Facing a weekend with apartment to myself, I did what I suspect many fly fishermen in the Northern Hemisphere are doing: tying flies in preparation for the rapidly approaching season. As one tier said to me recently, “If I don’t start tying now, my boxes will be empty!” While that’s not entirely true — fishermen always fear a scarcity of flies, but rarely face it — the feeling is accurate: with the days warming up, it’s now a race. A race to tie enough flies for all those fish you’ll catch this season. Like most thing in fishing, these fish are caught in our dreams, far outpacing the fish we actually catch. But then, every once a while, you hit it right. And when you do, you better be prepared. And so, here’s a selection of a few flies I ties this weekend.

My first attempt at this fly. Not bad, though the hackle tied onto the side kept twisting on me. Any suggestions?

A shrimp imitation of my invention. My dad has pointed out that I should flip it, so that the eyes are above the hook so that it will be swimming backwards — the natural movement for a shrimp. He’s caught more fish than I may ever see, so I’m going to do just that.

A Ghost Stone — one of my all time favorite Atlantic salmon flies, and one that I’ve had very good luck on. This one is a slight variation, having been tied on a Tiemco #6 saltwater hook, not the black doubles that are standard on many Canadian salmon rivers.