new to fly tying

[Clayton]

im new to fly tying and i was wondering if anyone could help me out here....
does anybody know where i can find out how to tie a micro may, and a blue wing olive nymph. i've used these patterns on creeks i usually fish and they seem to always work.
thanks.

[Hairstacker]

Hi Clayton!

Click here for step-by-step instructions for tying Mike Mercer's Micro May fly pattern:

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/print.cfm?parentID=121

As far as a "blue-winged olive nymph," quite a few fly patterns would fit the bill, such as a trimly tied olive hare's ear nymph or a pheasant tail nymph. Do you recall the name of the fly you had particular luck with? Was it actually called a "blue-winged olive nymph"?

[Clayton]

Thanks for the site Hairstacker.
I dont remember the name of the fly. Are you saying that a pheasant tail nymph is about the same thing? Because thats the first fly I learned to tie so I'm pretty good at those. What are some other good flys to tie for trout streams in northern california. This fly tying is addicting.

[Chris V]

Hi Clayton,

If your new to tying you might want to check out this site :D
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/beginners/archive.html
A fellow board member- nightgoat once showed me this site & it really helped me out.

This site doesn't really focus as much on individual flys as it does techniques.

If you already know all the techniques used in the "Beginning" fly tying lessons- try the "Intermediate" lessons.

Good luck!

[nightgoat]

Charlie's site is great! Tons of patterns with good instructions. Here's a couple more to check out....

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/ -- on the left side there's a link to the fly tying section. Includes lessons from beginner to advanced. Also a nice collection of "Fly of the Week" patterns.

http://www.flyfishnorcal.org -- good tutorials on popular flies for NorCal (including the Micro May).

and of course http://stevenojai.tripod.com/ -- go to the fly box section for some great step by step instructions.


I highly recommend spending some time watching and asking questions from folks who have been tying for a while. It's amazing how much I learn every time I get to chat with accomplished tiers :D

[Hairstacker]

The blue winged olive nymph is a swimmer nymph, which is typically fairly slender as far as nymphs go. Thus, a pheasant tail nymph is probably one of the most effective, if not most popular, fly patterns to imitate this nymph. I would suggest tying a few in sizes 16 - 18, some with flashbacks, some with appropriately-sized copper beads.

As far as a basic list of flies to tie for trout streams in Northern California, you'll get as many different answers as you get responses. :lol: Here's one such list:

aforementioned pheasant tail nymphs
Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear nymph, sizes 12 - 16, some with gold beads
Light Olive Sparkle Dun, sizes 18 - 20
Olive Hairwing Dun, sizes 14 - 20
Parachute Adams, sizes 14 - 20
Light Cahill, sizes 14 - 18
Olive Beadhead (caddis larva), sizes 12 - 16
greenish-olive Emergent Sparkle Pupa, sizes 14 - 16
Fox Poopah, sizes 12 -16
Cutter's E/C Caddis, sizes 12 -16
Elk Hair Caddis, sizes 12 - 16
Lime and/or Royal Trude, sizes 14 - 16
Brooks Brown Stone, size 8
Gold Stimulator, size 8
any hopper pattern, size 10
Cutter's Perfect Ant, sizes 12 - 18
Yellow and Partride soft hackle wet fly, size 14
Griffith's Gnat, size 18 - 20
Olive, Black, and Brown Woolly Buggers, size 6 or 8
Muddler Minnow, size 8
Zonker, size 4

This list pretty much covers you for any creature you're likely to want to imitate. That said, color variations can vary tremendously from stream to stream, which is why many like to have a mix of olives and tans in their mayfly nymphs and caddis larva selections. I could have listed others, like John Barr's Copper John or a Red Quill Spinner or a Prince Nymph or a Zug Bug or a. . ., but I was trying to keep the list fairly short. :roll:

Doubtless the list excludes many folks' "won't go without" and "go to" patterns. Perhaps some will pipe in with a few of those.

[Clayton]

WOW! thanks alot guys. This will probably keep me busy all weekend. :lol: