Learning to tie flies

Tying flies can be complicated, and there is a group of people dedicated to learning the process in Marquette.

Switchback Gear Exchange hosts Hops and Hackle Tuesdays at the Ore Dock Brewery.

Each week, interested fly fishermen and women learn how to tie flies and talk about Upper Peninsula fishing.  It is the first fly tying group of its kind in Marquette.

“A lot of what we do at Switchback is very community based,” Nick Simon said, who teaches fly tying.  “This is an easy for us to provide a resource that Marquette doesn’t have.  There has never been a sold tying group in Marquette, so we saw the need for it.”

The workshop is for both beginners and advanced fly fishermen.  The time of year depends on what type of flies the group ties.

“We focus on one pattern (each week), and and usually tie two or three flies a night for what we’re fishing for that time of year,” Simon said.  “In the winter, we might tie up some flies for fishing through the ice, and in the summer we’re doing the dry fly thing and in the spring-fall we’re doing salmon or steelhead (flies).”

Hops and Hackle is a free workshop, and the supplies are provided by Switchback.  The workshops are on Tuesdays throughout the year and are from 6 to 8 p.m.