Outdoors & Recreation

Fly Tying for Utah Trout Streams

Meets Mondays · 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM · on location Fall 2026 · registration open Free to audit

This class runs in the Fall 2026 session. Registration is open now; lessons, materials, and the class discussion board are posted before it begins.

this is a hands-on class for people who already fish flies and want to start tying their own. we meet mondays and tie a handful of patterns that actually work on our local freestone streams — the fast water up american fork canyon and the like. the whole focus is proportions and durability. a fly up the canyon doesn't have to be pretty. the trout barely get a look at it. it has to hold together after getting slammed through a riffle.

you'll leave able to tie a woolly bugger, a hare's ear, a pheasant tail, an elk hair caddis, and a couple of other workhorses, plus you'll understand why the proportions are what they are. bring your hands and some patience. no worries at all if your first dozen look rough — mine did.

What you'll learn

Choose the right vise and tools
Tie a whip finish by hand
Build a woolly bugger with palmered hackle
Tie durable weighted flies that survive riffles
Stack and flare elk hair for caddis wings

Lessons

before you tie anything
the gear you actually need, the gear you don't, and why proportions matter more than any of it.
the foundation moves
the handful of skills every pattern is built on, done by hand before you buy a gadget.
the woolly bugger
the pattern that teaches you everything and forgives most of your mistakes.
- why the bugger works on fast water15 min
- tail, body, and palmered hackle25 min
- weighting it so it gets down20 min
- finishing durable — it has to survive the riffle20 min
nymphs that fish
the two workhorse nymphs for local streams, tied a little scruffy on purpose.
- the hare's ear — scruffy fishes better25 min
- the pheasant tail and thin bodies25 min
- bead heads and getting the fly down15 min
- picking the body out so it looks alive15 min
a dry fly that holds up
the elk hair caddis, flaring hair right, and my honest trouble with wings.
tying for the way you actually fish
building a small box that works up the canyon and knowing presentation beats imitation.

Class discussion

The class discussion board opens when the class begins this fall. Auditors and enrolled students ask questions and share work here once the session starts.