Another day, another fly tying contest. It kind of seems that way anyway. Preparing an entry for each contest division, and tying two flies each definitely takes some time and planning. This time it is for the White River Fly Fishers Expo to be held October 10-11, 2025 in Branson, MO. Branson is really a fun place to visit. There are a lot of things to see and do.
If you’ve read some of my past blog posts, you would know that I really enjoy fly tying contests. As I did earlier this year, I decided to enter every single category in the contest. I really enjoy going out and finding new fly patterns that I had never tied before in order to complete my lineup.
The entries are due on August 15th. The judging should be completed before the Expo.
Here are my entries for this year’s fly tying contest.
| # | Category | Fly Pattern | Reason For Entering |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nymph | Gilled Baetis Nymph | A semi-realistic mayfly nymph pattern that is not the easiest to tie. This one has an olive color scheme. |
| 2 | Dry Fly | Royal Coachman | A very old and very iconic dry fly pattern. The Coachman wet fly, which it is based on, is several hundred years old. |
| 3 | Wet Fly | Red Arsed Green Peter | A good looking wet fly that is easy to tie except for the double-layered wings. |
| 4 | Traditional Streamer | Gray Ghost | A classic streamer pattern from the infamous Carrie G. Stevens of Maine. |
| 5 | Articulating Streamer | Rainbow Trout | An interesting streamer pattern that I needed for this category. |
| 6 | Bass Bug | Ol’ Mr. Wiggly | A classic smallmouth bass fly pattern created by Charlie Piette of Wisconsin. |
| 7 | Salmon/Steelhead | Rusty Rat | A nice salmon fly pattern and one that is simple enough for me to tie fairly well. |
| 8 | Saltwater | Ally’s Shrimp | A modern classic saltwater salmon fly named for its creator Alastair (Ally) Gowans. It dares to be tied on a double hook. |
| 9 | Best In Show | No. 27 Dun Wing | This is another salmon fly pattern from Mary Orvis Marbury’s 1892 book “Favorite Flies and Their Histories”. |
The lineup is a little hard to follow because of the size of some of these flies but it goes in “top down, left to right” order with three flies in each column.
After I finished the lineup, I decided that the last entry needed some work. I originally had tied the wings with two feathers from a rooster cape but they are clearly not wide enough for such a big fly. So … I redid the wings with two feathers from a hen saddle and they look much better.
