Fly Tying for Beginners - The Adams Dry Fly

Probably the most popular dry fly of all time, the Adams dry fly is a good one to learn for any tier. If you can tie an Adams, you can tie any number of mayfly dry flies and many of the Catskill fly patterns.
Hook: #12-22 dry fly
Thread: Black
Tail: Grizzly and brown hackle fibers
Body: Gray dubbing (original is muskrat)
Wings: Grizzly hackle tips
Hackle: Grizzly and brown dry fly hackle
Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. I've been uploading at least three new videos a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).
Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tips or tricks that could help me or anyone else watching.

[@SavageFlies]

Coming up on 100 years old, the Adams was designed by Leonard Halladay from Mayfield, Michigan in 1922. It's usually considered a generic adult mayfly imitation but also works as a caddis or midge. Halladay gave it the name because he created it for his friend Charles Adams. It's one of the most effective and popular flies ever created. And always one of the best sellers.

[@martyrothman3933]

Thanks again Matt I keep going back and looking at old videos I keep trying

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! Don't go too far back Marty. I've gotten a lot better on camera than I was two years ago. :-)

[@martyrothman3933]

You know Matt it's not fair I watch a lot of your videos over and over and over trying to learn but I'm only allowed to like it once just not fair😂😂😂😂

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! I appreciate that Marty!! Watch them as many times as you can my friend. :-)

[@kimberlymiller94]

I am trying to tie flies with no artificail (plastic and foam) parts. I used rabbit fur for the dubbing and it worked great!

[@martyrothman3933]

Thanks for another great one Matt

[@Artsrock36]

Thanks so much for your comment. Any help greatly appreciated!!! I'm also hoping I may get some advice from your viewers concerning value of Lee Wulff fly value.

[@martyrothman3933]

Thanks again Matt

[@showmemotion]

thank you! going to try to tie one now!

[@brianfeeney9493]

Hey 👋🏻 MATT !!!! You have TRANSCENDED in Your Skillset since this and earlier Videos !!!! March Forward Friend 👍🏻✨🥳🌞🎣

[@SavageFlies]

I appreciate that Brian! Now you made me go back and watch this old one. Oh my goodness I was not very comfortable in front of the camera back then. I've still got a way to go but I'll get there. A little at a time. :-)

[@brianfeeney9493]

You’ve move to “ THE TONIGHT SHOW “ MATT !!!!! Keep Moving Forward ........ “ You’re On Your Way !!!! “ 🌞👍🏻🎣✨

[@SavageFlies]

@@brianfeeney9493 Oh man, you make me laugh! Compared to my first videos, these most recent ones do make me look like David Letterman (or name someone else more recently famous!) Just think how smooth I might be five or ten years from now. Holy cow, I could be Oprah. Okay, now I'm making myself laugh. I'll be happy enough if I'm still around with a successful channel by then. :-) And oh yeah, I just finished Monday morning's video for the fly tying contest. I hope you'll be entering!

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

The old style traditional dries are tings of beauty. Thayls why I prefer them. its all part of the enjoyment of fly fish fir me. I don't want to throw ugly things on a beautiful stream. :-(

[@SavageFlies]

Yep Terry, there is definitely an art to fly tying. But you know, sometimes it's the ugly flies that the fish prefer! But still I agree, a beautifully tied fly is a work of art. :-)

[@wayneandrews1278]

Very great looking fly my friend

[@wayneandrews1278]

The Adams are my favorite fly to do and the the coachmans have bless nite my friend

[@tannerpeavy3356]

Awesome! These videos are going to help me out a lot.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Tanner! Appreciate you watching.

[@barbaraemerich1921]

OMG!! I really want to try this one!!

[@SavageFlies]

Oh Barbara, this is probably THE most famous and productive dry fly ever created! You've got to have a few Adams dry flies in your box. And in all the sizes too! :-)

[@davehall2160]

Great looking fly Matt, you make it look easy 👍

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Dave! But I screw up plenty of times. To be honest, I've usually bought my Adams and parachute Adams. I'm about to run out of the last few dozen I bought a couple years ago-- so it's really time to start tying more of them now. :-)

[@mikeney5113]

Again,nice tie matt.looks great!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Mike! Yeah, I can't do 30 straight Smoky Mountain patterns. I need to mix in some variety. :-)

[@jamesvatter5729]

That's a special pattern for me, Matt. It's the first fly a good family friend taught me to tie and the first one I used to catch a fish (albeit a 6" bluegill!) and it produces still...although I probably fish more parachute versions in recent years.

[@SavageFlies]

Same here! My go-to flies are the parachute Adam's and elk hair caddis. But my first ever trout on a fly was the standard Adam's. And I still love it. 👍

[@jamesyates5191]

Thanks Matt. I’ve caught so many high mountain trout on this fly. It floats like a cork too. I’ve attempted these before but my proportions never seemed to be right. I’m going to give it another try.

[@SavageFlies]

Oh you should see some of the ones in my boxes James. I've got them with tails that are both too long, and too short. And wings all over the place. But they still work so they're still in my box. :-)

[@seandacey8346]

Nice.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks for watching Sean!

[@junito1957]

I MISS FLY FISHING IN THE CATSKILLS WHEN I USE TO LIVE IN NYC, THE ADAMS WAS MY GO TO FLY MAY SURE YOU HAVE ALL SIZES BECAUSE THEY MATCH THE HATCH LOTS OF TIME THE ONLY THING IS THE SIZE YOU ARE USING, THERE NO TROUT STREAM OR TROUT AT ALL WHERE I LIVE NOW IN THE ISLAND OF PUERTO RICO BUT GOING TO TRY FLY FISHING FOR TARPON SAD THING IS I CANT EAT IT ,LOL

[@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine]

For the tail you mention neck hackle. Is that dry fly rooster neck or wet fly hen neck? Thanks for the great tutorials!

[@larryalbert1027]

Invented in Michigan

[@stuartdooley2624]

is there a playlist for this series? Looking to tie them in order as a beginner learning to tie

[@42088cowboy]

Hello sir, I am just getting into tying and was trying to learn how to tie a basic fly. From what you said, I think I found the fly that I am going to try to get good at. I have bought flys like this and they work really good for the fly fishing I do. I was wondering, if you don’t have a video on it already perhaps you could show me where but how are you using the tool at the end of the video to cap off the top of the fly where the eye lid of the hook is at? That part of the video was so fast I was thinking, what is he doing to finish it? Anyway thanks for your time and good video.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks for the note my friend and welcome to the sport! If you're talking about the whip finish, I haven't made a dedicated video on how to do it with the tool (I use a Matarelli type tool instead of a Thompson). I did make one on how to do it by hand if you want to learn that. Just search for "how to whip finish by hand." I would recommend learning to do it by hand first, and then using the tool will be easier. Here's a video on how to use the tool: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWGtd2xqYtabh9k

[@42088cowboy]

@@SavageFlies thank you for your help. I made sure to subscribe so I can keep up with whatever material you put out. Thanks for your time.

[@Artsrock36]

I have inherited a vintage collection of flys tied and signed by lee Wulff. I am unable to find any sources concerning the value. Any advice would be greatly appreciated if anyone can advise me where to start.

[@SavageFlies]

Joshlyn, wow! That is very fortunate for you. I'll ask some of the veterans who watch the channel if anyone has any ideas. I know Davie McPhail sells some of his flies on Ebay and from the ones I've watched they've done pretty well. I think flies tied by Lee Wulff could potentially be pretty valuable. You might want to consider having them professionally mounted in a shadow box, and then announcing them on one of the forums. Or simply asking this question on a forum. Are you a tier yourself? Feel free to email me and I can try to help you if possible. ([e-mail]). Cheers.

[@HeideMason]

Joan Wulff still lives in the Catskills and many of Lee's flies are on display in the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum. Please consider donating your flies there. Or in the alternative, put them in a shadow box so that they remain together!

[@SkipAnnie-py4vi]

Woolly burgeg

[@martyrothman3933]

Wow 10000 views