Jump to content
Fly Tying
haziz

Easiest Catskill Style Dry Flies?

Recommended Posts

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.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

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

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

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 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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.) 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mike Valla’s book is a good one.  Haziz let me know how those easy Catskill classics turn out.  “Light Cahill”. Sz 14

3AFD4330-1101-43AA-962E-8164789A1C6F.jpeg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 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..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
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?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...