First Fly to Tie

[dryflyguy]

We didn't tie terrestrials until the last week or two of my tying class.
Deer hair ant and beetle. Plus an inch worm, which back then consisted of chartreuse deer hair tied on the shank with an extended body.

I thought it was the easiest night of the whole course.
And for people I've gotten into tying, these are the first things I've taught them.
Big plus that they also catch fish quite well too

 

[JeffK]

Funny how styles change. When I started in mid 60's bucktails were the go-to fly, like wooly buggers today and simple fur muskrat nymphs were popular and wooly worms were common, but real popular out west. Therefore, bucktails were the first fly taught and maybe a fur nymph since it was tough to get a nice tapered football shape with dubbing. A friend of mine was an early adopter of the wooly bugger and he climbed trees to retrieve snagged flies to keep them secret.

Maybe now an early fly should be a simple perdigon.

 

[Prospector]

My first fly was a white Maribou streamer with tinsel body and red tail. Covered tying in a tail, wrapping a body and tying in Maribou without crowding the head.

But I think the other suggestions serve the purpose.

 

[shakey]

I'm going to amend my first suggestion from a Bugger to a simple Wooly Worm. This and the zug bug are the a couple of the first flies I tied. I just can't get exicted about a walt's worm. Not wthout adding a rib or collar or bead to the basic form. I agree the marabou of a bugger could create problems. But the Wooly Worm is hard to beat. My first learning stream was Maiden Creek and I caught bluegills, crappie, trout and small mouth all on this fly, fished dry and wet. Just teaching about the different ways you can wrap a hackle and change a flies entire character is an extremely valuable lesson to learn early. And the materials are a minimal investment. You can tie these with really any hackle you can get your hands on. You cover a lot of bases with this fly and can catch anything on it.
View attachment 1641224476

 

[shakey]

I agree with Tom Gamber.

Wooly worm is a great first fly.

You could fish with just variations of a wooly worm for the rest of your life

 

[wbranch]

You should also always wear a nice shirt and tie while tying flies.

Doesn't everyone?

 

[wbranch]

Nice short sleeve shirt when I was about 21. The T-shirt picture during my hippie period, late 20's, in Minneapolis. Note I'm still using the same entry level cast iron Thompson vise. It served me well for about thirty years until I bought a HMH and a Regal.

 

[jifigz]

The first fly that I tied was bucktail lashed to a hook with a bead..it caught me fish. I soon learned how to tie the woolly bugger soon afterwards..

If I was going to teach someone to tie a very basic fly it would be the San Juan worm first, though.