Learning the art of fly tying is one productive way to spend your free time. There is nothing more
rewarding than shooting out an excellent fly cast, watching your target fish species take the fly, then releasing it knowing you fooled that fish with your self-tied fly.
We've put together 20 of the best fly-tying materials for beginner and advanced tyers. In no particular order:
1. Marabou
Marabou is a puffy fluffy fly-tying material with colourful flowing feathers similar to what you see
on hats and decorations. You can use these feathers for wings and tails. Marabou is used extensively in fly tying on patterns such as the Wooly bugger, streamers, and a plethora of different rainbow trout patterns, or lures, such as the Cats Whisker and Damsel Nymphs.
In reality, though, it is so useful as a fly tying material that its uses are practically limitless. Very few feathers can impart as much movement and 'life' into the fly as Marabou.
2. Thread
This fly-tying material comes in different colours, diameters (deniers), capacity, strengths and grips (waxed and unwaxed). Selecting a thread can be daunting, especially if you're a beginning tyer. We suggest getting black, brown, red, White and light tan to begin with. For nymphs, streamers, and bulky dry flies, size 6/0 is the ideal workhorse size.
Size 8/0 (thinner) works best for smaller dry flies and is a good all-round performer, and 3/0 (thicker and firmer) is good for spinning and stacking deer hair and on larger saltwater and predator flies. Some of the more popular brands include Semperfli, Uni, UTC, Veevus, Gordon Griffiths, Hends and Veniard. When considering which tying thread to go for, think about the size of the fly you are going to tie and whether or not the thread is prewaxed. Waxed threads offer much more grip when tying down materials, so will be much less likely to slip.
That said, even the prewaxed threads do better when a little extra wax is applied. Non prewaxed threads such as Semperfli Nano silk, which is extremely strong, are usually best used when you have gained good experience as a fly tyer.
Then there are the specialist threads like Uni Neon Thread 1/0, which is excellent for adding hot spots, tags and hot heads to your flies, and Uni-Thread Trico 17/0 and Semperfli Nano Silk 18/0, both of which are perfect for tying the smallest of flies.
3. Floss
Flosses are fly-tying materials usually made from materials such as silk, Rayon and various other synthetic materials, with red, black, orange, yellow and green being the most common colours.
It provides the fly with a shiny, smooth body or bright head, tag or hotspot. Tyers typically use floss on nymphs, streamers, predator flies, Wet flies and Classic Salmon flies, since it generally doesnt help float a fly. That said, it can also be used on dry flies.
4. Wax
Tyers apply this fly-tying material to the thread to help dubbing and other materials stick to it. Generally, the amount of tackiness varies depending on how much grip is required. Some popular brands include Veniards Fly Tying wax, Loon Low tack and high tack, and various brands of cobblars wax.
5. Head Cement
These fly-tying materials cement the thread down on the flys head, but can be used to create a hard body on buzzers and nymphs. It is also used regularly to protect tags and butts on various fly patterns. Tyers usually tie the fly such that the head is the last component. They typically form a tapered head with thread before applying a few coats of varnish to lock in and protect it.
Essentially, it holds the fly together. So choose wisely.
Varnish, UV cure, and two-part epoxy are the three common types of head cement. Veniard and Sally hanson are two more popular brands of varnish.
6. Marker Pens
Permanent markers best accent your flies with gill stripes and shadowing from top to bottom. We recommend using red, black, brown, orange, yellow and blue colours to begin with, before moving on to other colours as your tying develops. They can be used to create a fly head or body of any colour by simply using a white thread first and going over this with a marker..
Many Pike fly and saltwater fly tyers use marker pens on various hair and furs to create stunning and lifelike patterns and colourations.
7. Wire
This fly-tying material usually adds accent colour, ribbing or a little weight to a nymph, streamer, wetfly, pike fly or any other fly pattern.
Tyers can also wrap fine wire to build the fly thorax in patterns such as the Pheasant tail nymph, or as a rib to represent the segmentation of the body as it appears on the natural insects.
Copper and gold are the standard colours. A Copper John is a fast and effective fly-to-tie to get you started with the use of wires. Wires come in a broad range of colours, thickness and strengths.
8. Lead Wire
Tyers attach these fly-tying materials to the hook shank to help sink the fly. Typically added to the underside of flies when extra weight is required. Most commonly used on Czech Nymph style flies.
You can use lead in different sizes depending on the style of fly and the speed at which you want it to sink. We recommend getting the .020 size wire because it's fine enough on smaller flies but firm enough to handle without breaking.
9. Hackle
Hackles are available to the fly tyer in a few important forms; loose (in packets of individual feathers), strung (tied together in clumps of individual feathers) and as capes that have the skin of the bird attached. They are split into two broad categories, Saddles and necks and split again domestic and genetic varieties. Then separated again based on the sex of the birds they've come from, with hen hackles coming from the female birds and cock hackles coming from the males. Cock hackles are much stiffer than hen hackles and so are most used to tie dry flies, particularly the genetic varieties.
Generally speaking, genetic hackles are more expensive, and of much better quality in terms of feather shape, size and density. They are usually used by fly tyer's who have gained a fair bit of experience, and who are more likely to use them properly with the minimum of waste.
Necks are usually smaller, with a wider range of hackle sizes and shapes, whereas saddles generally have longer feathers and less variation in hackle sizes and shapes. Saddle hackles are used a lot on bait fish patterns, dry flies and as body and head hackles right across the tying spectrum.
Saddles hackles and necks, in both hen and cock varieties, are used in wet (subsurface) flies; however when tying dry flies usually only cock hackles are used as they are stiffer, allowing the fibres to trap air more effectively and sit proudly on the surface.
Tyers typically wrap a hackle around the hook shank when palmering a fly or putting down a head hackle, or by wrapping around a created post in the case of certain dry flies like the Klinkhammer.
When wound around the hook shank, the fine feather fibres create a effect that simulates a fly's wings and legs.
The saddle hackle is a part of the chickens hide coming from its rump. Tyers use these fly-tying materials on dry nymphs and streamer flies. They usually have more different feather sizes than neck hackles.
10. Primaries
Also known as quills; these fly-tying materials are the large wing feathers, usually from ducks, pheasants, staring, among others, that are used to create wings on wet fishing flies like the Wickhams Fancy or Blae & Black, or 'upwing' flies like as the various olive patterns.
11. Pheasant Tails
Tyers use the pheasants long tail feathers because of their huge versatility. They're suitable for fly tails, bodies, legs and wing cases. Hugely popular as a tail feather on Irish Mayflies and dabblers, or as a body material on patterns like the Pheasant tail nymph and Dawl Bach. The posible uses for this feather in fly tying is considerable! It is one of the best feathers you can use to create legs on flies such as hoppers, gorgeous George and many others. Each individual fibre is knotted once or twice to create the leg joints.
12. Herl
Herls are long feathers branching off the feathers main stem on certain species of bird, with peacocks and ostrich being the most popular types. Tyers mainly use this fly-tying material on nymphs, dry flies and wide plethora of wet flies. Or over the wing of large salmon patterns like the Sunray shadow or Phatagorva.
It adds an iridescent shine to a fly to give it a 'fishy' appearance. Use a reinforcing material under (varnish), or over (rib), the feather when used as a body material, since it's not the most durable.
13. Dubbing
Dubbing is chopped fibres that come in different colours and lengths used to form the body or thorax of the fly. It can be grouped into two broad catagories; natural and synthetic, but can be mixed together to create various blends and colours. As the name suggests, it is dubbed onto the thread, or fed between split thread, when being applied to the fly. Tyers usually pluck or brush it out to achieve a buggy appearance.Or use 'superfine' varieties when a small, uniform body is required.
14. Hair/Fur
There are a LOT of hairs used in the world of fly tying. Some of the most common types are Deer hair, elk hair, artic fox, arctic runner, bucktail, nayat, boar, calf, finn racoon, calf, squirrel, hare, rabbit, moose, mink, muskrat, templedog and many more.
Tyers usually use 'hollow' hair common in cows, deer, elk, and moose on dry flies since the hair floats and ties onto the hook nicely.
On the other hand, they sometimes use more compact hair such as bucktail, goat, artic runner and nayat, among others, for wings, tails, and beards onstreamers, salmon flies and large predator flies.
15. CDC (Cul De Canard)
CDC is surely one of the most important feathers used in fly tying at present, offering extreme bouyancy by virtue of the natural oils contained within it. Coming in a range of beautiful natural colours, it offers low air resistance when the fly is cast, and has a translucency that seems to appeal to fish. It can be used as a wing material and body material to provide an exceptional level of boyancy. It is used on a wide array of trout and grayling dry flies, but also used on weighted nymphs and certain salmon flies as the feather will pulse in the water when submerged, providing the fly with added attraction.The beauty of this feather is that it requires the minimum use of floatant to keep the fly floating. A few false casts and its ready to land on the water again.
16. Hooks
The hook is the first component you lift from your fly tying bench when you've sat down to tie a fly, and it is fundamental to the overall shape, strength and size of the fly. They are essential in ensuring you put the fish in the net, so strength is key. They fall into the following broad catagories: coarse & carp, salmon & steelhead, trout, saltwater, pike, predator & lure, and are either barbed or barbless. Barbed hooks provide extra hold, so offer less chance for the fish to escape, whereas barbless offer more chance for the fish to escape, but also do less damage to the mouth of the fish.
When deciding on the best hook, determine first the species and where in the water column, or surface, it will fish. Hooks come in various gapes sizes, shank lengths and wire thickness, so each will have a specific application. For example, if selecting a hook for dry flies, choose one with a thin wire as this will be lighter. If you want the fly to sink, choose a thicker wired hook.
If large predators are the quary, make sure the hook is ultra strong with a wide gape and appropriate shape.
17. UV Resin
UV resin has become very popular in recent years when tying large freshwater streamers and saltwater predators, along with trout and salmon flies. A good example of a popular trout fly is the Perdigon Nymph, having a body fisnished with a coat of UV resin. The popularity of UV resin to finish fly bodies and heads has continued to rise due the ease of use and the rate at which it is absorbed into materials. It comes in various levels of viscosity, so can be manipulated, without thickening quickly (in UV light free area) into shape/position before being instantly cured with a UV torch or pen.
Varnishes require a drying period, so many tyers now use UV resin to instantly protect tags, butts, bodies and heads on their flies.
18. Eyes
Pretty much all of the food items fish prey on have eyes, therefore they are fundamental to the contruction of a well tied fishing fly. They comes in many forms with Booby eyes (foam), dumbells, epoxy, shrimp, glow and chain-bead being the most popular.
19. Zonker
Zonker strips are one of the most stunning and versatile fly tying materials. They are used in a multitude of ways on salmon flies, predator flies and saltwater flies. Rabbit, Muskrat and Pine
Squirrel, along with others, are the animals most commonly used to produce them. Available in natural and dyed colours, they impart an excellent pulsating effect on the fly when in the water, particularly stunning when tied on along the back of baitfish patterns.
20. Flash
Flash is probably the material that has the most options available to the fly tyer, so way beyond the scope of the blog to mention them all. Broadly speaking, however they are mostly synthetic and used to increase the attraction of the fly to most fish species. Tied in at the head, body, wing and tail of the fly, they come in a wide range of lengths, thicknesses and colours that are generally low cost and readily available.
Tying the Ultimate Fishing Fly
Whether a beginner or an advanced tyer, selecting the best fly-tying materials can help you to tie the best looking and most effective fly.
Finesse Fly Tying offers a wide range of fly-tying materials for your fly-fishing needs. Browse through our catalogue and shop now!