Fly Tying Tips & Techniques

Maybe you’re one of those hard-core types who fly fishes all winter. Or perhaps you have the means and opportunity to travel, and pursue your fishing in warmer climes. If not, by the time December rolls around you have most likely packed up your gear until spring.

Pheasant, in particular the feathers of the Common or Ring Neck Pheasant, couldn’t be more versatile—"able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities” for the fly tyer. 

Beads are a common and versatile component used in fly tying. Beads serve various purposes in fly tying and can enhance the effectiveness, attractiveness, and functionality of your flies. Here's some key information about beads for fly tying.

The first step in any fly recipe is ‘choose your fly hook’! Therefore, understanding the various shapes, components, or parts of a fly hook, the ‘ fly hook anatomy’, is a great place for any beginner fly tyer to start.

J. Stockard Pro Tyer John Satkowski reviews Anadromous Fly Company and their line of high-quality, reasonably priced fly tying scissors.

The Poly Dun Poly Dun PMD Fly Recipe Hook: 2X-fine dry-fly hook, size 16. Thread: Light tan 14/0. Wing post: Medium gray polyester yarn. Tail: Five strands of brown and five strands of yellow Microfibbets. Body: Yellow synthetic dubbing such as Superfine Dubbing. Rib: A single strand of yellow embroidery thread. To learn how to tie this fly pattern, visit our friends at the Fly Tyer magazine website for step-by-step instructions.

Blogger Joe Dellaria tells the back story of the girdle bug, an easy-to-tie, durable fly. He then goes in depth on how to tie it, useful variations, and the products he finds work best to tie this reliable fly.

I assumed the grasshopper was floating (I find assumptions most often get me into more trouble!). I kept thinking about this as I had been using a grasshopper for over a month and had caught a few browns and turned a couple of decent fish in riffles that had missed the fly (I have often wondered whether lending these trout my trifocals would help them see the fly better!). None of the fish I had seen were anywhere near 16”. Eventually it occurred to me, maybe the grasshopper wasn’t floating. I asked him at church the next week.

Guest Blogger: Mike Cline, Bozeman, Montana An inshore Gulf Coast flats trip to Florida in the Spring of 2021 was very successful save one frustrating morning. As I paddled the kayak in the early dawn across a shallow flat at low tide, I encountered several dozen tailing bull redfish. It was quite a sight as large pods of fish slowly meandered around the flat stirring up breakfast. I wasn’t really set up fly wise for redfish, but quickly changed flies and started chucking various stuff in front of fish. For whatever reason, they were not the least bit interested nor spooked and I never connected before the pod slowly moved away. So when I returned home, I started thinking about what flies I needed if I wanted to be successful in the tailing redfish scenario. One of the options was the traditional spoon fly, a redfish staple. I had never really tried to tie spoon flies before primarily because I was never keen on all that slow drying epoxy and braided tubing hassle. But times had changed and with a little research it was easy to discover the advent of new methods of tying spoon flies with purpose constructed cutouts, hooks and UV resins. As I ventured down the spoon fly road, I came across a unique shrimp fly design—the Shrimpadillo.  Half shrimp fly, half spoon fly, the Shrimpadillo was a hybrid design that captured the essence of a shrimp fly pattern as well as the wobbling nature of the spoon fly which might represent a baitfish or crab pattern. The Shrimpadillo is the original creation of brothers Steven and Alan Kulcak of Sightcastfishing.com, a south Texas outfit. The inspiration for the Shrimpadillo shrimp fly came after a day on the water sight casting to redfish along Texas Gulf coast. Alan had the original idea but both brothers worked through many variations until they felt they had the shrimp fly pattern nailed down in terms of effectiveness and durability on the water. Steven told me the name came to them almost instantly as the fly looked like the head of a shrimp with the shell of an armadillo—an abundant resident of the South Texas countryside. Rumor even has it that one version called for the urine stained belly fur of a female armadillo, but I couldn’t verify that. Tying the Shrimpadillo is really a two part build. First all the components to build the shrimp fly head are attached to the bend of the hook. Then the dumbbell eyes, body and spoon fly cutout are attached to build the “armadillo” portion of the fly. The addition of silicone legs at the hook eye helps create the impression of a crab when the fly is moved or sinking slowly along the bottom. I’ve tied a couple of dozen Shrimpadillos and the design is wide open for variation and adaptation to more than just redfish. Tying the Shrimpadillo Shrimp Fly Pattern Material List Hook: Spoon Fly Hooks - [SFH20] or equivalentLight wire saltwater hooks from Gamakatsu can be easily shaped into a spoon fly configuration to match cutout size Thread: Danville 210 or mono Weight: Dumbbell eyes, Bead chain or no weight Antennae: Krystal Flash or Moose Mane Legs: Silicone legs Carapace: Fur, Long strand dubbing, Polar Chenille, Mallard or Teal Flank Eyes: Shrimp eyes Body: Polarflash or equivalent Spoon: Spoon fly cutout sealed with UV resinPremade cutouts are available from several suppliers but can be homemade from thin/stiff mylar. Tying Steps The build sequence—antennae, legs, eyes, carapace-- for the shrimp head can be varied but the most important aspect is the positioning on the hook bend to properly accommodate the length of the spoon cutout. Once the all the components of the shrimp fly head are in-place, the spoon fly cutout is attached with the narrow end tab. The hook shank is then covered with Polarflash and the dumbbell eyes tied in just behind the spoon fly cutout. This is where mono thread has an advantage since thread wraps essentially disappear when the fly is finished with UV resin. Coat the spoon fly cutout top and bottom with UV resin (dyed or glittered if using clear cutouts) and seal with Sally Hansen or equivalent. Tie in the front silicone legs after finishing the fly with UV resin. The Shrimpadillo test drive will happen in late November early December on the inshore flats of Tampa Bay. If I encounter tailing redfish, I’ll be ready, but I am counting on other species to tackle the Shrimpadillo in channels, potholes and deep grass when fished with the long sink tips. The creation of Steven and Alan Kulcak of Sightcastfishing.com is easy to tie and looks promising.