One of our passions is sharing our enjoyment of fly tying and fly fishing through our presentation and the hosted trips and classes we offer. Al has been teaching classes and offering lessons in fly tying since 2001. He has taught many classes for fly shops in Colorado and Michigan as well as shows in the US and Canada. He has offered lessons for individuals and small groups at his home. Standard classes Al currently offers are “Introduction to Fly Tying” and “Foundations.” In addition, Al will work with fly shops, organizations, individuals or groups to put together classes to specifically fit your needs. Examples could be Solving a Specific Problem, addressing a problem you’re having or learning specific techniques to handle certain Materials. Matching a Hatch, learning patterns for specific hatches you encounter frequently. Life Cycle classes, learning to tie the various stages of a bug as it progresses through it’s life cycle. Specific Fly Styles, maybe you would like to focus on dry flies, jig flies, tube flies or some other style. Al has experience tying and teaching many types of flies such as panfish, trout, steelhead, pacific salmon and saltwater if you want a class on flies for a destination trip you have planned. If you’re interested in getting into fly tying, or upping your game, please contact Al at al@alritt.flies.com so we can discuss the right class for you.
Standard Classes:
Introduction to Fly Tying – Learn the basics while tying the Woolly Bugger, Zebra Midge, Jigged Hare’s Ear, Frenchie, Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, Chubby Chernobyl and Foam Back Humpy. The class is 5 sessions, each session is planned for about 2 hours. Cost of the class is $150 per person or $125 per person for groups of 3 or more (up to 6).
Foundations – In this class we concentrate more on the techniques for building flies and understanding tools and materials. While tying flies is a tool for learning the skills of fly tying, the goal is for each student to leave with the ability to understand and apply these techniques and their understanding of tools and materials to be able to tie patterns they encounter outside of class in addition to the patterns we use in class. This class is 6 sessions, each session is planned for about 2 hours. Cost of the class is $250 per person or $210 per person for groups of 3 or more (up to 6).