Fly-tying Knowhow: Body Imitation Made Easy

Andy Kitchener, the Semperfli founder behind the ABC (Andy’s Bugs and Creatures) range, has been candid that the goal was never to remove tying from fly tying.

By the J. Stockard Team

Building a convincing nymph, hellgrammite, squid, crab, frog, or crayfish usually means solving three separate fly-tying challenges: getting the body’s structure correct, creating lifelike movement (in the water) and matching the color of the naturals the fish are keying on.

Traditional methods often require different materials and techniques to achieve each of these goals. Semperfli’s ABC (Andy’s Bugs and Creatures) range simplifies much of that work by combining the body profile and segmentation into a single pre-shaped component. It’s not for everybody, but it certainly helps simplify the tying process.