While this winter has been pretty mild thus far and fishing conditions have been good, I have spent much more time on the vise over the past month or so. I love sitting down at my tying desk, filling holes in the fly box, and dreaming about future trips. I’ve been working on a few projects that I thought would be fun to share and that you might find interesting.
Dry Flies for the Henry's Fork
A friend from the local Trout Unlimited chapter reached out and asked if I could tie up a few flies for her husband as a Christmas present. She and I have chatted many times about dry fly fishing the Henry’s Fork, so two dozen dry flies specific to the Henry’s Fork seemed like the perfect gift. I love tying projects like this one, and it got me excited for another year of match-the-hatch fishing ahead.
The flies I included in the box were Henry’s Fork Golden Stones, DJL Green Drakes, Last Chance Cripple Green Drakes, X-caddis, Flav Cripples, Sparkle Duns, Rusty Spinners, and Harrop’s CDC Para Spinners. What I thought was a great selection for June on the Henry’s Fork. Anything I missed?
Trout Spey Fly Box
Another Christmas present I tied up this winter was a trout spey box for my father-in-law. I heard he was getting a trout spey rod for Christmas, so I wanted to stock him up on some flies to get him started. I am learning to swing flies myself and have greatly enjoyed tying patterns specifically for the swing. This was a fun and fulfilling box for me to tie. It is an honor to tie flies for and share information with my father-in-law, as he was the one to put a fly rod in my hand and start this obsession of mine. We still fish together frequently, and I hope to learn the trout spey game with him over the coming years.
He has already gotten out and sent me pictures of a few trout he caught on the flies. So cool!
Flies For New Zealand
I am getting anxious for an upcoming trip to New Zealand. My wife and I are taking two weeks to travel around the South Island in a camper van. We plan to do some hiking, sightseeing, and a few days of fishing. This will be the biggest trip either of us has ever taken, and I really don’t know what to expect.
I’ve spent a lot of time researching the fishing in New Zealand. From the many different fisheries to the technical tactics used to fool the big trout, there is a lot to know. I have no clue what I’m doing, but I am excited for the challenge. To prepare for the trip and build excitement, I have been tying a variety of flies. While many of the flies I use in the Greater Yellowstone Region sound like they will work in NZ, a few patterns are unique to the NZ rivers. Check out what I have been tying to fill my New Zealand fly box below. If you have any recommendations, please let me know!
Now halfway through winter, I still have many flies on my mind that I would like to tie before the prime fishing season. I seem to never get to all of them before I start spending more time on the water, but that’s probably how it should be. I hope you enjoyed this article and have been savoring the tying season so far. Let’s pray for some snow and keep tying until the hatches get going this spring!
3 thoughts on “Winter Tying Projects”
A cicada? Maybe a beetle? This would be a fantastic pattern on the Green river in Utah!!
Thanks Dan! I am excited to give it a try!
Love this article!! Great read and very inspirational!
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