Beginner Flies?

[haziz 0]

Based in New England, and focused mostly on trout, as I embark on my fly tying adventure, I am looking at some beginner friendly flies to tie and to develop my skills. Flies that could be used immediately and are productive are a definite plus.

I have tackled most of the following, but need to go back and practice some more:

1. Woolly Bugger
2. Woolly Worm
3. North Country Spiders (AKA Soft Hackles) e.g. Partridge and Orange
4. Walt's Worm
5. Frenchie? Or a simpilified version of a Frenchie nymph?
6. Simplified Scud patterns?
7. Clouser Deep Minnow
8. X-Caddis
9. Sparkle Dun
10. "Simplified" Catskill style dry flies:

• Single wing Adams (or possibly wingless) - Single hackle feather using Dark Barred Ginger Hackle
• Single wing Light Cahill
• "Simplified" Hendricksons?
• "Simplified" March Brown?

 

Am I missing any obvious "beginner flies"?

 

Any input regarding these choices?

 

I have tied most of the above, but need more practice. Some of the ones I am uncertain of, or have had issues with are marked with a question mark.

 

Input, suggestions or feedback welcome.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[mikechell 0]

If you haven't tied a dozen or two of each of the above, then you definitely need to practice them more.  Tying one or two of multiple pattern doesn't really develop the abilities.  If you can tie half a dozen, and they ALL look close to identical, then you've got that pattern learned.

[haziz 0]

52 minutes ago, mikechell said:

If you haven't tied a dozen or two of each of the above, then you definitely need to practice them more.  Tying one or two of multiple pattern doesn't really develop the abilities.  If you can tie half a dozen, and they ALL look close to identical, then you've got that pattern learned.

 

I actually just tied about 10 in a row of the Partridge and Orange Spider today. Actually, I jived it up, and tied Partridge and Orange, Yellow and Olive , the pattern being the same, using silk and Grey/Hungarian Partridge. Can't say they are all identical, but they are certainly very close. Some probably had the hackle placed too far "back" on a couple, but most did exhibit good proportions. I also did question whether the hackle was too dense or too long on a couple, but I think I mostly got this very simple pattern right. I do have several professionally locally tied ones, and I do fish the pattern occasionally, so I am fairly familiar with a well tied Spider. Will probably take some photos and post on this sub-forum, probably in a separate thread.

[SilverCreek 0]

Here's a couple of more ideas.

Instead of the Catskill Dry at #10, I would substitute a parachute fly patterns. I don't think they are any more difficult than a Catskill and I think they catch more fish. The it would be simple matter to change the hook and tie a Klinkhammer type emerger using the same parachute hackle techniques for a standard parachute like a parachute Adams. According to Tom Rosenbauer and, a size 14 parachute Adams is the most popular single dry fly sold in the USA. This site seems to agree.

https://flyfishandcamp.com/ranking-popular-trout-dry-flies-time/

If there are midge hatches, the Griffith's Gnat is a very simple and effective pattern. If he can tie a GG, a renegade is equally easy.

Come terrestrial season a large EHC will pass for a small hopper and ant patterns are super easy to tie.

[WWKimba 0]

6 hours ago, haziz said:

Based in New England, and focused mostly on trout, as I embark on my fly tying adventure, I am looking at some beginner friendly flies to tie and to develop my skills. Flies that could be used immediately and are productive are a definite plus.

I have tackled most of the following, but need to go back and practice some more:

1. Woolly Bugger
2. Woolly Worm
3. North Country Spiders (AKA Soft Hackles) e.g. Partridge and Orange
4. Walt's Worm
5. Frenchie? Or a simpilified version of a Frenchie nymph?
6. Simplified Scud patterns?
7. Clouser Deep Minnow
8. X-Caddis
9. Sparkle Dun
10. "Simplified" Catskill style dry flies:

• Single wing Adams (or possibly wingless) - Single hackle feather using Dark Barred Ginger Hackle
• Single wing Light Cahill
• "Simplified" Hendricksons?
• "Simplified" March Brown?

 

Am I missing any obvious "beginner flies"?

 

Any input regarding these choices?

 

I have tied most of the above, but need more practice. Some of the ones I am uncertain of, or have had issues with are marked with a question mark.

 

Input, suggestions or feedback welcome.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

One I would suggest would be the simple Adirondack Streamer - streamer hook, black thread, wool yarn, and 1,2 or three different colors of bucktail (and maybe some black bear hair if you want to expand your horizons.  Then expand farther by using black lacquer (nail polish will do) and then add painted eyes.  Oh, and the more common pattern of this sort of flies is white, brown, pink (think rainbow trout), orange (think brook trout), or black wrapped wool yarn body with white, then brown, then dark brown/black bucktail- all tied sparsely as a wing.  You can also tie white bucktail as an under wing and the brown (and dark brown/black) as the top wing.  A regular bucktail often has the white, brown and dark brown on the same tail (darkest color towards the tip on the top (brown side) of the tail.  You may also use black bear (originally used due to it's availability-way back when) or black dyed bucktail.

One more thing - keep all those little ziplock bags!  If you tie with black bear the almost chocolate brown dubbing fur WILL come in handy!  Hope this helps.

 

[flytire 0]

heres some suggestions. not sure youll use them

gold ribbed hares ear

pheasant tail nymph

caddis larvae

stonefly nymphs

midges

elk hair caddis

parachute flies

small baitfish streamers

hoppers

ants

beetles

dragon and damsel flies

panfish flies

bass flies

brassie

bead head nymphs

zebra midge

prince nymph

eggs

san juan worm

mop flies 

squirmy wormy

leeches 

crayfish

clouser minnows

zug bugs

if theres no scuds in your area, dont tie them

google hatch charts for the waters in your area you fish in 

example: http://deerfieldrivertroutunlimited.com/deerfield-river-hatch-chart/

practice tying flies from tightline productions 

https://www.youtube.com/user/tightlinevideo/videos

learn to tie catskill style flies. not simplified versions

https://www.youtube.com/c/UmbertoOregliniDBTR/videos

[petelangevin 0]

Try some foam flying ants in a variety of sizes and colors.   Tossed under trees or just off the bank they are effective for more than just trout.  They can be altered for color to cover a variety of flying insects as well all of whom often fall into the water.     Zebra midge is one of the most common patterns for still water and small stream fishing here in mass.   

there are some simple one feather dragonfly and damsel nymph patterns that are super effective.

 

keep on tying,  your skills will improve thru repetition and difficult techniques will become easier over time.   Keep it fun.

[Charlie1947 0]

On 8/16/2020 at 10:29 PM, WWKimba said:

One I would suggest would be the simple Adirondack Streamer - streamer hook, black thread, wool yarn, and 1,2 or three different colors of bucktail (and maybe some black bear hair if you want to expand your horizons.  Then expand farther by using black lacquer (nail polish will do) and then add painted eyes.  Oh, and the more common pattern of this sort of flies is white, brown, pink (think rainbow trout), orange (think brook trout), or black wrapped wool yarn body with white, then brown, then dark brown/black bucktail- all tied sparsely as a wing.  You can also tie white bucktail as an under wing and the brown (and dark brown/black) as the top wing.  A regular bucktail often has the white, brown and dark brown on the same tail (darkest color towards the tip on the top (brown side) of the tail.  You may also use black bear (originally used due to it's availability-way back when) or black dyed bucktail.

One more thing - keep all those little ziplock bags!  If you tie with black bear the almost chocolate brown dubbing fur WILL come in handy!  Hope this helps.

 

San Juan worm is about as easy as it gets, great for Trout! Egg

[WWKimba 0]

On 8/22/2020 at 6:28 PM, Charlie1947 said:

San Juan worm is about as easy as it gets, great for Trout! Egg

And, in most cases they fish easier too!

[Sandan 0]

pheasant tail nymph

[Charlie1947 0]

8 hours ago, WWKimba said:

And, in most cases they fish easier too!

I agree!🤠

[jamieofthenorth 0]

Not that I'm an expert, but that looks like a good starter list to me. Just wanted to echo Mikechell's suggestion of tying a few dozen of each pattern to help get them down. I know that was tough for me to do when I first started, as I got fly tyer ADD and wanted to tie everything in sight and only ended up doing a few of each. If you can resist that and focus on repeating the same fly, it'll speed up your skillsets and learning quite a bit. 

I thought Flytyer had a lot of great suggestions. I would underscore the elk wing caddis. You are already familiar with wrapping hackle with the wooly buggers, and the elk wing from the X-Caddis. The EWC is generally more popular and is also deadly effective. 

Best wishes and have fun. There's always something new to learn and that's the beauty of it. 

[Bill_729 0]

On 8/16/2020 at 5:16 PM, haziz said:

Based in New England, and focused mostly on trout, as I embark on my fly tying adventure, I am looking at some beginner friendly flies to tie and to develop my skills. Flies that could be used immediately and are productive are a definite plus.

...

 

Input, suggestions or feedback welcome.

 

Thanks.

 

I don't think you'll ever regret tying flies that you want to fish (what are the rest for?). Some fly pattern books rank the difficulty on a 1-5 basis, but you can more or less guess the difficulty just by looking. I can't guide you as to your geographic location, but others have given you some suggestions which I expect are relevant. I usually tie 2 or 3 of a given pattern at a time, but others here are much faster than me! I can tell the difference that the repetition makes even by the second fly.  But 3 of one sort is enough for me, then I'm ready to switch gears and try something else (that is not advise, that is just the way I roll..lol).

[WWKimba 0]

Another suggestion, based on your original premise, would be wet flies - https://www.tu.org/blog/light-cahill-wet-fly/ - is a good example.  It uses mallard flank woodduck feathers - a common and easy to use material to tie with and used in many wet/nymph/dry fly patterns for trout.  Add some cream rabbit hair/dubbing - another popular material and cream or light cahill colored tying thread and you are done.  You may then wish to tie dark cahills - add a ginger colored material or two and you are all set.

This will give you a start with only a few materials and you can then branch out to hedricksons etc.

Hope this helps so you are not just targeting easy to tie flies but easy to tie flies good for New England area trout.  Most any Catskill or Adirondack developed flies are usually simple and deadly for trout.

[haziz 0]

As I research things more, two flies should be added to my list:

11. Bivisible

12. Brassie, with or without a head. I tied half a dozen the other day.

While tying an X-caddis the other day, it reminded me of how much I dislike tying with or spinning deer hair. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and practice it over and over again.