Ever want to try fly-tying as a hobby? It has great appeal to fishermen, the hobbyist, the artist, and biologist. It brings out creativity, artistic flair, interest in entomology, and perfection in matching natural insects. For me, this has become a lifelong amateur profession, and it helps me pass many a cold weather day or evening, giving me something to get excited about for any new fishing season. Although some may argue that it saves money over purchasing fishing flies, I find this to be a myth, as I always am looking for the exotic materials and feed my addiction to tying new fly patterns.
The Doc Fritchey Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be teaching students who wish to learn how to tie flies this coming Spring at the Olewine building at the Wildwood Nature Center in Harrisburg, on 7 consecutive Thursday evenings, starting Feb 13th and continuing through March 26th. The classes will meet from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. A seasoned team of chapter volunteers will help with lessons. These classes are the path that nearly every successful fly-tyer has taken, and our chapter has a long history of teaching these.
The course will bring newcomers from tying basic, simple flies to more sophisticated, complex patterns. We focus more on techniques than on exact patterns, explaining why certain types of materials are used, how some flies can influence fish into striking, and how some flies represent different stages of the same insect. We start with the easy San Juan Worm and progress through the more realistic mayflies and streamer patterns.
The cost of the entire 7-week course is $20 and each student will receive all the instruction and materials to tie the selected patterns. The chapter will furnish all tools for each student to use, but all students are encouraged to purchase their own sets of tools, as these are fundamental to continue tying at home. The chapter’s tools will be offered to students for optional purchase at a special discounted price.
Space is limited and registration is required. Visit www.wildwoodlake.org/events/ to register.
