Adapted from the FFF booklet Introduction to fly tying (by Al Beatty & Bob Lay)

For fly tying, potential materials are restricted only by resourcefulness, locale, and imagination. Entire books have been written on this subject and as you may know, some fly tyers spend considerable energy and time collecting materials.

THE HOOK: The hook is common in all fishing flies. The sizing of that hook tends to vary from one hook manufacturer to another and also from one style of hook to another. The differences between manufacturers can be very confusing. The numbers used to identify the hook size can also be confusing. Basically hook sizes are distinguish as follows: a large hook is identified by a small number and the small hook is identified by a large number. In other words, a #6 hook is much, much larger than a #24 hook. This convention is the same as for electrical wire.

Even though there is some differences between manufacturer's sizing methods, let's focus on the one type of hook where there tends to be some common ground. We'll focus on dry-fly hooks.

Because many of the proportions of a fly depend on one part of the hook or another, it's important to know nomenclature for the various parts of the hook. They are the eye, the shank, the bend, the point, the barb, and the gape..

The distance between the point and the shank of the hook is called the gape and the gape is the part of the hook that determines the size. Stated differently, a number eight (#8) dry-fly hook from most manufacturers has the same size hook gape as all of the other number eight hooks from that manufacturer.. The shank of the hook is a different story. A hook with a "standard" length shank has a shank that is basically a little longer than twice the distance of the gape. NOTE: The actually length of a "standard" length shank is "twice the distance of the gape PLUS the width of the hook eye. " You see,after learning the TRUE description of the shank length, it's much easier to say a standard length hook shank is "a little longer than twice the distance of the gape. "

Now that you have been confused regarding the hook shank we'll go even further by describing the measurement system used to define "shank length." This system is called the "X Shank" length system. For example: a 1X short hook has a shank that is this is shorter than a standard length hook AND a 1X long hook has a shank that is longer than a standard length hook.

How much shorter or longer are we talking about? READ CLOSELY NOW! A 1X short hook has a shank that is equal to a standard length shank on a hook that is one size smaller. On the other hand, a 1X long hook has a shank that is equal to a standard length shank on a hook that is one size larger. In other words, a IX long #8 hook has a #8 gape and a shank that is equal to a #6 hook. (Hooks only come in even numbered sizes, so one size smaller than 8 is size 6).

There are four styles of hook eye, ball, looped, tapered and tapered-looped. These eye styles can be straight out from the shank, turned up or turned down. There are also three basic types of bend; round, limerick, and sproat. .

There are two hook styles we recommend for the beginning flytier. They are (1) Partridge E1A or Mustad 94840 for dry or wet flies and (2) Partridge H1A or Mustad 9672 for nymphs or streamers. There are many more hook styles and types but a selection of 4-5 different sizes (6, 8, 10, 12, 14) of these two basic hooks will get you well along on your fly tying journey.

The Federation of Fly Fishers has promoted the practice of catch and release for many years. To accommodate this philosophy we strongly recommend that you bend the barb of the hook down before going fishing. Aside from releasing fish more easily back into wild, this philosophy also involves less trouble removing flies from your clothing, the surrounding foliage, or friends (if that rare event ever occurs).

THE THREAD: Your choice of the correct tying thread is also important . The size and type of fly you are tying tends to determine which size of thread you will use. The most commonly used sizes are 3/0, 6/0 and 8/0. The strongest and largest thread of these three is 3/0. As with hook size and wire, , , the bigger the number, the smaller the thread diameter. Typically a fly tier uses size 3/0 when tying large flies or flies requiring the spinning of animal hair. Smaller flies, especially dry flies, require either 6/0 or 8/0 thread. The color of thread may vary between patterns, however black is the most commonly used. To avoid buying unneeded thread, we recommend that you start with a spool of black 6/0 thread. Add to your thread collection as you feel it is necessary.

BODY, WING AND TAIL MATERIALS: The materials used in constructing the body, wing, and tail of a fly are virtually unlimited. They can be natural or synthetic products that are designed for fly tying or for use in another application. Discovery of new materials is just one of the many joys of tying your own flies. Besides shopping for materials in fly fishing stores, we find many of our materials in craft, novelty, and fabric stores as well. Some of the common materials we use in constructing tails or wings are animal hair fibers, feather fibers, or synthetic fibers. We use chenille, tinsel, yarn, floss, and either natural or synthetic dubbing for body materials. All are readily available in any fly fishing store.

HACKLE: Hackle is formed when the fly tier wraps a chicken feather around the hook shank causing the fibers to fan out. A hackle that is tied on the shank near the bend and is wrapped forward to the hook eye with evenly spaced turns is called a "palmered hackde. " A hackle that is placed with close together wraps in the front one-third of the hook shank is called a "dry-fly hackle." Finally, a hackle that is placed directly behind the eye and is swept back by several turns of thread placed to the front of the hackle is called a "wet-fly hackle" or a "hackle collar."

Although there are many different types and grades, hackle tends to be in two types - wet and dry. The fibers of a wet hackle are typically soft and webby. They can be found on either a rooster or a hen but tend to be more readily available from a hen. On the other hand, dry-fly hackle comes almost exclusively from a rooster. Both wet and dry hackle are available in almost all fly shops as either saddle hackde or neck hackle. In some instances neck hackle is referred to as a "hackle cape" and saddle hackle is referred to a "saddle patch."

In practical use, saddle hackle is usually used on larger flies and neck hackle on smaller flies. When we tie dry flies using hackle grown here in the USA, we use saddle hackle on flies size #12 and larger and neck hackde on size #12 and smaller. As you can see, #12 hackle is a common size on either a neck or a saddle.

As a beginning fly tier, we recommend you start with two neck capes of two different colors (brown & grizzly) and two saddle patches (also brown & grizzly). These two colors cover all many of the first flies you will tie in this booklet and more than half of the flies you'll tie for your own fishing.

If you are on a very limited budget, then start with two saddle patches (brown & grizzly) and add the neck capes when you can afford them. Whatever you decide to purchase, we recommend you purchase the best quality hackle your budget will allow. Your first efforts in tying flies will be much more enjoyable as a result.

This article was provided by the Federation of Fly Fishers. Visit their site for more articles and information about fly fishing. The Federation of Fly Fishers is a unique non-profit organization concerned with sport fishing and fisheries.