haziz 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2020 For the newbie fly tyers out there, is there a particularly easy Catskill style fly pattern, and is there a progression regarding difficulty? I just acquired Mike Valla's "Tying Catskill Style Dry Flies", and the patterns do not seem particularly difficult, however as a relative newbie tyer, I often will struggle even with the easy stuff. Is there a particularly easy pattern and is there a particular progression regarding ease of tying Catskill style dry flies? Since I live in Western Massachusetts, flies relevant to this area would be appreciated, however I am open to all suggestions. I suspect there is overlap between the Delaware and the Beaverkill, and our local rivers here in Western Mass, however, for example, I have seen very little large mayfly hatches here on the Swift river, which is the river I usually fish. Regardless of my local rivers, any recommendations regarding easy Catskill style dry flies? Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve sparkie 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2020 hi the hares ear can be tied in nymph patterns slow sinking emergers to in the film and on the surface when I was buying my materials from niche products I learned so much from this guy and his faith in the hares ear and in the right circumstances they are a very affective fly another tying for stalking nymphs two versions of gold bead hares ear nymphs flouresent bands behind the gold beads hot orange band and a signal green the green one use in brighter weather and the hot orange for dull lighting these are used for cruising fish also check out gary la foutaines caddis flies these are excellent river patterns but are very also very good search patterns on new waters hope this is helpful to you kind regards Steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TSMcDougald 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2020 Adams are pretty easy to tie, as are the flies with wood duck wings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shoebop 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2020 56 minutes ago, TSMcDougald said: Adams are pretty easy to tie, as are the flies with wood duck wings. I respectfully disagree with Mr. McDougald. Adams, or any catskill fly with wings are much harder for a beginner to tie than one without wings. My advice for the OP is to choose any design that doesn't incorporate "wings" to start with. The color and size is up to you to imitate any likely insect on your home waters. I am a generalist when it comes to fly choice. If it is the right color and size, it will likely as not be a good choice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
caddis16 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2020 Seems to me if you are going to be a fly tyer then you need to be able to tie a Catskill style dry. I'd start with a Wullf style hairwing. Kip is cheeper to screw up than wood duck. JMHO Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redietz 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 A Bivisible is pretty easy -- no wings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TSMcDougald 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 3 hours ago, shoebop said: I respectfully disagree with Mr. McDougald. Adams, or any catskill fly with wings are much harder for a beginner to tie than one without wings. My advice for the OP is to choose any design that doesn't incorporate "wings" to start with. The color and size is up to you to imitate any likely insect on your home waters. I am a generalist when it comes to fly choice. If it is the right color and size, it will likely as not be a good choice. I could be wrong but I don't remember any flies in Valla's book that don't have wings. Maybe I was being to litteral in thinking that haziz wanted an easy Catskill stlye dry fly to tie. An Adams was the first dry fly my instructor taught me to tie. It's really not that hard. I would second caddis16's suggestion that a Wulff would be a good place to start. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redietz 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 56 minutes ago, TSMcDougald said: I could be wrong but I don't remember any flies in Valla's book that don't have wings. Maybe I was being to litteral in thinking that haziz wanted an easy Catskill stlye dry fly to tie. An Adams was the first dry fly my instructor taught me to tie. It's really not that hard. I would second caddis16's suggestion that a Wulff would be a good place to start. The Brown Bivisible is in Mike's book. And strictly speaking, the Adams isn't a Catskill fly (it's from Michigan.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TSMcDougald 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 13 minutes ago, redietz said: The Brown Bivisible is in Mike's book. And strictly speaking, the Adams isn't a Catskill fly (it's from Michigan.) True, I had forgotten about the Bivisible. Also correct on the Adams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moshup 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 Mike Valla’s book is a good one. Haziz let me know how those easy Catskill classics turn out. “Light Cahill”. Sz 14 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave G. 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 I've gone pretty much to all mallard flank fibers be that natural or dyed, just for ease and durability. Or hair wings, calf hair usually. But I use way more mallard flank, you get a bag full of the suckers for $2.75. You don't need a book to teach you how to tie this stuff in, there are probably a dozen or more videos on youtube out there that can show you. It is not hard to do and should be one of the first steps taught to a newb anyway. Matched feather wings are nice but significantly more difficult to do right ( the key word there being right), more costly and less durable, no more effective at catching fish. They do look nice, I rarely do them.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 13 hours ago, haziz said: For the newbie fly tiers out there, is there a particularly easy Catskill style fly pattern, and is there a progression regarding difficulty? I just acquired Mike Valla's "Tying Catskill Style Dry Flies", and the patterns do not seem particularly difficult, however as a relative newbie tier, I often will struggle even with the easy stuff. pick out the easiest pattern in mike valla's book that you think you could tie if you have trouble with wings, leave them out and just wrap the hackle or if you have a hard time dividing them in two, just leave them as one wing lee wulff is said to have not divided wings on his wullf patterns Bivisible and skaters are pretty easy check out this you tube channel on tying catskill flies https://www.youtube.com/c/UmbertoOregliniDBTR/videos Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 11 hours ago, caddis16 said: Seems to me if you are going to be a fly tyer then you need to be able to tie a Catskill style dry. I'd start with a Wullf style hairwing. Kip is cheeper to screw up than wood duck. JMHO i'm sure there are thousands of fly tyers that have never tyed a catskill style fly or even needed to while i can tie them , ive never needed to Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 While I may not be a world class fly tier ... I still consider myself a fly tier. I've never tied any trout fly ... and couldn't tell the difference between a "Catskill style dry fly" and a Bi-visible? The pictures I've seen of the latter don't seem to be "Bi" anything, let alone visible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Mad Duck 0 Report post Posted July 19, 2020 12 hours ago, caddis16 said: Seems to me if you are going to be a fly tyer then you need to be able to tie a Catskill style dry. I'd start with a Wullf style hairwing. Kip is cheeper to screw up than wood duck. JMHO I rarely trout fish tending to more focus on large Bream and Bass, so that's what I tie for. I tie some pretty technical stuff as well as some basic stuff, all, again, geared for Bream and Bass. Does that make me less of a fly tier than someone that focuses on Trout and tying Trout flies only? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites