Best Tyer Ever?

[Tom Cummings 0]

You are you lnow hatch.

[Mike West 0]

This is kind of like whats the best truck right?

Ford Chevy Dodge Toyota

😎

[rstaight 0]

Hey, you forgot Nissan.😀

[Olwen 0]

I am a complete novice so doubt any of you would value my opinion but I have researched the subject as I’m beginning my fly tying and fishing journey and have watched many videos and read books etc and I have to say Davie McPhail is an all round fantastic guy! He explains everything brilliantly, he films his fishing giving you an anglers view and doesn’t just edit to show the good bits, he’s honest, genuine and I have to say replies to my emails giving me great support and advice so is not pretentious or unreachable and also gives the opportunity to win his flies from singles, framed and whole boxes so for me he is by far my new favourite person lol! I do agree there are some great fly there’s out there past, present, traditional and modern but Davie is and absolute diamond! If you don’t know him check him out!

[niveker 0]

13 hours ago, Olwen said:

Davie McPhail

I do enjoy watching Davie, probably above all others out there, did not know the other stuff about including that he did fishing videos.  I'll have to check that out.  Good to know.  

Charlie Craven is another of my favorites.  

Although truth be told, I prefer a good step by step over most videos.

[Moshup 0]

Lousy question.

[niveker 0]

LoL

[DFoster 0]

6 hours ago, Moshup said:

Lousy question.

Agreed,  The post asking who is your "Favorite Fly Tier" is a better question. Davie McPhail is one of the best if not the best that I've seen but saying he's the best ever is problematic. He along with any other modern tiers have an advantage over the great ones from the past in that they can be easily found on YouTube.  There's something to be said for the innovators who working alone without youtyube came up with the flies and techniques that we all, including Davie use today.  Modern tiers also have the advantages of modern equipment and materials.  

[cphubert 0]

3rd Century AD when the writer known as Aelianus detailed fly fishing for fish with fishing flies. The fly tying was described as "they fasten crimson wool around the hook and fix onto the wool two feathers".

It's all a matter of variants from there............😎

[Sandan 0]

Tough question for sure, best vs. favorite.  Best, I don't know, maybe Theodore Gordon or perhaps Reuben Cross. Maybe Roy Steenrod.  Favorite, Charlie Craven.

[flyflinger 0]

Ah yes, another rabbit hole to joyfully go down! - what a complex question.   While I do enjoy Davie McPhail and Linsay Simpson, I find their accents a little tough to translate with my aging ears - and their flies tend to be British-centric, and generally quite a bit larger than I use.  If the question is about videos, it's hard to beat Charlie Craven (Charlie's Fly Box) - he is knowledgeable, clear, concise, and very entertaining.  And of course since he live about an hour from me,  his flies are very appropriate to the waters I fish.  Also interesting are the latest generation of "video tyers" from various fly shops like Fly Fish Food (Cheech is a hoot!), Anglers All, AvidMax, and Kelly Galloup (if you have plenty of time - he rambles on a bit, but is very knowledgeable, especially about streamers).  

Now, if you don't require the "video connection", there are a plethora of patterns and books from talented, knowledgeable, innovative, and just amazing fly tyers:  Lefty Kreh, Gary LaFontaine, Shane Stalcup, Tom Lentz, Flip Pallot, Ted Leeson, Rene Harrop, Gary Borger, Sylvester Nemes, John Barr, Ed Engle, Chuck Stranahan, Charlie Craven, Ken Iwamasa, and many more.  You might have to search a little for some of these patterns, but many are in books, even if not written by he tyer.    

I'm sure you all know this, but this Fly Tying Forum hosts some incredibly talented tyers who are very free with their knowledge of techniques, materials, tools, etc.   

Regards,  

          

[SalarMan 0]

As flyfinger said...another rabbit hole to joyfully go down. Personally I thing you would have to break down the tyers by the types of flies they specialized  in...such as trout, steelhead, warmwater, saltwater, classic Atlantic Salmon flies and then their country of origin comes into play of course.

Are the modern "internet" tyers really any better than some of the old time folks from the Catskills, the Adirondacks, New England, the UK and continental Europe for starters?

Most interesting topic...to say the least.

[Jaydub 0]

The best fly tier ever is a woman from southeast Asia, who has never written an article or filmed a Youtube video. 

[RickZieger 0]

I will toss in Son Toa as a great tyer.

[fishingbobnelson 0]

14 hours ago, Moshup said:

Lousy question.

I think a better question would be, "Who is your favorite tyer?"

For the record mine is Polly Rosborough.