May 12

May 12th- 6:30pm! 
Make sure you join us at Galway Bay (500 W Diversey) for our next meet up. 
Spring is finally coming into full swing and the fishing is starting to pick up.  Come hang out for an open tie and fill some spaces in your fly box.  Just bring a vise and a handful of materials to tie whatever you want.  As always we'll have plenty of fur and feathers flying along with some good drinks and fishy conversation.
Everyone is welcome whether you've been tying for years or bought your first vise yesterday or are just interested in getting into it.  If you don't tie, as always feel free to come hang out and have a drink and chat with us.  And if the weather is nice enough, a few of us might even meet at a nearby harbor to fish a bit before hand.
Hope to see you there!

April Wrap Up

April Chi- Tie was a great time.  We had a good turn out and a bunch of new faces.  Besides the usual beer, tying and fishy conversation we also had Will Winans of Big River Fly Co out to show us a couple of the smallmouth flies he uses down on the Kankakee River.  Will showed us two patterns- the first a deer hair head Skinny Water Baitfish, and the second a sweet little craft fur baitfish. Everyone there got to tie up a couple with Will to help us if needed.
Overall it was a fun night and the best way to ignore the snow that was falling outside! Good drinks, good company, and a couple new flies to add to the arsenal by the end of the night.
Thanks to everyone who came out and thanks especially to Will for joining us, demonstrating some great flies, and letting us in on .  Be sure to check out Will's new guide service on the Kankakee online and on Facebook.
And be sure to mark your calendar for our next meetup on May 12!

Will showing us how it's done

Trimming hair

Finished pattern #1

Finished pattern #2

A stack of bass snacks

Dodging pool cues

Pink

April Meet Up

Here we are again getting ready for another Chi- Tie event.  The weather has finally turned and spring is here.  It's time to finish filling those boxes and get on the water.  Rivers are free (with lower than expected flows) and lakes and ponds are opening up.
Join us Monday April 14th at 6:30pm at Galway Bay for our next get together.  Aside from the usual beer, tying, and fishy conversation we'll also have Will Winans of Big River Fly doing a demo for us.  Besides being a Chi Fly mainstay Will is also a local guy guiding on the Kankakee River just an hour from downtown Chicago.  Will has years of experience with the K3 having grown up on the river and will be showing us how to tie one of his go to smallie patterns.  A little bit of rabbit, a little bit of deer hair, and a whole lot of action.
Hope to see you there!

March Wrap Up

We had another good time at Chi- Tie last week.  A couple tyers, a couple guys hanging out, and a lot of fly fishing talk.  Plans are already being made for fishing trips soon! And of course we had a handful of flies to show for at the end of the night.

Thanks to Ralph Loza and Adam Alexander for snapping some pics of the evening.

Our next meet up will be April 14 and will feature a smallmouth fly demo from Will Winans of Big River Fly Fishing.  Hope to see you there.

Until then, here's a few snaps from this month.  Enjoy and see you next month!

March 10

It's almost March! And time for our next meet up.  Once again we'll meet at Galway Bay (500 W Diversey) on Monday March 10 at 6:30pm.  This month will be another open tie.  So bring your vise, some materials, and join us for a beer or two and keep filling those boxes for the soon to come spring.
Whether you've never tied, or have tied for years, we welcome everyone to come hang out with us and talk about fly fishing and tying.  We hope to see you there!

Upcoming Chicago Events

Here's some upcoming Chicago area events for you to check out as winter (hopefully) comes to an end and spring begins to roll in.

Orvis and Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters are both continuing their tying classes for the next couple months and Orvis will be starting their intro Fly Fishing 101 classes in April and running through June. 

Check their websites for details.

March 1 - The ISA Bronzeback Blowout.  

                 Elmhurst IL

                 Dinner, speakers, raffles, silent                      auction

                 This is a fun event to support a great organization doing a lot of conservation work in the local area.  For more information check out this LINK

March 18- International Fly Fishing Film Festival

              The Star Cinema Grill 

              Arlington Heights, IL

             ATightLoop/Dun and Orvis Chicago bring the IF4 to the Chicago area.  Enjoy an evening of amazing fly fishing films and prizes. This should be a great night. Check out more info HERE and HERE.

               

February Wrap Up

As usual, this month's Chi-Tie was a great time.  A handful of us were able to escape the cold and enjoy a few hours hanging out and tying flies.  The theme quickly turned to working with fox fur when some one showed up and donated a large patch to the group.  Thanks Sean! There were some salty shrimps and a few carp flies tied up this month.
We're looking forward to our next meet on March 10.  Here's hoping for some warmer temperatures and the water starting to open up by then!

Foxy

Foxy Clouser

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