Fly Tying the Black Coachman (Dry Fly Variant)

[@stevetrybalski3082]

Matt nice looking variant!! Thanks for sharing have a great day!!

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Steve!

[@joeduca8582]

Nice pick Matt. That's the cool thing about a pattern viewed as a platform to tie many variants by changing the colors and/or materials. Thanks :o)

[@SavageFlies]

Yes indeed Joe. Another that immediately comes to mind that has spawned a lot of variants is the Copper John. And that's a relatively new pattern.

[@jeffreystone7327]

Good morning my friend. Very impressive fly. As you mentioned, Peacock Herl, it just makes for some beautiful flies. Thank you for the tip on tying in the wing section. I’ll be going back and watching this video again. The more I watch, the more I pick up and enjoy. Great way to start the morning. Classy looking fly. Thank you Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

You bet Jeff! I appreciate the kind words my friend. :-)

[@chevyguy6510]

Looks intimidating to me, but when you broke it down step by step it looks easier than I thought. Thanks Matt!

[@SavageFlies]

This is a great comment to get! Thank you. It's exactly why I make videos. :-)

[@johnsamothrakis4621]

GM MATT. Thanks for another Great Video, love the tip on PULLING UP YOUR THREAD , when tying the Wing👍 . Enjoy your day

[@SavageFlies]

Well thank you John! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)

[@edwardchavez5627]

Good Morning Sir Matt, another great fly, I'll be tying some of these for sure. Thanks so much. The wings are the trick for me I'm sure I'll get it.

[@SavageFlies]

I'm sure you will Edward! Have a great weekend my friend. :-)

[@Jd-yc3gw]

Good morning Matt. Having my ☕️, watching you tying a dry fly and getting in my last relaxation for a bit. That’s a nice variation of the Coachmen. I’ve started a “how to” file for flies that I want to tie. This video will be part of that. Going to start loading in about an hour and tomorrow morning we head to our new place and the unloading and unpacking. Of course we had to have a winter storm that started with freezing rain followed by about 20” of wet snow. Going to be an exciting drive. Take care Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Good luck my man! I'm taking next week off work. Not moving, but it feels like it as I'm clearing out a room in the basement (just outside my tying room). Going to put a couch in and new TV and just try to turn it from a room that just collected junk to one we might actually use. Anyway, it's not near as much of a headache as moving a whole house (and after 20+ years in the military, I've moved plenty), so I don't envy you! But getting set up in a new place can still be exciting. :-)

[@Wyamike734]

A nice looking coachman variant . This is one of my favorite styles of fly to tie and just look at, they are a thing of beauty. Thanks Matt !

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you Mike. And I agree... these flies have such a beautiful profile. When a non-fly fisherman thinks of a fly, I'll bet the Royal Coachman or the Adams is what they picture in their head. :-)

[@Check-Your-Fly]

Thanks for sharing this video. Cool looking dry variant. Looks like a fish catcher!

[@leemowers9395]

Nice Clean Coachman Variant, nicely tied, great video, thanks Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Lee!

[@markfritch3168]

Love this pattern and even fished it as a little boy on my zebco. What memories! This variation looks great! I especially love the tail as I recently purchased some lady Amherst to tie the gimp fly. I think as a kid I only had two flies; a royal coachman and a grasshopper. They both were quite productive even on mono. Thanks for all the help and wonderful patterns. I think part of the fun of fly fishing and fly tying is memories of the past and anticipation of the future adventures. Continued blessings my friend.

[@SavageFlies]

Oh Mark, your last sentence sure rings a bell with me! That is so much of the fun. I've got some great memories on very specific flies from my past. And I always have the hope that the next fly I create is going to be the magic pattern that brings in the big ones. And the old Zebco?? Oh man, did you start with the 202 or 404? I remember fishing with those for years before upgrading to the fancy Zebco 33. Oh wow, good memories. :-)

[@RyanAshley419]

I love Coachman flies. It may have been the first classic one I learned to tie that looked cool and also caught fish way back when...

[@SavageFlies]

Oh yeah Ryan, they've been around forever, and still work. And the original wet fly coachman (white wing or lead wing) is so basic, you'd think somebody would have created that back in the day of Dame Juliana Berners.

[@karljones6594]

Good morning sir Matt. This is a fun fly to tye. I like the wet fly version as well. They all work well and catch fish. Thanks for sharing this and have a great day my friend.

[@SavageFlies]

You too Karl! Always appreciate you watching my friend. :-)

[@huntingmissouri5420]

Coachman's is always a good for fly! Good tie Matt!!

[@garrettswoodworx1873]

Nice tie Matt! Thanks for constantly reminding us that it is ok to experiment with both colors and materials. I think too often when tying "working" flies us newbies get locked into seeing recipes as absolute plans that must be followed in order to be successful.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Garrett! Yeah, I definitely try to stress that. There are only a few patterns out there that you wouldn't want to substitute something for. If you want to tie a woolly bugger but don't have chenille in the color you want? Use yarn! Or fuzzy dubbing. Who cares?? I'm sure the fish don't! Now if you want to tie a Black Ghost but are out of the white feathers, I'd probably skip that one until you had some. Or just tie it with yellow feathers and give it a new name. :-)

[@laytonmarvin3790]

Great fly pattern and in black, very cool. Thanks Matt for sharing

[@mikeney5113]

This pattern surely catch fish and good one to tie and have in the box.great job Matt! Thanks.

[@jimholland1592]

Hey Matt and good morning 👍 The Royal Coachman is a beautiful fly and you did an awesome job. When I grow up I want to be as skilled as you are. Thanks for all the efforts you put into all the videos. You and your family have a safe and wonderful day👍

[@SavageFlies]

Haha! You make me laugh Jim. When I grow up, I still don't know what I'm going to be. I'm still thinking I want to be a writer someday. But I'll probably have to write more about tying than fishing. Or maybe I can follow in Dave Hughes footsteps and write about both. :-)

[@jimholland1592]

@@SavageFlies Well you would be excellent at both👍

[@davehall2160]

Gorgeous looking fly Matt Will definitely have to try this one Thanks for the video

[@thomaswalls123]

I like the coachman flies, wet and dry. This black variant is really cool looking a few of these are definitely going in my box👍👍

[@SavageFlies]

I love to hear that Thomas! Don't tell anybody, but this is another one that I tied for the first time yesterday, and have never even fished. But it looked cool enough to try. :-)

[@toddslichter7831]

Nicely done Matt. I like duck biots so much for my wings that I use poly yarn. Lol. Have a great weekend, Mr O'Neal.

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you Todd! You too my friend. :-)

[@cephasmcpher67peteroutdoorspip]

That is a cool Coachman variant Matt. I have fished the Royal Coachman for years but when I began tying, the Coachman was like a step up in my transition to tying more than the dasic wet and dry flies. I admit my first couple of tries turned out ugly as sin but they're getting better with practice, lol. Take care.

[@SavageFlies]

Me too Peter! That's why I keep a spaghetti sauce can... for my "ugly as sin" flies. Hahaha.

[@jamesyates5191]

Thanks Matt. This looks like a fish catcher like the Adams.

[@crowdaddy8355]

Great job Matt. I’ll have to try my wing the way you did. I always went in the opposite direction. Thanks.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Chad. You can certainly do it either way, but I think tying the wing in forward keeps it mostly out of your way while you work on the body.

[@alexn8345]

What a beautiful fly. Thanks for the video 👍

[@wayneandrews1278]

Very nice looking fly I need to do this one but white tail feathers you have a bless day my friend

[@charlieeastland2249]

Nice video Matt. Cool fly and and like all your posts great production value. Keep up the good work.

[@Hunter711pa]

Cool looking variation. And good job Matt

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it David and thanks for the note my friend!

[@TheAlex0026]

Very sharp!!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Alex! Appreciate it my friend.

[@johnnylightning1491]

It looks like it needs a girl fly in a cocktail dress for their night on the town. All in all a nice variant on the Royal Coachman - I think that golden pheasant for the tail would be awesome. Keep the good stuff coming buddy.

[@SavageFlies]

You know, the one in the book did use golden pheasant tippets for the tail and it did look good. I just thought the Lady Amherst would be more in keeping with the black and white theme. :-)

[@bandito85fx]

Great looking fly. Your tips on tying are gold. That is why I watch. I like how easy you make tying look. I’m too much the perfectionist. Fish don’t care, right? ✌️

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! You got that right. And I can't afford to be a perfectionist anyway. If I only published videos when I tied a perfect fly, I sure wouldn't be putting out three a week. Probably more like one every three months. :-)

[@harryjoesather6539]

thanks matt.

[@bigdaddy99929]

Love the coachman. However, never tied or fished this variant. Sure cool looking and should do fine. Thx Matt.

[@ybarrajc]

thanks for sharing another nice one!

[@FlyTyer1948]

It is elegant & dignified. Perhaps the coach is a Victorian funeral coach?

[@randymorris8740]

I like this...

[@barbaraemerich1921]

Nice fly!! Can you use other colors if you don’t have the white and black?

[@SavageFlies]

Of course you can! Basically the Coachman is the peacock herl body, with hackle and duck slips for the wings. With or without a tail. Put a red band on it and it's called a "Royal" coachman. There are other versions with yellow and green bands out there as well. Feel free to experiment and do whatever you want with it. :-)

[@wayneandrews1278]

Very nice

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Wayne! Have a great new year my friend. :-)

[@hirkojs]

Great variant Matt. So an alternative for the Amhurst tail feathers if I don’t have any, could I substitute regular white feathers that I’ve created the black bars on the tips with a black sharpie?

[@luisalbertogomezruiz4058]

Un atado que no conocía....me gustó.....pero porque usar floss negro para el fajín , si ya se puede hacer con la seda de montaje?

[@SavageFlies]

Translation: A bundle that I did not know .... I liked it ..... but why use black floss for the sash, if it can already be done with the mounting silk? Answer: I think you're right Luis, but it would just take a lot more thread wraps to get the middle part of the body as wide as you want it. And it might not be as shiny. (Podrías hacer eso. Pero creo que se necesitarían más vueltas de hilo. Al final, debería verse igual.)

[@martyrothman3933]

Good morning man thank you I'm really like that one and I love the music :-) by the way how long have you been tying

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Marty! How long have I been tying? Well the most accurate answer is about five years. But the longer answer is... I gave it a try when I was a teenager back in the 1980s. I probably tied for one winter. Then I broke out my shoebox of materials off and on for the next couple of years. Then I didn't tie a thing for the next 30 years, and started back up in about 2017. So I basically started from scratch five years ago. :-)

[@epsieblaine7968]

Great looking fly Matt.I don't add many flies to my dry fly box,but going to add this one.I might have some white quills.Cloie has desamated our quills with her project.Matt tried to send you Fran Betters plates of his flys from his book,but we didn't have your right e mail address.Tell us your e mail address and wel will get them to you.Have a great Thur. Matt. Ken and Linda

[@SavageFlies]

Ken and Linda- thanks! I just checked and I got your email. (I just don't check that email as often as I check the comments here.) That looks like a great project. I'm still working on a steelhead fly shadow box right now, and am thinking of trying to make some Christmas ornaments with flies in them. Have you ever tried that?

[@dahutful]

Every time you say, "variant," I cringe. Why? Because = I'm a weirdo. There is a bona-fide fly style known as 'Variant,' and changing up another fly isn't a Variant. Its a "variation." Yes, Im a kook. The pedant in me screams! But you know I love ya!