My Fly Tying Niece: All in the family

Although Mickey is only 15, she has been passionate about outdoor life since she was able to walk. I have never met her beyond the crib stage, but now we Zoom after she finishes her homework around 7:30 p.m. and usually wrap up by 9:30 p.m., unless she has a test the next day.

I was amazed at how much stuff I had accumulated in 60 or so years

Initially, I planned to send her a large fly-tying kit from a big box store for about $35. However, after opening it, I realized it was more of a novelty toy than serious fly-tying equipment. Instead, I sent her my older Renzetti Travel Vise and all my duplicate tools.

On the teaching scale, I rate myself a 4 out of 10

Mickey already knows more about feathers, hooks, and threads than many of my fly-tying club friends, most of whom have decades of angling and tying experience. She likely inherited her curiosity and intelligence from Bonnie, a research scientist at Penn State specializing in freshwater aquatic life.

At first, Mickey was using Vise-Grips and a bench vise for tying. Her flies were all wire-hook tied, but like most beginners, or ‘rainy day tiers,’ she faced challenges such as crowding the eye, using too much material, and maintaining proper proportions.

She is aware of these issues, so when she ties a series of Muddlers or Buggers, her last batch is much closer to perfection than the opening round of five or six.

Because of my inadequacies in fly tying and Mickey’s ability to quickly learn, she was going to outstrip me quickly. I’d better call someone for help and point her in the right direction.

One reason for her rapid advancement in tying is her willingness to accept criticism. She actively seeks feedback and watches recommended videos that address her areas for improvement.

Steve Hudson, the founder of FlyBooks.net, has been passionate about fly fishing, fly tying, hiking, and the outdoors since childhood. As the author of over 30 books and thousands of articles, he understands the importance of having excellent how-to guides, accurate destination resources, and clear, readable instructional material. You can expect all of this from every FlyBooks publication, as Steve believes it is essential.

Mickey often challenges me with the proverbial ‘WHY’

I gave her a recipe for success that was shared with me by New Zealand’s most famous fly fisher, fly tier, casting instructor, and world champion fly fisher, Hugh McDowell [New Zealand Fly Tying: The Ten-thumbed Beginner’s Guide]. And Steve Hudson’s [A Structured Course in Fly Tying]. The latter is the most complete and best-managed ‘How To’ book on fly tying I’ve ever encountered.

New Zealand Fly Tying – The ten-thumbed beginner’s guide by Hugh McDowell. Original 1984 edition. My copy.

Here is my to-do list on getting started in fly tying

– Read McDowell’s New Zealand Fly Tying book, “The Ten-Thumbed Beginner’s Guide” – see above.

– Read Steve Hudson’s book, “A Structured Course in Fly Tying ” – see above.

– Watch Orvis’ “One Minute Fly Tying Tips” with Tim Flagler as the instructor.

– Watch all of Ruben Martin’s tube-tying videos.

– Watch Matt O’Neal’s (Savage Flies) videos; he is a gifted teacher, although he does not tie tube flies.

I sent Mickey all of these books and links, and Bonnie told me that Mickey protects the books as if they were the Dead Sea Scrolls—no one but her is allowed to touch them.

During our Zoom meetings, she often mentions videos she has learned from and books she has collected from discount bookstores. I encourage her to explore whatever she has or watches, as it is likely to contain helpful tips, hacks, and ideas about products and where to buy supplies.

Mickey has a mature understanding of what constitutes a scam, what constitutes a reasonable price, and what shipping costs are excessive. She is very tech-savvy. She enjoys Charlie Craven’s Fly Box and April Vokey’s videos, and she watches Mad River Outfitters as if it were a must-see television series. Her idols are Joe Humphries and George Daniel, especially Daniel’s video series with Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis.

Living in Pennsylvania, Mickey fishes the renowned waters near her home. Her mom works in a lab at Penn State, and Bonnie’s vacations are always to freshwater destinations, allowing Mickey to fish while her mom studies aquatic life. Notably, Bonnie discovered an undocumented type of stonefly that is restricted to a closed drainage area in West Virginia. It has not been fully classified yet, but it is from the Order Plecoptera.

Ruben Martin has more creds in the international community of fly tyers

Tube flies

Regarding tube flies, it has been a pleasure to introduce something new to such a curious mind. Mickey concluded that tube flies are not widely popular outside the areas where salmon and steelhead are found, such as Canada’s Maritimes (Atlantic salmon) and the Great Lakes, as well as in Alaska and the Canadian and U.S. Northwest.

Despite their clear benefits, she could not find a well-written explanation for their lack of popularity. Her approach was straightforward: ‘Show me the money’

For her first fishing outing with tube flies, she initially dismissed her catch tally, which was about 30% better than any previous outing with hook-tied flies using the same flies (color, size, and weight) as her Woolly Bugger. Her subsequent outings, although less measured, yielded similar results. She began experimenting with hooks used with tube flies, discovering that a large fly tied to a hook with a 4X long shank didn’t require a hook of the same size if it was tube-tied. As she reduced hook sizes, her catches increased until she reached a point where the hook was too small to maintain a solid connection, or the wire began to bend.

Mickey noted that her experiments lacked a formal scientific conclusion. She observed that trout (both rainbow and brown) had limits that riverine bass did not seem to have, with a bass being more likely to throw a small hook. However, she admitted that the test was not scientifically rigorous but still found it impressive.

Based on my experience with saltwater fish, using a smaller hook on a tube fly has also proven beneficial.