Ive been playing around with clousers , woolly buggers and foam beetles but I’m just now getting the chance to do a dry fly …mostly because the fly shop ran out of dry fly hooks and ive been waiting .
I very new at this so id like to start with something not too tough any suggestions?
How about an Elk Hair Caddis?
Elk Hair Caddis (terrific fly)
Bivisible
Black Gnat
the x-caddis. only three materials zelon, dubbing and deer hair. doesn’t get much more simple. you will need a hair stacker. it is also a great fly!
second the ehc.
a bigger sized griffiths gnat.
renegade
the adams
also invest in good quality hackle if you dont already have some.it will make dry flies much easier.
Something I discovered when I purchased the big variety pack at Gander Mt …not as nice as the stuff from the fly shop.
Some great ideas so far …Im gonna run to the fly shop this weekend and get some material and get tying.
“also invest in good quality hackle if you dont already have some.it will make dry flies much easier.” 8) 8) 8)
Yes if had to do it over I’d be much more picky about the quality of the material I bought…trouble is it’s hard to know at that stage 
Check out the “Basic Dry Fly” in Al Campbell’s beginning fly tying lessons.
JR
Hi JRA,
When you are learning to tie, the most important thing is to learn the various techniques and skills that are needed to tie many different flies. Only a few basic techniques are needed to tie a great variety of flies. Start out with easy and progressively move toward more difficult as soon as you master each skill.
For this reason, I am in the camp of the others who have recommended the Elk Hair Caddis.
It is possibly the easiest dry to hackle. For that reason it is a great one to start on. It is significanly easier to hackle than a collar hackle type fly such as a Wulff.
Start out with a larger size such as a #10 or #12, and when that is mastered go to the next size smaller. When you master that size then work down one size smaller again. So if you start with a #10, then go to a #12, then a #14, etc.
After you have mastered the few basic techniques of tying you will find that you can tie almost any standard trout fly.
Hope you do well.
Regards,
Gandolf
isn’t a foam beetle a dry fly?
griffith’s gnat and most caddis are easy dries.
why not try a p. adams. you’ll have to want to soon eneough anyways.
snowshoe caddis is even easier to tie than a regular caddis all you need is one rabbits foot and thread
I would also recommend a bigger griffiths gnat or an adams, but don’t worry about tying in the two wings.
cop out.
you need to learn to tie in hackle tip wings whether the fish care or not. it ain’t an adams w/out the wings.
Hi,
I would suggest Wickham’s fancy as another good palmer dry fly. It can be found here on FAOL:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/feature … art94.html
I’ve always added a tail of fibres as well.
This is good tied as a wet fly as well, so even if it becomes water logged, you can still fish it with confidence. First trout I took on a dry fly in New Zealand was on a Wickham’s Fancy, so I have a soft spot for it.
- Jeff
Mr. Blur I do tye mine with wings, even though I don’t think the fish care. I thought it would be easier for someone just starting to tye dry flies to leave off the wings untill they perfected wrapping the hackle and it would also catch fish.
Austin
I find that tying with CDC is fairly simple - even I can do it. Go to intermediate fly tying, part 27 of FAOL for instructions.
Tim
Some great replies from folks who certainly know better than I. I only started tying a little over 8 months ago but here are some suggestions that I’d look at.
Griffith’s Gnat (as others have said, really only two matterials (Peacock Herl & Hackle) and very easy to tie. I found it a good way to learn how to hackle a fly).
Adams
Fur Ants
Many have pointed you to the Al Campbel tutorials here on the site but I also wanted to mention another site with amazing tutorials for a wide variety of flies, http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/index.cfm. I found out about Charlie’s site on another fly fishing board and his site has become my “go to” site for fly patterns and tying tutorials. I believe most of the flies mentioned by others (and those I’ve mentioned above) are included on Charlie’s site with easy to follow, well photographed instructions.
Brian
JRA
You have received some good patterns to start with and I would only like to make one suggestion. When everyone tells you to purchase and use good quality hackle because it makes tying dry flies easier, they are telling you the truth, but, if you are just learning, the cost of good quality hackle may hinder your progress because you will be afraid of making a mistake and wasting expensive material. There is nothing wrong with starting out with a dry fly hackle that you can afford and then if you should decide that you really like tying dry flies and fishing them, you can save up for good quality hackle. It would be wise for you to determine what style of fishing you will do the most of and if that is buggers, nymphs, streamers, etc., then owing good quality dry fly hackle would not be a good choice. If you plan to do a lot of dry fly fishing, then by all means, save up for good quality hackle because it will benefit your tying and make it much easier to tie good dries. In other words, spend your money on the best quality material that you will tie with and fish with the most. What good is owning high priced good quality dry fly hackle if it will be spending most of it’s life inside a package on your fly tying table?
Just my opinions and suggestions and nothing more…
try the bear paw
Instructions here http://kwsu.publictelevision.org/statio … d=12&pid=2
Good easy fly to tie, and I have caught trout, crappie and bluegill on it
Eric
The guy at the flyshop had told me once I used up what he had gave me and I was comfortable with materials to maybe purchase a $25 bag of good quality hackle. Of course I should have listened.