Western Rivers Free Winter Fly Tying Demos 2020
Join us each Saturday from Jan 11th to March 28th for free fly tying clinics led by our shop staff and fishing guides. This year we are covering a spectrum of topics including: beginner tying, dry flies, saltwater flies, steelhead flies, guide flies, carp flies and more. These demonstrations will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at our Salt Lake City storefront and are open to anyone who is interested in attending. As always, coffee will be on and stories will be colorful. If you would like to contribute something extra, please feel free to provide some snacks for yourself and other attendees, although this is not required. New this year, we will kick off our demos with an introduction to flytying that will help anyone new to the sport better understand how flies are made and how you can start tying your own flies. We look forward to sharing stories with the fly fishing community and hope to see you on Saturday mornings this winter!
2020 Schedule and Descriptions
January 11th – Kigen Curtice – An introduction to fly tying : Our head guide Kigen will provide basic insights on fly tying for anyone who is curious about tying their own flies but does not know where to start. Kigen will tie some classic and commonly used flies and while discussing common tying techniques and how you can get started on your own. Although this clinic is targeted for beginners, there will be helpful tips for tyers of all abilities.
January 18th – Ken Davis – Carp Flies: Shop staffer “Flappy” is especially enthusiastic about sight fishing Carp on the flats of our local stillwaters. Join us as he shares some of his favorite carp flies and colorful stories of stalking Carp from his flats skiff.
January 25th – Cori Holladay – Streamers for Trout: Cori is one of our most requested guides on the Green River, and is a skilled angler and rower who utilizes and excels at all things fishing. Cori will share techniques for tying trout streamers and hopefully share some secrets on creating effective streamers for enticing large trout on the Green River.
February 1st – Spencer Madsen – The Midge Life Cycle: Spencer is a full-time shop staffer and keeps our walls loaded with feathers and fur for your fly tying needs. He is also ties highly technical dry flies that catch wary trout while being beautiful at the same time. Join him as he dives into the life cycle of the midge, tying dry flies that will prepare you to fool any midge sipping trout this winter.
February 8th – Kyle Toyama – Nunya Business Flies: Kyle is our head consultant in the shop and the only tier at WR with commercially available flies. He has fished all over the world, but still can’t resist stalking rising fish in the West. Kyle will be sharing some of his “Nunya” series flies, which have tricked some of the most selective fish from “the Ranch” to the Provo river.
February 15th – Kigen Curtice - Hatch Specific Dry Flies: Our head guide Kigen Curtice will be tying up some of his favorite and most effective dry flies for tough fish, and technical hatches. From the Provo to the Henry's Fork, Kigen's dry flies catch picky fish, and are sought after by both trout and shop staff alike.
February 22nd – Blaine Townsend – The Basics of Fly Tying/Guide Flies: Blaine is both a shop staffer and top small streams guide for Western Rivers Flyfisher. He will be covering some basic guide flies that are both highly effective and relatively straightforward to tie. This is a great demo for those that are newer to fly tying and would like to pick up more skills.
February 29th – Steve Schmidt – Greased Line and Dry Flies for Steelhead: Steve is the founder of Western Rivers Flyfisher whose fly fishing passion still runs deep after over 30 years playing the “Game”. This is a demo not to miss as Steve will share his expertise on fishing flies on or near the surface for elusive Steelhead in the West.
March 7th – Logan Griffith – Simple and Effective Flats Flies: Logan, a WRF fixture, will be leading a trip to Christmas Island to chase bonefish, triggerfish, and giant trevally in February 2020. Join him as he shares effective flies from his journey and stories of fishing the flats of remote tropical islands.
March 15th – Nick Teynor – Hatch Specific Soft Hackle Flies – Nick is our longtime class instructor, shop staffer, and resident fly-casting guru. For his tying demo, he will be sharing with you his favorite soft hackled flies for matching insect hatches in Utah, and across the West. If you have wanted to learn more about how to tie better soft hackles, and pick-up some fishing tips, this is clinic you won't want to miss!
March 21st – Sam Elam – European Nymphs and Guide Flies: Sam is one of the Western Rivers small stream guides and has a special expertise in European nymphing techniques. For his demo, Sam will share some of his favorite Euro nymph and guide flies for local tailwaters while discussing the finer details of how to be effective tight line fishing techniques.
March 28th – Matt Lucas – Dry Flies for the Green River: Matt is the larger than life leader of the Western Rivers Flyfisher Green River Guides. He will share some of his favorite large dry flies for the Green River and discuss prospects for the upcoming fishing season. If you have ever wanted to learn more on catching Green River trout with dry flies, be sure to have a seat at this final demo!