There’s no official fly-tying season, but if there was it would be in the depths of winter. The image of a fly tier hunched over their fly-tying vise on a cold winter’s night is about as romantic as it gets.

The goal, of course, is to produce a pile of flies tied for the upcoming months of fishing. At least, that’s my goal and as usual, I didn’t meet it. I get sidetracked organizing my fly-tying bench, reminiscing about last years fishing trips, and thinking about the trips to come in 2025.

I don’t go into the fly-tying season with hard targets for how many and which fly patterns I want to get tied for the upcoming season, but I probably should. It’s too easy for me to get distracted with “sure-to-work” experimental ideas and just fooling around at the vise, but that’s part of it. And, occasionally the fooling around has led me to a new pattern that consistently catches trout.

There is a humorously, cynical saying among fly anglers that professional fly tiers design their flies to catch fishermen, not trout, but I mostly don’t believe it.

I think most commercially sold artificial trout flies have their origin in a design that worked. Many of these patterns were created for specific waters, but proved themselves to be effective on a wide range of trout waters. My favorites are the homegrown patterns whose recipes get passed around on the river by word of mouth.

In the past fly tiers have attempted to patent their especially effective patterns, but it wasn’t possible because all a tier had to do was change one material in the fly to avoid violating the patent. At its heart fly tying remains largely a folk art where tiers modify, transform, and, in many cases, improve on the fly patterns they come across. The closest a tier can come to patenting his fly patterns nowadays is to associate their name with the pattern when they sell the design rights to a fly manufacturing company.

There was a time when you could find regional professional fly tiers who specialized in patterns for a particular river or drainage.

Those tiers are hard to find nowadays because many are selling the rights to their “signature” fly patterns to the fly manufacturing companies.

The really good fly pattern designers have an ability to look at an actual aquatic insect or other trout food and translate what behavior or special characteristic it has into a fly pattern that will trigger a feeding response from a trout.

This trigger can be pretty abstract and may have nothing to do with how the actual aquatic insect looks or even behaves. From my point of view, this ability is a gift worthy of admiration by all of us everyday fly tiers. A couple of those designers I especially admire are John Barr and the late Bob Quigley.

If you’re involved with the world of fly tying at all, you’re probably aware of a few legendary feuds between tiers who claim to be the originator of a particular fly pattern. These feuds seem to have multiplied with increased exposure on social media. Sometimes it’s hard to determine who invented a particular fly pattern. I’m convinced that sometimes an idea just gets in the wind and several fly tiers will come up with similar “original” fly patterns at the same time.

The fact is that most fly tiers are happy to share their fly patterns, tying tips and how to fish their flies with anyone who asks.

If you’re interested in learning to tie flies most fly shops offer courses in fly tying. Conservation organizations such as Trout Unlimited and Fly Fishers International often offer free tying lessons to members.

Another option is to attend the Fly Fishing Show when it comes to the Denver’s Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Feb. 21, 22, and 23. A one-day pass is $20. Individual fly tiers rent booths that are arranged along the walls at the show where tiers demonstrate how to tie various fly patterns. There is also a Featured Fly Tyer demonstration where well-known fly tiers demonstrate how to tie specific fly patterns.

As for my fly-tying season, it’s going well. I’ve found myself concentrating on “suspender midge patterns” which are designed to imitate midge pupa that hang vertically in the surface film of calmer water before the adult midge emerges and takes to the air.

I’ll need these flies for those warm, windless February days on the South Platte River tailwaters that are known for their midge hatches and the trout that eat them.