The Fly Swap

Fly anglers are always on the lookout for the next hot fly.

In this quest for tomorrow's fish-catching Holy Grail, it's easy to look excitedly down the tunnel of one's own creative ability. But as in any form of functional art, designing with blinders on can be the most dangerous way to meet the future.

The "Fly Swap," as it's called by hardcore fly designers and tyers has been around for ages and has existed in many formats, some wholly impromptu and wildly creative, others highly organized and narrowly focused. Essentially, swapping flies is a bit like a jam session among like-minded, free flowing jazz musicians riffing back and forth, going bravely (together) into the next frontier of their craft.

Recently, the fierce fly designers at Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters and Beyond the Bug held a fly swap in San Francisco. The theme was steelhead. The beer was cold. The flies were fantastic.

This week, Beyond the Bug will take a look at what came out of this tying session and some of the design principles and techniques put to use in tying striking flies like:

Keith Westra's Herniator


And


Shunji's Redwing Blackbird

This kind of creative volleying is necessary to the progression of modern fly tying and design. With this in mind, grab a few craft-brews, a great single-malt, or a bottle of pinot, call some friends, and tie your asses off.


Evan LeBon is a regular contributor to beyondthebug.com

photos provided by Ian McNemar, a regular contributor to beyondthebug.com