Another longing desire that is now a passing thought. The most beautiful works of art that have ever graced the art of fishing. Anyone tie them?
full dressed salmon flies
- Thread starter honeycutt
- Start date
I could have swore there were a few fly fishing threads around here. There's gotta be a few chaps that tie flies.
There isn't a lot of (or any that I know of) fly fishing spots around here so not something I partake in.
There isn't a lot of (or any that I know of) fly fishing spots around here so not something I partake in.
I've tied full-dress featherwing Salmon Flies. It is fascinating and occasionally frustrating. Many of the materials are hard to find and when found, expensive. Your average side-of-the-road fly shop won't have silkworm gut, silk threads and floss, Asian Kingfisher, Bustard, Toucan, Indian Crow, Jungle **** and a whole bunch of other materials. There are some acceptable substitutes for CITES protected feathers and some sources for legally raised birds so be prepared to search and at the conclusion of the quest fork over significant money. Oh yeah, assembling a library of instructional books, some old some new, can also pose a challenge but it's great fun if you can hold up under the pressure.
Toothpick if you're in Smyrna, TN you shouldn't have to travel far to find some good fly fishing. Most people associate it with trout but any fish, fresh or salt, can be caught on a fly. For trout try the Caney Fork tailwater. Otherwise head to any of the lakes and streams in Middle Tennessee. East of you on I40 and I81 you've got a bunch of trout water packed into all the TN counties on the NC and VA borders.
Full dress salmon flies are not easy to tye and do take a lot of work, I never could get the wings right, Hours in fact. The list of materials oldbluelight gave is a small list and many more could be added. However there is hope if your willing to try something different. You could try tying hair wing salmon flies or if you want to go traditional dee or spey style flys are easier to tye and look very cool without having to mess with the stacked wing of the full dress style. Another suggestion is to simply work on tying the tip, tag, tail and body with ribbing and so on. That will keep you busy for a while, and you can get a taste for the work involved before tackling the harder techniques. All this said I am assuming that you tye already?
- Thread starter
- #5
Yes.
Prophoss' suggestion of starting with hairwing salmon flies is a good one. Look for a book by Poul Jorgensen, Salmon Flies, Their Character, Style and Dressing. Poul was a very famous fly dresser (properly speaking salmon flies are dressed not tied) who designed the Rat series of salmon flies. The book has clear instructions on hairwing and featherwing dressings and gently eases you into a condition known as FTMAD, Fly Tying Material Acquisition Disease. It's available on Amazon last time I looked. Welcome to the rabbit hole.
- Thread starter
- #7
I have his book and several more in my collection.
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