Andrew Laraway
Signature Tyer
My story in Fly tying may be different than most. Believe it or not, I have never tied a wooly bugger, parachute adams, or an elk hair caddis and somehow I’ve become an Umpqua Signature Tyer. I didn’t have the traditional upbringing in Fly tying, I was born into the perdigon era. I learned how to tie a myriad of jigged style flies that were hot on my home river, Lower Sacramento, and stayed away from the traditional stuff that I wouldn’t use.
Tying flies didn’t come until later in my fly fishing career when I was tired of using the same bugs over and over to catch fish. I wanted something new and I was set on breaking away from what everyone else was using on the rivers around me.
I was lucky to be working at The Fly Shop when I started tying and had Zach Miller and Zack Thurman to show me the ropes. I dove in and my mind was instantly set ablaze with new ideas scouring all fly tying materials I could find.
Since then I have gone through lots of hooks, beads, and materials and I still can’t get enough. I started with smaller nymphs and branched off from there. Recently I have found tying intruders for steelhead is very enjoyable.
Fly tying is something that I have found to be constant, but also changing. I am constantly tying flies, but changing certain things here and there to make something new.
There is no better feeling than imagining a fly, creating it, and then catching fish on it and I hope that everyone who loves the sport of fly fishing can experience it one day as well.
My story in Fly tying may be different than most. Believe it or not, I have never tied a wooly bugger, parachute adams, or an elk hair caddis and somehow I’ve become an Umpqua Signature Tyer. I didn’t have the traditional upbringing in Fly tying, I was born into the perdigon era. I learned how to tie a myriad of jigged style flies that were hot on my home river, Lower Sacramento, and stayed away from the traditional stuff that I wouldn’t use.
Tying flies didn’t come until later in my fly fishing career when I was tired of using the same bugs over and over to catch fish. I wanted something new and I was set on breaking away from what everyone else was using on the rivers around me.
I was lucky to be working at The Fly Shop when I started tying and had Zach Miller and Zack Thurman to show me the ropes. I dove in and my mind was instantly set ablaze with new ideas scouring all fly tying materials I could find.
Since then I have gone through lots of hooks, beads, and materials and I still can’t get enough. I started with smaller nymphs and branched off from there. Recently I have found tying intruders for steelhead is very enjoyable.
Fly tying is something that I have found to be constant, but also changing. I am constantly tying flies, but changing certain things here and there to make something new.
There is no better feeling than imagining a fly, creating it, and then catching fish on it and I hope that everyone who loves the sport of fly fishing can experience it one day as well.