What's YOUR favorite fly to tie?

[jimmadsen]

I just got some of my old tying bench materials out of storage and started to tie up a few flies to clear the cobwebs and get the rust off.

And it dawned on me...I can tie Woolly Buggers all day long. I just seem to have nailed that pattern with the right recipe.

It doesn't matter the size - I like tying them and they always turn out great. Whenever I know I'm going to be tying for a bit - I start with a few of them as kind of a "warm-up".

So what about you? What's your favorite pattern to tie?

Do you prefer drys, nymphs, streamers or what?

FYI - I also like tying micro-sized flies. I even tied a sz 32 griffith's gnat once just to see if I could do it. And I could.

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Although I don't have a particular favorite, I do go through periods where I really enjoy tying one type of fly, but wheter that be winged wets, spiders, bumbles, dries, nymphs, streamer, or lure, well, that depends upon the wind I think! I know when it comes to fishing, I prefer fishing wee wets, both winged and wingless varieties, although I will fish them all. I like to tie them all equally though.

- Jeff

[rookie]

I loved tying spiders, then made a jump to Full Dressed Classic Salmon Flies although I can't really tie them. It's still fun trying.

[Cold]

Classic Wet Flies...floss, tinsel, some wing quills...so much fun.

Hairwing streamers, no doubt. Bucktail, calf tail, squirrel...whatever. Looks great and fishes great.

[Panman]

A fly that has a big bushy dry fly hackle. I just think they look neat.

Tim

[NJTroutbum]

My favorite flies to tie are the Catskills. I will usually start off with a couple of them when I've been away for awhile. They require me to pay attention to proportions....which gets easier, but just as important with the rest of the flies I tie:^)

[Steven]

If I'm just tying for the sake of tying (i.e. the Cubs suck, there's no sports on and it's 95 decrease with 100% humidity like last weekend), I'll tie a mayfly dry - kind of a Proper Perfect Dun.

The Pefect dun was a catskill type of fly but with the dubbing crossing through the underside of the collar in an X to split the bottome of the collar hackle in half (kind of like cutting the bottom of the hackle to create a Lawson-type of Thorax fly). I like Wonder Wings rather than hackle tips, though.

Dick Talleur's Cut Wing Thorax is similar.

[jimmadsen]

Hey Steven - could you post a pic of that? Sounds interesting!

Thanks!

[Rocketfish]

This week...Pheasant Tail Parachute...next week...who knows.

[narcodog]

I love tying old style wingless wets, Clyde style, and flymphs they have a beauty and simplicity all their own. Then Catskill style because to tie a proper CS the proportions must be exact, JMO.