PHWFF National Fly Tying Contest Closes Soon

Stephen Licata looks up from his vise during a tying session at Rainbow Fly Shop.

Local fly tiers are reaching for their whip finishers and putting the final touches on their entries in Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing’s fifth annual National Fly Tying Competition. Many of the participants in the Greater Kansas City Program of PHWFF will be sending entries to the contest, which closes Sept. 15. All entries must be received by Sept. 22.

At that point, the entries will be judged by a panel of PHWFF volunteers and professional and celebrity fly tiers, who will announce five national finalists in early October. Those finalists will receive expense-paid trips to the International Fly Tying Symposium in November in Lancaster, PA, where the overall winners will be announced.

Each entrant must submit four identical flies, which can be either a popular pattern or an original creation, and the patterns can be Streamers, Dry Flies, Nymphs, Warm Water or Saltwater flies. The entries will be judged on color harmony, scale and proportion, use of materials, technique, proper use of thread, and overall style.

Preparing for his second entry in the Project Healing Waters National Fly Tying Competition, Stephen Licata selected a bead-head nymph pattern. His four identical flies will be judged on color harmony, scale and proportion, use of materials, technique, proper use of thread, and overall style.