easy flies for a newbie

[moomoo]

Hi guys and girls

I am starting to tie my own flies soon and was after some ... basic easy flies that work so be kind and all advice and tips greatly welcome thanks

[peterdubh]

Im pretty new to fly tying and I find elk hair caddis, pheasant tail nymph, Diawl Bach easy for a start and I have gone blank on other ones.

Good luck.

[salmoman]

Black Pennel, Coch-y-Bundhu

Simple but effective.

[jetta1967]

The way I started was with lures like cat's whiskers, cormorants, blobs etc. Flies that don't require wings or hackles.
Nymphs like gold ribbed hare's ear, pheasant tails, diawl bach's etc. Again flies that don't require wings or hackles.
Wets like black and peacock spiders, black joe's, general spider patterns, black pennels etc to begin with which will get you tying hackles.
Once you have confidence putting hackles on the front of the fly, then try body hackles, then eventually wings (mallard bronzes first as these are the easiest). Then start your dry flies like daddys, hoppers etc.
Be patient and walk before you run. There are hundreds of patterns on the forum with excellent step by steps.
Don't get disheartened when they don't turn out correctly. Keep going and trying as there is nothing like catching a fish on a fly that you have tied. You will get better and better.
Post your flies on the forum, there are loads of experienced tiers who will offer good advice.

Hope this helps a bit.

John

[MARAZION MIDGE]

This chap does a series of beginners lessons which may help you.

Learn Fly Tying Lesson 1 for Beginners The Buzzer with David Cammiss - YouTube

Learn Fly Tying Lesson 1 for Beginners The Buzzer with David Cammiss - YouTube

[wobbly face]

Buzzers, just use different coloured tying thread, black, olive, red for the body and rib with silver wire or fine pearl lurex. Peacock herl for head.

[euan]

I was going to post a link to David Cammiss's stuff too - here's his site Learn Fly Tying

I found his beginners then intermediate lessons very useful.
Davie Mcphail next once I'd got the basics.

I'd probably not have got round to fishing buzzers if I hadn't tied so many of them when I started.

[wingman]

I would recommend to learn the basic techniques first before attempting any fly patterns unless they are very simple and you can incorporate one or two basic techniques into the pattern. I'd forget about some of the harder techniques at first until you can master the simpler ones like winding a hackle, tieing in a tail, tieing a rib and mastering the whip finish (unless you intend to use half hitches). It's very hard not to want to tie a fly to begin with, especially the more flashier ones but be patient and get the basic techniques down first and you'll find that when you come to tie a fly you will have less to think about as these techniques will become automatic. I recommend starting on size 10 hooks then moving onto size 12's. When I first started I kind of did what I've just mentioned then went on to tie spiders on size 14's and 16's, I tied hundreds of spiders, partridge and orange, snipe and purple, woodcock and red etc etc, this was a true exercise in proportion and accurate tying useing simple and few materials. This wasn't easy to begin with as spider's are actually harder to tie properly than most people think especially on smaller sizes, but I can tell you this, when I went back to tying on size 12's and 10's it was a doddle compared with when I first started. Good luck.

[weight_forward]

I don't think you can go wrong by having a read of this;

UKFlyDressing - Absolute beginner to first complete fly

Some excellent information and a structured approach to tying.

[SharkeyP]

Another thumbs up for David Camiss.

In a few months when you've stopped snapping the thread three times per fly and smothering the eye of the hook with the head (or is that just me?) then you might think about looking at Davy McPhail's many online videos to take it to the next stage.

There are loads of good SBSs on this forum but I think video is the way to start off.

Joining beginners fly-swaps on here was a great help too. The discipline of doing the same pattern a dozen times really helps.

Tight wraps!

SharkeyP