This week is our first Fly Tying Video Week (FTVW for short): each day we’ll be posting 4-5 videos of fly patterns to help get your creativity flowing at the vise. The fishing is starting to pick up more and more around here, so we’re going to be posting patterns that we know to be effective (almost all of the patterns are ones we use, or variations of ones we use).

We kick off FTVW with Nymphs!

Micro Madison Baetis (Blue Ribbon Flies)

This is a great little nymph that imitates not only Baetis but also other small nymphs if you adjust the body color. We like to tie some them in olive and brown.

Guide Fly #4: Walt’s Worm (Stroup Fly Fishing)

This pattern was developed by Walt Young, and is a really simple fly to tie. Tied in various sizes, it imitates cranefly and caddis larva, scuds, and cressbugs. You’d be missing out without a few of these in your box!

Frenchie Pheasant Tail (Tightline Productions, Tim Flagler)

This is one of our go-to nymph patterns. Adjust the color of the hot spot (natural or bright colors – they both work) and tie up a bunch for yourself.

Caddis Emerger (Tightline Productions, Tim Flagler)

As Tim Flagler describes in the beginning of the video, this is really a simplified version of Gary LaFontaine’s Sparkle Pupa. You can add some weight to make it a Deep Sparkle Pupa or leave it weightless to fish it higher in the water column.

Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear (In the Riffle)

This it a spin on a traditional Hare’s Ear nymph. I like to fish a similar version, only using pheasant tail or mallard flank feather fibers for the tail, eliminating the flashback, and using neon orange or chartreuse thread to create a “hot spot” behind the bead. (The idea isn’t my own – I got it from our friend Doug Pauline, owner of Badfish Outfitters in Ennis, Montana.)