Bob Quigley’s Top Tying Tips

Bob Quigley was one of the most influential fly tiers of his generation. While he passed in 2012, his innovations in fly tying live on, and continue to influence fly design today.

In a 2013 Fly Fisherman Magazine article, Charlie Craven had this to say about Quigley: “(he) changed the shape of technical dry-fly fishing. That’s an impressive sentence and an even more impressive feat. He coined the now-common term ‘cripple,’ and managed with that single word to alter the way many fly tiers look at patterns designed for technical fishing and flat water.”

The folks at Fly Fisherman Magazine recently republished an article Quigley wrote back in 2008. This piece includes his top 14 fly tying tips, and if there’s anyone we should listen to about tying, it’s Quigley.

The tips include how to cut synthetic hair and fur, using Jungle Cock feathers to imitate eyes on streamers, and tying in parachute hackle. These are skills all of us can work on, and it’s worth your time to read the whole story.

Read the 14 tying tips here.