Fly fishers tend to divide the year into two seasons: fly fishing and fly tying. Furthermore, individual months don’t necessarily align with the traditional Gregorian calendar. Instead, they revolve around the life cycle of aquatic insects that excite feeding frenzies in hungry trout. For example, fly fishers eagerly await the emergence of March brown mayflies usually occurring in April at our northerly latitude. The October Caddis hatch often staggers from September to November. But, the Mother’s Day caddis hatch occurs dependably enough to invite your mom, or another important woman in your life, to join you for a day of fly fishing on the third Sunday in May. Can you think of a better way to express your feelings on this special day?

Once bitten by the fly fishing bug, the next stage of addiction involves tying your own bugs. You can save big money, right? You may create the next Chubby Chernobyl or purple haze craze. Trout Unlimited will invite you to demonstrate your skills at its next fund raiser. The local fly shop will issue you a personalized coffee cup expecting you to show up Saturday mornings sounding knowledgeable to impress the newbie customers. Why not tie your own flies?

But first you must first endure the frustrating beginner’s stage before reaping financial savings, fame and fly boxes filled with your own creations.

To begin, you sheepishly saunter into the fly tying corner of the local fly shop. Gazing upon the mysterious tools, you wonder if they originated in a dentist’s office or a seamstress shop. Hundreds of small packets of furs, feathers, yarns and tinsels look like they belong in your aunt’s craft bins. The only item you recognize are the bare hooks; guessing correctly that all flies start with this important item.

Once your fear subsides, pass on the filling station quality free coffee but do ask about fly tying instructions. Expect the aforementioned resident expert to saunter over to take you underwing. Before the conversation ends, you will feel confident enough to wade into the mysterious waters of fly tying.

Fly shops and fly fishing organizations oftentimes offer free or low-cost fly tying courses. This allows you to learn some basics under the watchful eye of an experienced instructor. Nothing compares to an accomplished fly tier placing your clumsy fingers in just the right position to perform the pinch wrap or a whip finish. Are you puzzled by this jargon? Take some basic instruction. You will also receive advice on purchasing tools and materials. This introduction will make the manuals with step-by-step illustrations, DVDs and internet videos more meaningful as your skills progress.

Beginners usually start out tying a wooly bugger. Skills learned on this humble, but fish catching blob, will prepare you for the intricacies of Atlantic salmon flies in no time at all.

As an aside, Atlantic salmon flies are truly artistic masterpieces never intended to touch water but to reside in glass cases in wealthy dentists’ offices. One person I know, who specializes in these elite flies, sequesters himself in a quiet room spending up to half an hour wrapping just one feather onto the hook. To be authentic, however, that feather must come from the urine-stained belly of a tropical bird that went extinct when Isaac Walton began tying flies for catching grayling on English chalk streams.

Don’t let the geek factor intimidate you. Just concentrate on getting the right amount of maribou feather for the tail of your wooly bugger.

A couple of opportunities exist locally for fly tying instruction:

The North 40 Outfitters Fly Shop in Ponderay offers lessons on Saturday mornings during tying season. Check with them for details. (Disclaimer: I don’t have a personalized coffee mug hanging on their wall.)

A group meets to tie flies at the East Bonner County Library in Sandpoint on the first and third Saturday during the winter from 1:00-4:00 p.m. This informal gathering welcomes drop-ins and always has extra tools, materials, instructions and interesting stories (some true) to share.

On a recent Saturday visit to North 40 to purchase feathers, I observed over a dozen novice tiers hunched over vises. Most gratifying to me, the group included youth and women. When the Panhandle Chapter of Trout Unlimited gives instruction to youth groups, I always like to point out that fly fishing is not just an activity for their grandfathers to enjoy. I remind them of several teenage boys I know who tie killer pike flies. Their photos of huge fish caught in local waters confirm my statement.

Give fly tying a try; you may become hooked!