Published Sep 3. 2019 - 4 years ago
Updated or edited Nov 15. 2020

These videos will make you a better fly tyer

Renowned fly tyer and tying instructor Wayne Luallen presents a series of short videos, which will help you become a much better fly-tyer.

Back in December 2018 I received an email from Wayne Luallen, a well known and respected US fly tyer and instructor, and a contributor to this site on several occasions.
He wrote this among other things:

Many of the things that I write about would often better be demonstrated than just written about, or perhaps a combination of both video and written word together would be the best way to make the information most understandable.
Runar has some experience with video, video editing, and web pages, but I know of no one more experienced in websites of the sort of thing I am thinking of than you. Would you be willing to get into a discussion with us on directions to take with this? I am not thrilled about opening and maintaining a website myself. That seems far more than I want to undertake. Might we consider piggybacking the things I want to share through you on the Global FlyFisher?
They would be progressively added over time since I have done nary a video yet. With hope they would be all in one location to more easily access them under a specific title or heading.
I have several ideas and Runar has many times more, but we solicit your input and if agreeable your assistance.
Please let us know if this would be at all of interest and then we can all discuss this in more detail.
Thanks,
Wayne

The Runar mentioned in the mail is Norwegian tyer, author and publisher Runar Warhuus.

Wayne Luallen teaching
Wayne Luallen at the water
Wayne Luallen
Wayne Luallen - Runar Warhuus
Blue Charm variant
Runar Warhuus
Runar Warhuus
Runar Warhuus
The cutting room
The cutting room
Martin Joergensen

Wayne’s World

I immediately replied that I’d be more than interested, and in the following weeks the three of us exchanged ideas and started shaping what would become “Wayne's Tying Tips” or a little more formally: “Wayne Luallen's Tying Tips”. I have to confess that I at one time suggested that we call it “Wayne’s World”, but in the end we decided on being a little more serious.
We basically agreed on a form and style and started juggling videos back and forth over the Atlantic. Wayne’s experiences with filming fly-tying was limited, but he soon became very proficient in the art. His tying skills are world class, and his verbal instructions as good as they come, honed by many years of teaching classes and giving instructions, so once the video setup was in place, the videos came out really nice.

I immediately replied that I’d be more than interested

All tips
More than 50
A lot of videos
Martin Joergensen

Production

As those of you who make videos know, it’s not trivial to produce good video. Some tyers simply set up a camera or phone, film what’s going on in its entirety and upload the whole thing to YouTube.
We didn’t want to do that. We wanted a little production quality and consistency, and we wanted edited videos, where the important sequences were in focus (both literally and figuratively) and where trivial or repetitive stuff was edited out.
It became my task to edit the videos and upload them while Wayne was the one to do the actual recording. Since we are spread out over the globe – or at least on each side of the Atlantic – this is a completely virtual cooperation, taking place via Skype, emails, Dropbox, Google Drive and such digital channels.

An endless array of subjects

Wayne’s idea was to break the mold for the typical fly tying video where a fly is tied from start to finish, sometimes with proper instructions on the steps, sometimes a little incoherent and confusing and even erroneous, and sometimes simply a fly being tied, no instructions, no comments and no real base for learning the ropes of proper fly-tying unless you already know how.
Wayne wanted each video to focus on a specific tying technique, a tool or a material, and concentrate on that in a short and precise form. He had a list of subjects, amassed from his numerous demos and classes, and there was no shortage of potential content.
The videos would also serve as a support for him in his classes, where he would be able to bring them up on a large screen and show them to his students, giving them all a good view of how to perform a certain step or technique.
Right now there’s more than 50 videos in the series, and more have already been recorded and just need to be edited and uploaded. We have more ideas and may very well continue the spree and add many more videos, and Wayne and Runar have both aired the idea of doing full flies using the techniques demonstrated.

Wayne's goal

This is how Wayne himself describes the purpose of the videos:

My primary goal with these videos will be to stimulate fly tying curiosity and open the viewer's mind to ideas (with hope some that are new) that will result in the ability to tie superior flies. Emphasis will rarely be about fly pattern, but a great deal of emphasis will be directed toward an understanding of "how" and "why." Why does this material respond as it does?

Why did the thread do that? How do I achieve the result I want? Can I achieve the result I want with this material or is another material besides what most consider to the "norm" by its nature superior for this this application?
Obviously not every technique in fly tying could possibly be covered, so my intention is for viewers to not only explore a variety of techniques
(perhaps some of which new to them,) but more importantly it is hoped that they will develop further than ever before a desire to explore the "nature" of the myriad of tying materials available to us, both natural and synthetic. Without doubt that knowledge will lead to superior techniques.

Additionally there will be an associated freedom for the materials to perform for the tier rather than the tier forcing those materials to do what may be unnatural to them. That along with understanding and controlling the application of thread in ways that may not previously have been considered will undoubtedly lead to superior flies in design, function, and durability.

Wayne's World
Wayne's World
Martin Joergensen

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Comments

thanks!...

what a fantastic resource for novice (and experienced) fly tyers, thanks a lot for all the effort you've clearly invested in planning, shooting, editing and publishing these videos. kind regards from the Netherlands, Onno

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