Fly tying

Welcome to The Feather Bender’s, Fly tying recipes website. Here I share all my knowledge about tying fly fishing flies and the materials used to make them. You will find, not only my own patterns and tying techniques, but also many of the most popular international patterns and how to tie them. All illustrated in professional step by step photo’s and the best quality fly tying videos. If you are a new beginner or a seasoned fly tyer, if you have any questions about, patterns, techniques or materials I will do my best to help.

Enjoy, and I hope to here from you…

All the best
Barry Ord Clarke

How to fly tying

Learn to make better fly fishing flies that catch fish

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Testimonials

"Barry Clarke is a regular contributor to this magazine. We discovered Barry, who lives in Norway, through his great blog, It’s full of excellent patterns, tying instructions, and much more."

FLY TYER MAGAZINE

"Barry has a way of making crazy complicated fly tying techniques look super easy. He is – in my opinion – a perfectionist in all the positive meanings of the word – and just a damn good fly tier."

AHREX HOOKS

"On the header of this site it says, ‘The aim of this blog is to connect fly-tyers all over the world, to share techniques, patterns, information and knowledge.’ It’s a great achievement and one of the best. My congratulations to its originator Barry Ord Clarke."

CHRIS SANDFORD

"Barry is to fly tying what a gifted multi-instrumentalist is to jazz: a man able to play the standards, to improvise or rearrange. A true artist and virtuoso at the vice.."

MARC PETITJEAN

"For anyone who follows thefeatherbender. com Barry’s regular blog and flytying videos on YouTube, this book is an essential addition. For those who don’t know Barry’s work, this would be a great introduction to someone who I consider to be amongst the world’s best modern flytyers"

FLYDRESSER MAGAZINE

"Barry is the consummate flytyer, possible the best that I have been fortunate to have encountered over my years of tying. His style of fly tying is unique, and he produces what is close to, in my opinion, the perfect fly. Bound to be a true modern classic"

FRESHWATER FISHING

Frequently Asked Questions

What is fly tying?

Ƒly tying is the craft of attaching feathers, fur and synthetic materials, to a fishing hook with the help of a waxed thread and numerous specially designed tools. The result is an artificial lure that resembles a fly or other prey/food of predatory fish.

What are the Benefits of fly tying?

Through fly tying the fly fisherman can open previously locked doors, and enter a whole new world of their sport.Creatively customising existing fly patterns, to your own specific requirements, and even designing your own.

Is it hard to tie flies?

Like any craft, fly tying has many elementary techniques that need to be learned and practiced. Taking a course with an experienced fly tyer helps in the early stages. Once these are techniques are learned and mastered, even the most advanced patterns can be achieved.

Does Fly Tying save money?

After the industrialisation of the fishing hook, and the time consuming production of fishing flies, was moved to countries with cheap labour. The days are gone, where fly fishermen tied flies out of financial necessity.

Types of fly patterns?

The four main types of fly patterns are: Dry flies, nymphs, emergers and streamers. Dry flies float on the surface of the water and imitate an adult insect. Nymphs are fished sub-surface and represent the nymphal stage of water based insects. Emergers are fished in the surface film of the water, to represent hatching insects. Streamers are long flies that are used to imitate bait fish and many other invertebrates.

Fly tying patterns | THEFEATHERBENDER