Realistic Fly Tying

I enjoy creating and tying realistic flies, most of which are not intended for fishing with, instead, simply enjoying the challenge of imitating insects and striving to make them look as alive as possible.

Hexagenia Mayflies	Baby Red-eared Turtle	Houseflies
Cased Caddis Larva	Midge	Fat Juicy Stonefly
Camel Spider	Seahorse	Feather Wing Salmon Fly

 

Mayflies, real and realistic

 

Realistic Fly Tying - Creating an Emerging Dragonfly

My goal was to create an adult dragonfly emerging from a semi-transparent nymph

 

The first step is creating a frame for the dragonfly nymph, using 35 lb mono fishing line

 

 

Tinted acrylic varnish was poured onto a mirror, allowed to dry, a strip was cut with a razor, and wrapped around to cover the frame

 

Legs are 20 lb mono covered with thread, while 8/0 thread was tied onto the tips to create claws

 

eyes are melted mono fishing line

 

Tying the Adult Dragonfly

Fine stiff wire is wrapped and covered with thread

 

fly tying foam tied onto the wire, segmented and coloring applied

 

painting wings

 

Eyes are green tinted dried varnish, tied and wrapped into fine organza mesh

 

coming to life

 

The nymph case was cut to allow for placing the adult abdomen inside

 

I wanted the fly to look like it was crying out while experiencing the pain of birth

 

Framed and ready to send to a friend, Chris Carlin in Alaska,

one of the worlds finest bamboo fly rod makers

 

I had fun creating this...

 

Few More Realistic Flies

Orange Caddis Fly - Published as a real insect, in the Atlas of Creation

Step By Step Tutorial - Making this Caddisfly

 

Realistic Flies

 

Dragonfly with Prey

 

Ready for Action

 

Realistic Dragonfly

 

Life size Hex Mayfly

 

Real Dragonfly wants to eat my realistic fly

 

Real dragonfly wants to mate with my realistic dragonfly - More Photos

 

Tying a dragonfly abdomen

 

coming to life

 

predator and prey

 

Realistic Scorpion replica hunting a fake bee

 

Golden Stonefly nymph

 

Foam body Golden Stonefly adults, effective fishing flies

 

Realistic Dragonfly Replica

 

Realistic Grasshopper

 

One of my first realistic Mayflies

 

Colorful realistic dragonfly

 

Dragonfly Nymph, one of my first attempts at realistic fly tying

 

Hellgrammite

 

Dragonflies sharing a wasp lunch

 

Realistic Red Salamander

 

Green Garden spider

 

Tadpoles

 

I donated two realistic Hex Mayflies and photos to the 'Sierra Pacific Fly Fishers" club
Frames sold for $375 each, helping make the annual fund raiser a success

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