1) Try using a drop of Water-Based Head Cement at the base of parachute-style hackles to help secure the hackle against repeated chewing by the fish. The cement’s super-thin consistency allows it to penetrate deeply and doesn’t mat hackle like more viscous cements (try it on store-bought flies, too).

2) Sun Set is tremendously versatile and can even be used for on-the-water fly repair. A little dab and a little sun and you can fix everything from unraveling Adams to tooth-scarred epoxy-minnows.

3) Another alternate use for Sun Set is making quick (though temporary), on-the-water “epoxy” heads for baitfish imitations. Just slather some Sunset over the head of a streamer, wait a minute or two (literally), and then go fish!

4) Rather than applying Swax directly to the tying thread, try touching your forefinger on the Swax, and then dubbing. This makes less mess when it comes to smaller flies, and it prevents the dubbing from becoming too saturated with wax.

5) If you tie hackled spinner imitations, don’t automatically trim the fly’s hackle top and bottom. Rather, leave the hackle full (like a classical dry fly) and only trim it once you’re on the water. This allows you to have three flies in one: A fully-hackled dun (no trimming), an emerger (trim only the bottom), and a spinner (trim bottom and top).

6) For a non-lead underbody on big nymphs and streamers mold some Deep Soft Weight around the hook shank. A dip of the weighted hook in a glass of ice water will harden the Weight and allow you to tie over it. Once warmed up again, the Deep Soft putty becomes moldable, allowing you to adjust the body shape while on the water. As soon as the Weight hits the cold water, it becomes hard, preserving the modified body.

7) When tying flies that imitate the pupal stage of an insect, try using a thread color that matches the adult and a dubbing color that matches the pupa. When wet, the adult (thread) color will show through the pupal (dubbing) color, making for a most enticing imitation.

8 ) The addition of a trailing shuck to a standard dry-fly pattern can increase its effectiveness during a hatch. Also, if the fly is fully hackled, try cutting the hackle off the bottom of the fly so it floats more like an emerging insect (see tip five in this section).

9) One of the best things you can do to increase your effectiveness as a fly designer is to actually look at the natural food items in their environment. For example, discovering how a mayfly dun actually sits on the water will help you understand how to hackle your flies to get a more effective surface impression.

10) One of the easiest ways to make a simple rib on a fly is to use the tag end of thread that results from initally wrapping the hook shank (assuming the wrap goes front to back). Once the abdomen is formed, the tag end can then be wound forward, creating the rib.

Beginner Fly Tying Tips: Three Essential Techniques Every Fly Tier Needs to Know

There are three fly tying skills that you will use with every fly you tie – the jam knot, the pinch wrap, and the whip finish knot. They correspond to the three essential operations needed to complete all flies – attaching the thread to the hook (the jam knot), attaching material to the hook (the pinch wrap), and securing and removing the thread from the hook upon completion of the fly (the whip finish.) This video teaches you how to perform these three essential techniques.

Fly Tying: 30 Years of Tips, Tricks, and Patterns (Best of Fly Rod & Reel)

The book is filled with fly-tying tips and fly-pattern designs straight from Fly Rod & Reel, contributors such as Darrel Martin, A.K. Best, Ted Leeson and many others; all make this a must-have or perfect gift for a fly tier of any skill level. For anglers who enjoy tying their own flies, this mixed bag of recipes and stories, highlighted by detailed illustrations and color photographs, provides a wealth of opportunity to explore. The book covers everything from saltwater to smallmouth patterns, with a concentration on trout.

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