Winter Fly Tying

Like many fly fishermen, I spend a good portion of the winter nights tying flies. My humble Dyna-King Kingfisher vise sees many different hooks as I try to get ahead on filling orders and restocking my own boxes. This winter has been no exception and although a bulk of my time is spent grinding out mini-hoppers, I have also been working on putting together a Pyramid Lake fly box, refilling the empty San Juan slits, and twisting some bigger streamers for the late spring and early summer Arizona brown trout. In order to not be anti-social in my back room, I sprawl hide, feathers, foam, and synthetics all over the dining room table.

Hoppers
Hoppers
Pyramid Nymphs
Pyramid Nymphs
Streamers
AZ Streamers
Pyramid Lake Tadpoles
Pyramid Lake Tadpoles

14 Responses to “Winter Fly Tying”

  1. Andy

    Ben, I’ve found that a small gun or pistol cleaning mat does a great job grabbing vise trimmings. It so good that is takes some time to vacuum clean. Digg’n the AZ Streamers and of course the Hoppers.

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Thanks Andy. Good tip on the mat. I’ve been using a tray that seems to catch most of the mess, but the mat sounds good too. Thanks for sharing.

      Ben

      Reply
  2. Landon

    Your Pyramid patterns look great. I’ll have to tie up a few red tadpoles like yours. I’ve tried a red body before with success, but not red foam.

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Thanks Landon. The boxes are coming along thanks to your insights. Looking forward to the day we get to use them.

      Ben

      Reply
  3. John Jensen

    Good looking ties, Ben. The pyramid nymphs look like a box of trout candy.

    Reply
  4. Dom P

    Beautiful Ties, if you don’t mind sharing what are you using for the body material for the Pyramid Nymphs?

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Dom,

      I have a couple tutorials planned for the next two weeks. In most all of my nymphs I typically use Haretron Dubbin, Ice-Dub, or Simi-Seal. All of these dubbing are super buggy. I like tying my nymphs a little messy, so these dubbings are perfect.
      Stay tuned for the tutorials.

      Ben

      Reply
  5. Matt Clark

    Hey Ben,

    What are the most popular sizes that you tie the mini-hoppers in? I live in Northern Canada and we still have 2.5 months until ice out…I am glad to fish vicariously through your blog.

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Matt,

      I like to tie mine in a size 12. For the small streams I fish, that size is just perfect. Thanks for the support and glad you like the blog.

      Ben

      Reply
  6. David G

    Ben… This is that moment I am floored. Exquisite! I think you should talk to the flies in order to help curb that anti-social thing! :)There is nothing wrong with a fully grown man conversing with inanimate objects.

    Reply

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