be used. I ordered the Charlie Craven's book last night thanks for the tip.

I'm excited to move forward this weekend and start tying.

Thanks Bo

[kentuckytroutbum 0]

Charlie Craven's is great, and he has some awesome tips. Also, you might find a copy of A.K. Best's "Advanced Fly Tying.". He shows ways to do it

easier and better.

[McGnat 0]

Whatever fly you decide to start with, focus on two things: control of the material and proportions. My first fly was the woolly worm and over the years went to the classic atlantic salmon fly. Good luck. You'll enjoy it.

[Markbob 0]

Buy Charlie Craven's book and work through it start to finish. You will tie useful flies and build solid fundamentals.

 

 

I second this, the level of detail and picture quality in his book is unsurpassed. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is wanting to learn to tie flies for trout or panfish. I have found that one of the best set ups for panfish is to put a trout fly dropper on a bream popper. Also, have you read my post on getting started and the thread on tying books? There is some great information in there.

[flytire 0]

i will recommend the following book or cd

 

The Fly Tier's Benchside Reference

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Tiers-Benchside-Reference/dp/1571881263

 

the book will reach you the techniques required to tie many different styles of flies

[dogsnfish 0]

I suggest starting with patterns you will actually use. I took lessons about 15 years ago and it went through a series of nymphs and streamers. I fish almost all drys so never stuck with it. I told this story a few years ago to the guy I fish with who also used to teach tying. He said "well <expletive deleted> let me teach you how to tie" and he started me off with adams and parachute patterns and ended a few week later with size 20 and 22 midges because we fish a lot of spring creeks together. That was all it took and I went off of the deep end after that. Only use my own flies for trout and steelhead and after those lessons am really not afraid to try any pattern. They may not be pretty, but they seem to work okay. I have not seen Craven's book but use his website for patterns. I also like the AK Best books. Two books I use all of the time are the The Fly Tiers Benchside Reference and Dave Hughes's book Trout Flies: The tiers reference.

 

Good luck!

[Kudu 0]

I am also from Kentucky, Pulaski County. I second Riff's suggestion of the Wooly Bugger as it is not only a good fly to start with it is good at catching fish. My first fly was a Wooly Bugger. It looked bad. Tip (dont use dry fly hackle to tie it). It catches a multitude of different species of fish which we are blessed with in Kentucky. I have caught bass, trout, bream and catfish on it (one 20lb channel cat). I like chartreuse and black and all white. It sounds like you are close to Taylorsville lake and I would suggest an all white bugger to catch white bass and hybrids in the jumps.