Fly Tying 102 will take your tying to the next level! Building on the skills covered in Fly Tying 101, it introduces more advanced tying techniques as well as more complex flies. You’ll have a great time, and you’ll enjoy exploring some of the more sophisticated tying techniques that we will explore!  

SESSION 1, PART 1

Blue Assassin Midge Emerger (plus a Zebra Midge along the way!)

We will start Session 1 with a look at midge emergers – those small (sometimes tiny!) flies that fish just seem to love! They’re great “learning” patterns that let you work on…

-        Working with small hooks

-        ­­Using curved-shank hooks

-        Creating abdomens using thread, strands of flash/tinsel and extra-fine ribbing wire

-        Adding trailing shucks

-        Precise use of dubbing to create a dubbed thorax

The Tie It & Try It Blue Assassin Fly Tying Kit includes the materials (except tying thread) to tie these patterns. You might want to pick up that kit, or you can pick up materials individually.

SESSION 1, PART 2

Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear

In the second half of our first session, we’ll turn our attention to the classic and much-loved Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph. It’s a favorite of fly fishers far and wide.

The Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear is another pattern that fits perfectly into our Fly Tying 102 syllabus! It lets you gain further experience with managing proportions in subsurface flies as well as providing a perfect opportunity for further work with dubbing. Specifically, you’ll see how to use dubbing to create a slender and sleek abdomen AND how to use the same dubbing in a different way to suggest legginess in the thorax! In addition, this pattern introduces a key technique that’s of critical importance when tying many nymph imitations – fashioning wing cases from “slips” cut from a turkey feather. It’s a must-have nymph that is very satisfying to tie and that’s a great deal of fun to fish!

Please note that a Tie It & Try It Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear Fly Tying Kit is available. It provides a convenient set of all materials needed to tie for this fly. 

SESSION 2 

Dry Fly Techniques

In the second session of Fly Tying 102, we will focus solely on one of the classic aspects of tying flies for trout – specifically, the art and science of imitating adult mayflies. We like to describe mayflies as the “glamour bugs” of the aquatic insect world, and there is no doubt that they are elegant insects.

They are also favorite foods of trout!

Over the years, hundreds of patterns have been developed to imitate mayflies, among them such classics as the Adams, the Blue Winged Olive, and many more. These flies are functional works of art, and we will focus on some of the techniques needed to tie them.

Here are some of the techniques we’ll cover as we explore the world of classic mayfly imitations: 

-        The art of creating dry fly tails

-        How to make slender dry fly bodies

-        Techniques for creating yarn wings for dry flies

-        Adding hackle to mayfly imitations

In addition to light-wire dry fly hooks, several specialized materials are needed to tie these dries. Here’s what you’ll need:

Feathers with fibers suitable for dry fly tailing. We will use fibers pulled from a feather shaft to form the tail on our dry flies. Rooster neck hackle does the job. Colorwise, match the color of the dubbing you’ll use to create the dry fly’s body.

Extra-fine dry fly dubbing. We will use this to form the abdomen of the fly. Choose a color that matches the color of the fibers you’ll use to form the tail. 

Wing yarn. We’ll use Antron yarn to form the wings of our mayfly imitation. If you use brightly colored yarn, that makes the fly easier to see too. We like orange, chartreuse, or even white. 

Dry fly hackle. This is the key material when tying dry flies. I’ll tell you up front that good dry fly hackle is not the least expensive material you’ll ever buy, but good hackle is worth every penny. We suggest picking up a “100 Pack” from Whiting as a great way to start. These packs include feathers that have been selected to be the right size for a given hook size, and each pack includes enough feathers to form the hackle on at least 100 flies. Color-wise, grizzly [gray and white] is a universal. If not using grizzly, approximately match the color of the dubbing and tail. 

Fly Tying 102 Consolidated Materials List

Thread:

8/0 thread, gray or black

6/0 thread, black (for Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear and for Mayfly, though 8/0 can be used) 

Hooks:

Size 16 curved shank hooks*

Size 12 or 14 1XL nymph hook**

Size 12 or 14 1XL dry fly hook 

Beads:

Gold or silver brass or tungsten bead suitable for the size 16 curve-shank hooks*

Gold or silver brass or tungsten bead suitable for use on the nymph hook you choose** 

Ribbing wire:

Extra fine or fine silver ribbing wire*

Fine or medium-fine gold ribbing wire** 

Feathers:

Mottled turkey feather**

Rooster neck hackle (for dry fly tailing)

Dry fly hackle (e.g. Whiting 100 Pack), grizzly or match dry fly body color, to match hook size

Yarn:

White Antron-type yarn for tailing the Blue Assassin and/or making dry fly wings *

Antron yarn in orange, chartreuse, yellow, white or other easy-to-see color for dry fly wings

Flash:

Silver or pearl tinsel or crystal flash* 

Dubbing:

Blue, medium-fine or medium texture blend for Blue Assassin thorax*

Brown medium-coarse blend for Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear abdomen and thorax** 

Notes: * indicates materials included in the Tie It & Try It Blue Assassin Fly Tying Kit

             ** indicates materials included in the Tie It & Try It Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear Fly Tying Kit 

Tools you might want to have on hand: 

1)     Good light!!!

2)     Dubbing wax

3)     Dubbing brush tool (for picking out dubbing)

4)     Fine-tipped head cement dispenser with fresh head cement

Signing up:

Remember that there is no charge for the course, but we do require advanced registration to track the number of participants.  Please sign up in advance by adding this event to your cart and "checking out", or through email at alpharettaoutfitters@yahoo.com.  Zoom login information will be provided before the class.