Fly of the Month

A Little About Dave Londeree

I was introduced to fly fishing at a fairly early age by my dad and by my Scoutmaster, Mr. E.G. Freeman. We lived in San Francisco, so it was always an adventure to go camping, hunting, and fishing. I still have my dad’s bamboo rod (hanging on the wall), and I have fished it from time to time. We almost always used “store-bought” flies. Mr. Freeman did teach us to tie a few flies, and they did catch fish. About the age of 12 or 13, I got my first fly tying vise from Herter’s catalog and used a few scraps of deer hair and thread from my mother’s sewing kit. I tied my first flies, somewhat crude, but as I was told, “ugly flies catch fish too.” They did, but seemed to come apart after a fish or two. Later, I was able to afford more and better material, and the flies got a little better. Then came a full-time job, a wife, and children. Fly fishing stopped for a very long time.

In 1980, I was transferred to North Idaho and was able to start fly fishing again. I was visiting one of our local fly shops and was told about the North Idaho Fly Casters club in Coeur d’Alene. There I met some really great folks and was reintroduced to the sport I enjoyed in my youth. I took a Beginning Fly Tying class from Mr. Erik Schubert, the club’s tutor, and really learned a lot. He was able to undo many of my bad habits. Jim Rogers and Bob Gary, to name a few, are good to watch and learn from.

The Fly Fishers International has been a great help to me. By watching some of the “Masters” at work, you really learn the techniques and tricks to tying some really great flies. At the FFI’s Fly Fishing Fair, there are some world-class fly tyers that are always ready to show you how to tie some of the most beautiful flies.

If you are just getting into flies, take some lessons, and tie, tie, tie. You will get better. In this age of the internet, there are thousands of videos you can watch with step-by-step directions. The FFI’s Learning Center has some of the best. Go ahead and tie a fly. Tie it on and cast it out. You won’t know how good it feels to catch a fish with a fly that you tied until you do.

— Dave Londeree

  • DYRET (Norwegian for “animal” or “beast”)

    • HOOK: standard hook size 12-16
    • THREAD: 6/0 tan
    • TAIL & BODY: Natural Deer Hair
    • DUBBING: tan or light hare’s ear
    • HACKLE: Grizzly Saddle Hackle

    Tying Steps:

    1. Pinch the barb flat. Mount the hook in your vise.
    2. Start the thread behind the hook’s eye, leaving a long tag (4”).
      Do Not Trim the Tag. We will be using the tag end later.
      Dress the hook shank so that the tag end is at the bend of the hook. Wrap back toward the eye and stop, leaving the thread about an eye’s length behind the eye.
    3. Select a small bunch of deer hair, about ¼ the diameter of a pencil. Clear out the underfur and short hairs. Stack to even the ends of the hairs.
    4. Hold the small bunch of deer hair on top of the hook. Leave a deer’s hair tail about half the length of the shank.
    5. Use 2 wraps of thread to loosely tie the deer hair to the hook and then 1 tight wrap to cause it to flare. Make several wraps the length of the shank to the barb. Secure the deer hair at the tail with a few additional wraps. This is a good time to trim the flared deer’s hair at the head. The trimmed head hairs should be about twice the size of the hook’s eye.
    6. Tie in the butt end of the hackle just ahead of the tail.
    7. Dub a tight noodle of tan dubbing and closely wrap toward the eye, stopping just behind the flared deer hair head. Tie it off with a couple of thread wraps.
    8. Palmer the grizzly hackle toward the tail using about 5-6 wraps. Tie off the hackle just behind the flared head. Using the long tag of the tying thread, reinforce the hackle by wrapping over the hackle, being careful to wriggle the thread between the hackle fibers. Secure the tag end just behind the eye. Cut off excess hackle feather and the tag.
    9. Make a couple wraps in front of the flared deer hair head. Whip finish and cut thread. Carefully add a drop of head cement. Trim the bottom hackle fibers to create a flat bottom

    This caddis pattern fishes well in fast water.

    Dve Londeree tying a lfy

    Tell me and I forget.
    Teach me and I may remember.
    Involve me and I learn.

    – Benjamin Franklin