Tying Dry Flies
Tying Dry Flies
Fly fishing is an interesting sport with a growing number of people participating. Often when you just start out fly fishing they usually buy all of the fly fishing gear that they want and need , including fly fishing dry flies. If you are the fly fisherman who is passionate about fly fishing you will soon begin testing your skill at fly tying as a great way to be involved with the sport during the cold winter months.
While some artificial fishing flies can be tricky to make others are actually well within the abilities of the average angler. Even your kids can learn to tie artificial flies and this is an excellent way to get them involved in the sport.
The earliest description of tying artificial flies dates back to the second century. Macedonian anglers, fishing on the Astraeus River, had devised a method of fly fishing using artificial flies. These Macedonian fly fishermen started with a hook and then tied red-dyed wool around the hook. They would then tie small feathers onto the red wool to complete the artificial fly. Apparently these fishermen were quite successful with their primitive artificial flies.
During the eighteenth century American fly fishermen took the design of artificial flies to a new level while studying the trout streams of the New York Catskill Mountains. These fishermen discovered that their success with fly fishing could be greatly improved by designing artificial flies that mimicked the native insects around the stream.
These artificial flies successfully fooled the trout into thinking that a real insect had landed on the water. This knowledge gave rise to studying insect hatches to determine which artificial fly would be most successful. Different artificial flies are successful on different water at different times.
Artificial flies were originally made using natural materials like feathers, fur, wool and similar materials. Most artificial flies are now made using synthetic materials. Another recent development in artificial fly design has been the use of the barbless hook.
If you practice the conservation fishing method of catch and release, extracting a barbed hook from your catch after landing it can be quite difficult. While barbless hooks make it somewhat more challenging to keep the fish on the hook they are easier to remove from the back of your head or hand as well as the fish without harming your catch.
Fly fishing flies are now made in thousands of designs and styles. The number of choices can be quite overwhelming to new fly fishers. All artificial flies have certain basic characteristics though and, despite newer materials and more choices, the basics of artificial fly manufacturing has not changed much in two thousand years of fly fishing. All artificial flies start with a hook. The hook is then disguised to resemble an actual insect that the target fish eat and attempt to attract the fish with natural color and motion of the fly.
The fly tying materials that the hook is decorated with have changed over the years but some of the classic designs have not. You will discover that wool, fur and feathers were once common choices for artificial flies, but today newer materials include plastic, mylar, foam and metals. These materials are either tied or glued onto the barbless hook in special patterns to attract the fish you will be fly fishing for.
Best of luck with your new hobby and just you wait until you experience the thrill of catching your first trout with one of your own handmade fishing flies.
