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Salmon fly help

Thursthouse

Thursthouse

Tight Loins
So I recently pulled the trigger and got engaged and already my better half has started wedding planning. There's not much (besides an open bar) that I really care about in the planning phase (she's dreamt about wedding since the day she could walk, she can plan it now) but if I could incorporate fly fishing into the wedding I'd be pretty stoked. I came across salmon fly boutanierres and think it would be pretty fitting.

So now I need to learn how to tie those pretty salmon flies you boys tye. What I'm wondering is, what's the best way for me to learn? A certain book, series of videos etc. Keep in mind I'll only be tying salmon flies for the wedding and then won't need to tye them. So I pretty much would like the best way to learn to tie one pattern. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
I still can't get them nice,

but I recommend lots of time and frustration, especially on the wings.....I would recommend tying hair wings....
 
Thursthouse said:
There's not much (besides an open bar) that I really care about in the planning phase (she's dreamt about wedding since the day she could walk, she can plan it now)
Click to expand...

I have no advice for you on tying salmon flies, but regarding the above, you MUST pretend to care as deeply as she does about the planning while somehow remaining 100% out of it, yet appear to be critically involved at every step of the planning stages, always backing up her decision even when she changes her mind. Good luck - we are all counting on you. If successful, you will be the first ever and be asked to write a book on your experience. Generations of men ahead of you will owe you an incredible debt of gratitude! This from someone married 20 years....


Oh yeah, congrats on the impending nuptials! :)
 
Thurst,
Start with simple patterns at first. The Ally's Shrimp is a good pattern to start with. It is easier to hone you skills with patterns that are not so cumbersome to tie. I have found it is difficult to understand where you went wrong in the finished fly without first mastering the order of operations. I found if the fly does not look correct and I do not know what I did wrong. It is difficult to correct on the next one. For me most times it was a simple error or I did something out of sequence. I try to master a particular element of the fly first and the go on to the next. That has always been my approach.
 
Dude, your about to go through the most agonizing process a man has to endure and you want to compound it by trying to learn the most agonizing process in fly tying at the same time???

Your only concern is to get your alcohol intake up to an appropriate level for the next how ever many months so you can get through this. Pay someone else to tie the flies.
 
sunsignarcher said:
Dude, your about to go through the most agonizing process a man has to endure and you want to compound it by trying to learn the most agonizing process in fly tying at the same time???

Your only concern is to get your alcohol intake up to an appropriate level for the next how ever many months so you can get through this. Pay someone else to tie the flies.
Click to expand...

Then call us because we'll come drink with you :beer:
 
Before you spend hundreds of hours learning to tie flies that you aren't going to fish with, or pay hundreds of dollars to have them tied, find out what your fiance wants.

A wedding is about the bride, you're just an accessory.
She gets to decide.
You get to follow directions.

If she wants you to wear a green carnation.... wear a green carnation, and do whatever it takes to convince the best man and the ushers, that wearing green carnations doesn't make them gay.
 
Pete said:
If she wants you to wear a green carnation.... wear a green carnation, and do whatever it takes to convince the best man and the ushers, that wearing green carnations doesn't make them gay.
Click to expand...

Not that there is anything wrong with that....:)
 
Haha thanks all for the advice. She was very pleased with the idea of a fly boutonniere - so I'm safe there.

I'll probably try my hand at it, but if/when I fail miserably, I'll pay for the flies - but I think it'd be more special if I could tye them myself.
 
To get good at anything you have to do it a lot. The best salmon fly tying book IMHO is Salmon Flies by Poul Jorgensen.

That said, the best way to learn is still from other people. Spend plenty of time at the tying show in November and the Fly show in January. The best salmon tiers show up their in large numbers.
 
You boys ready for a laugh? I bought the Salmon Flies book that JeffK suggested, but need to finish up Fishing Tandem Flies before I move on to a new book. I decided to wing it with a regular streamer hook and using only the materials that I had on hand. I felt like I was doing a decent job until I looked up real salmon flies again. Haha regardless of how ugly this fly is, it was a lot of fun tying it and I'm looking forward to learning the actual flies this winter.

http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/q750/thursthouse/Salmon fly style attempt_zpscwzzvqoh.jpg
 
Key to great flies are great materials then technique. If you can have someone help you pick out the best quality materials the flies will be much easier to tie and look better.

If I can help out feel free to pm me.

Congratulations!
 
theartoflee said:
Key to great flies are great materials then technique. If you can have someone help you pick out the best quality materials the flies will be much easier to tie and look better.

If I can help out feel free to pm me.

Congratulations!
Click to expand...

Yea... we'll just blame it on the materials.... haha I am planning on hitting up the Bears Den in Taunton to get a bunch of decent materials when I'm actually ready to sit down and learn these.
 
Hi Thursthouse how have you been, haven't had chance to talk to you follows for a while. Salmon fly material does't have to cost you a months pay check to make good looking flies. Get the recipe for the fly you want to ty and then go on line and find a picture of the fly and print it of. I have been tying flies for 40 years and if I find a new fly I want to ty this is what I do, I usually blow the picture up so it's easy to see the different sections of the fly. Most salmon flies co sist of a hook, floss, tensil, hair of some sort and a feather all of which are inexpensive. A lot of the materials such as feathers can be food at a craft shop very cheap. Tying flies at first will probly make you want to pull your hair out but don't give up, the first fly I tied was from a feather out of my pillow and it caught me a nice trout, notice I said a nice trout it was the only trout I caught on it but i was hooked. There is nothing more satisfyiny to a fly fishermen than catching a fish on a fly they have tied. Oh and a fly doesn't have to look like a million dollars to catch a fish. Good luck I know you will enjoy tying fly's. Kendall Sproule
 
If you are going to the fly fishing show hold off on getting the materials till the show. While at the show pick some of the tiers brains as to what good qualities are for the materials your looking to purchase.
 
First attempt at the Durham Ranger (changed some materials on purpose to fit the fiancé's color scheme). Have a ways to go...


Salmon1_zps8cceeheu.jpg
 
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