So You Don’t Do the Same

Fly fishing occasionally for double digit years, I bought most of my flies. “Who has time to tie flies when you’re fishing?” The exception I made since my youth was, I would occasionally tie jigs. Jig type flies, and jigs for ultra-light fishing. In a nutshell, I simply fished with a fly rod-I didn’t fly fish.

When I decided to “turn it up” on fly fishing a few years ago, I declared that meant going all in. Learning the physics and arguably scientific stuff about gear, leaders, flies including tying all types of flies. A noble idea that I had about a year ago was to find one fly that seems to fill the bill almost 12 months of the year, and almost anywhere. Thanks to social media and probably thousands of hours by now watching fly fishermen from Missouri to New Zealand, the late Charles Kraft had what seemed to be the best all around idea-the CK nymph. He was old school, developing a nymph that could be tied with even the most sickly, un-pampered fowl that could produce a Grizzly feather of any quality. And using yarn. Though he was right declaring that if I’d go to a fabric shop and buy 100% wool yarn, it would be easy to “brush” for that “buggy look”, he admitted any yarn will do.

As with anything and everything in 2025, open your mind to it and getting a drink of water can be the most cumbersome, confusing and with so many choices, thing to do. Fly tyers and fishermen are likely the group of fishermen most likely to be OCD about…everything. I walk the edge of the cliff being OCD about everything fishing, but often catch myself about to jump and then decide it’s not worth the time scaling the wall back to being sane, when I could be simply fishing. Still, even the person not otherwise disposed to OCD will find bursts of the affliction when it comes to fishing. Or I suppose, any hobby that may grab their heart and soul.

I was on the right track. Three colors of yarn from Walmart or Hobby Lobby that Chuck said was all that was needed. And some wild or sickly bird that “quality all over the place” Grizzly feathers had been plucked. Hooks, thread and and a bobbin and I was in business. Well, I added a fly tying vise when I decided the vise grips I’d used for 50 years for tying jig types was a bit too primitive for 2025. But technology and social media kept me in touch too much with everyone else that had even one good idea, but usually more. “Well, I tried to remain frugal with my Charles Kraft approach-but I guess I can buy this or that, and try this fly.” Though I was already proving that Charles was right-I think I caught every red ear on a south side of the lake flat one day in April, that swam through, or lived on that flat with his CK nymph that I’d tied (too many). Still, the need to try new flies and then border on OCD about tying them, ate at me worse than the critters I fought from the banks while trying to fish on many days.

…Tying flies, you’re tying things smaller than your pinky finger nail much of the time. So it’s not unusual for anyone to have certain materials that could last a lifetime, even if you bought them with your first allowance as a child. But I never care to tie flies as “a business”, something that could justify “so much stuff”. The consistency and repetitious good quality those guys and gals produce is…mind boggling. My intuition told me that some tyers really didn’t care to fish as much as tie. But that couldn’t be true. Would be like me learning to cut and sew high fashion clothes when all I care about are my cargo pants and Wrangler shirts. Then I saw it…a comment about one of my fly tying guru’s videos. “I don’t think I ever care to catch a fish. But I think I’ll buy materials and tie some flies.”

So, let’s go back to the “…yarn from Walmart or Hobby Lobby…”.

Every color that you actually need is available from these two big box retailers. It’s synthetic, so doesn’t brush as well as wool or similar natural material. Bonus…you can get wads of yarn that are multi-color, probably containing some colors the fly fishing industry never thought about.

Your flies probably won’t be as appealing to the human eye as are the flies tied with what’s supposedly the correct materials. Here’s a Pat’s Rubber Legs I tied after it turned up multiple times during one day of watching YouTubers from Montana to a kid that “runs” the blue ribbon trout streams between Steelville and Springfield. Seems I could look away from the video but when my eyes returned, yet another trout was being shown just caught with a Pat’s Rubber Legs. Of course my first thought was, “I have a fly tying shop! 🫣 Find the materials in these boxes, and tie some Rubber Legs!”

What?! No black and coffee chenille?! And there I was, rushing to the the materials shopping list to buy yet more…fly tying materials. But quickly having a clear, sane moment and remembering I’d bought especially multi-colored yarns for a reason. And so here it is. My Pat’s Rubber Legs that if you compare to the ones being tied with the chenille and to appeal to the anglers eye not so much to the fish, is pretty drab. But I’ve learned that in the big picture, the fish don’t care. I know about what I could catch in given situations and if the numbers fall short then, one option to explore is making it prettier. 😚 In fact, I’ll recommend tying anything calling for something that mimics yarn but is more expensive than synthetic yarn, just try the yarn, first. And a Sharpie marker.

And I’ll add, I can’t believe that fish see an artificial fly made to look like a New York street walker and don’t get suspicious. So don’t over think it. Don’t “over buy” it. And don’t think less of yourself when you do. I was given the same advice and well, like you see, I have the inventory for a production fly shop. And still have that black and coffee chennile on my shopping list just in case my hillbilly version doesn’t work out. And you know it won’t…to some degree. If I catch five per hour with the hillbilly “Pat’s…”, I’ll buy the chenille anyway, just to see if I can now catch six per hour. 😞