Fly South - Caney Fork Essentials Fly Tying Class

February 15th, 2008 Buster

I carry a wide range of flies for fishing my local waters and most of my flies have resulted from finding patterns from books and online that I think look good or maybe a twist of my own creation. They work well on my local waters as well as some of the distant places I fish too. But I have never collected aquatic bugs from my local waters to tie imitations of the bugs found in my home waters.

A few weekends ago, I attended a fly tying class at Fly South in Nashville, TN. The class, Caney Fork Essentials, involves tying flies designed by local fly fisherman (Guides / Former Guides) for the Caney Fork River, my local home waters. For the cost of $35.00, the student learns to tie eleven patterns ranging from a mayfly, to several caddis and midge flies, as well as a few others. My two favorite patterns from fly shop owner and guide Jim Mauries are JT’s Sowbug and JT’s Bead-Head Caddis Emerger.

The tying class begins at 9:00 AM and finishes any where between 3:30 / 4:00 PM with an hour lunch break. The class provides all tying materials and tools, but if you have your own, I recommend taking them since you should familiar and comfortable with your own tools. If you do take your own tools, take your vise, a couple of bobbins spooled with black, tan and olive thread, scissors, hackle pliers, dubbing brush, bodkin, and whip finisher. Also included with the cost of the class is a nice paper handbook with all of the patterns, a brief description, and space to take notes as you tie the fly.

The class is limited to six to seven participants. I was lucky enough to have only one other classmate, so the interaction between the teacher & student was great, which was nice when I had a couple of problems with the patterns. The Caney Fork Essentials tying class is an intermediate tying class. The participant should already know how to put a hook into the vise, attach thread, etc. If you are interested in learning to tie flies, start out with a beginning fly tying class.

Fly South is also offering other fly tying classes including, Fly Tying 101, Smoky Mountain Classics, Tennessee Tail Water Flies, Saltwater – Bonefish/Tarpon/Permit, Saltwater – Jacks/Redfish/Trout, Saltwater – Striper/Blues/Albies, Flies for Freshwater Stripers/Hybrid, Tennessee Smallmouth Flies, Carp Flies, Bass Flies Top to Bottom, and Tennessee Trout and Terrestrials. The cost of the other classes range between $35.00 and $85.00. If anyone is interested in learning some new and interesting patterns for the Caney Fork River, I highly recommend taking the Caney Fork Essentials fly tying class.

Entry Filed under: Fly Fishing, General