Fly Tying for Beginners

Fly tying is binding materials to a hook with thread. The vise, bobbin and other tools, thread sizes, hook sizes, hackle, dubbing and beads, what a fly pattern tells you, and five classic beginner patterns with their history, following Wikipedia's fly tying and pattern articles.

By Fjords Team · May 26, 2026 · Updated Oct 28, 2026

Fly tying is the process of making the artificial flies used in fly fishing. Wikipedia quotes the professional tyer Helen Shaw’s definition: the “simple process of binding various materials to a hook with thread”. It is a hand craft that many people learn with reasonable success, and it rewards knowing the insects and other food that fish eat. This guide covers the tools, materials, how to read a pattern, and five classic first flies, following Wikipedia’s fly tying article and its articles on each pattern.

The basic kit

Wikipedia lists the basic equipment as a vise to hold the hook, a bobbin to hold and tension the thread, scissors, pliers and the materials for the pattern you are tying. The professional tyer Skip Morris, as cited there, names as essential: vise, bobbin holders, hackle pliers, hackle gauges, a work light and magnifier, hair stackers, scissors and tweezers. Optional extras include bodkins, dubbing twisters, whip finishers and bobbin threaders.

The tools (Wikipedia)

Vise: holds the hook. Vises clamp to a table or stand on their own base; some have rotating jaws for even wrapping, and larger jaws hold big hooks such as musky flies. Tying without one (“in-hand”) is possible but harder.
Bobbin holder: holds the thread spool and keeps tension, so you can let go to wrap other materials.
Hackle pliers and gauge: pliers grip the end of a hackle while you wrap it; a gauge matches hackle to hook size.
Hair stacker: nested tubes; tap the hair in the stacker on the table to even up the tips before tying it in.
Scissors and tweezers: small, sharp, pointed scissors for materials, and a second pair or pliers for wire and heavy materials that would dull them.
Whip finisher: ties off the thread at the head of the fly.
Dubbing twister: spins dubbing between two strands of thread.

The materials (Wikipedia)

Thread: mostly nylon or polyester, sized either in denier (bigger number = thicker) or in “aughts” such as 6/0 and 8/0 (bigger number = finer).
Hooks: the hook sets the size and shape of the fly. Sizes run from tiny #32-#24 up through #22, #20 and so on to #1, then 1/0 to 9/0. Length is given as 1X, 2X and so on in multiples of the gape. Dry-fly hooks use lighter wire to float better; saltwater flies use corrosion-resistant hooks.
Feathers and hackle: rooster and hen neck and saddle hackle, bred for quality, plus feathers from many other birds; peacock and ostrich herl; and CDC (cul de canard), buoyant oily duck feathers used on dry flies.
Fur and hair: rabbit, squirrel, deer, elk, moose and others, plus synthetics.
Dubbing: ground hair or synthetic fibre spun onto thread to add colour and bulk.
Weight: beads, cone heads and lead-free wire have joined traditional lead wire. Beads are sized to the hook, from 1/16 inch for #18-#22 to 3/16 inch for #6-#10, in tungsten, nickel or brass. Some states restrict lead tackle, so use lead-free wire, beads and eyes where the rules require it.

Reading a fly pattern

Wikipedia explains that a pattern is the recipe: the hook size and type, the materials with their colours and sizes, and often the order and method of tying. Following a pattern lets you reproduce a fly consistently, though different writers publish small variations of the same fly.

Five classic first patterns

Woolly Bugger: a wet fly or streamer with a marabou tail, chenille or fur body and hackle palmered from tail to head; a fine copper wire rib protects the hackle. Usually on size 2 to 14 long-shank hooks, often weighted. It can suggest nymphs, baitfish, leeches or crayfish, and works for fresh and saltwater fish.
Pheasant Tail Nymph: created by the English river keeper Frank Sawyer in 1958 to imitate olive and olive-brown mayfly nymphs. Sawyer tied it with fine copper wire instead of thread, which adds weight so it fishes deeper.
Elk Hair Caddis: a dry fly created by Al Troth in 1957, a searching pattern that resembles adult caddisflies or small stoneflies: dubbed body, palmered hackle and an elk-hair wing, usually on size 12-18 hooks.
Clouser Deep Minnow: a baitfish streamer created by Bob Clouser in 1987, originally for smallmouth bass on the Susquehanna River; bucktail wing over a white belly, with flash and dumbbell eyes. Now widely used in fresh and salt water.
Muddler Minnow: created by Don Gapen in the 1930s to imitate a sculpin; its defining feature is a spun deer-hair head. Wikipedia lists it for trout, bass, northern pike and many other fish.

New York DEC’s starter list for stream trout includes the Woolly Bugger and Muddler Minnow among its streamers; see our fly fishing for beginners guide.