The most important item in fly fishing is the fly at the end of your leader. The artificial fly should imitate as closely as possible, the natural insect life of that particular stream/water, the angler may be fishing at the particular time he is fishing that stream. So it follows that the fly fisher should observe carefully what natural flies are to be found about and over the water that he is about to fish. The imitation of a natural insect is important on over fished waters.

Getting Started. Fly tying is merely wrapping a thread around a hook, then binding various tying materials to the hook; hair, feathers, yarns or tinsels to simulate a fish food. Tying flies is a relaxing pastime and a ideal in and off-season indoor complement to fly fishing. More and more people are tying in addition to fishing with a bead or cone or eyeballs at the head of their fly.

Tying. Flies with either beads or cones requires that the tier flattens down the barb on the hook or uses a barbless hook to start with. We attach eyeballs on top of the hook with thread, but beads and cones are inserted onto the hook. They must be able to go over the barb as well as around the bend of the hook. If the hook is an up-eye or bend-back style hook, the bead or cone must also slide over that extra wire in order to end up right at the hook-eye.

Flies. Many anglers also organize specific boxes by the specific rivers or locations they fish the most. Each of these methods has its pros and cons. That seems to give me the best way of arranging flies.

My thought is to be able to take along only certain boxes and know that I'm going to have the right assortment of the kinds of flies we're going to use on a specific outing. Besides, it's hard to match the different sizes and types of flies in just one box. Either the box is too big for the dries and nymphs or too small for the streamers. Sorting flies out by color can be important in many situations. As a result, you can coordinate both color and size within a certain box. Some of your nymph boxes may hold flies of one color and/or size on one side of the box, with the bead-head version of the flies on the other.

Knots. Poorly tied knots will mean lost fish and aggravation. Here are a few basic steps to follow when tying all knots for fly fishing.

Lubricating knots. Before you tighten a knot,lubricate it with saliva or by dipping it in the water, heat is generated by the friction created when knots are drawn up tight. Tighten knots with a steady, continuous pull. Seat the knot. It makes sense to practice tying these knots at home, before you are on the river.

Remember that fishing knots are the typically the weakest connection between you and the fish. Many beginning anglers lose fish due to poorly tied knots. Tying knots is something you need do right, not fast. Never lose a fish, or expensive equipment because of poorly tied Knots.