It was late March and snow still covered the frozen ground. The river had been rough on me that day, but I had managed to get a few decent fish to net. A hearty stew, a beer, and a fire were now my companions as I sat down to tie up a few trusty midge patterns for day two. The cabin was quite now, except for an occasional pop from the wood burner and the whistling of the wind outside the front door. I made a couple more wraps of thread around my hook, pinched on some dubbing and whip finished yet another piece of trout candy for my box. What a perfect way to end the day.

There is something special about tying your own flies, and contrary to popular thought, it’s not because you will be saving money in doing so. In fact, when it’s all said and done you will probably spend more money tying your own flies than you would just buying them straight out. So why do it? Well, I’m sure every tier has his or her own reasons, but the biggest one for me is that it makes me a better fly fisherman. It drives me to look behind the surface of a fly pattern and ask why? Why am I tying this fly a certain way or in a certain color? Why do trout prefer this pattern over another in certain situations? All questions I would probably never ask if I just went into the local fly shop and bought my flies outright.

In general the more understanding you have of something, from start to finish, the greater your control will be over that outcome, and the greater sense of accomplishment you will have once that outcome is achieved. There is nothing better than catching a fish on a fly you’ve tied for a specific river, day, and time. I will never forget the first fish I caught on my own fly. What an awesome feeling! Sure there is more effort involved, but that is what makes the experience so satisfying.

If you’ve never tried fly tying, you should. It will change the way you look at fly fishing. Though there is a bit of a learning curve with all the online resources out there you’re no more than a couple clicks away from a step by step demonstration of what to use and how to use it. As far as materials go, there are more than a handful of flies you can tie with not much more than a vice, a few tools, and some thread and wire.

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Additional Resources
Basic Fly Tying (Charlie Craven)