Skip Morris's

Trout–Fly Proportion Chart





Skip Morris Fly Proportion Chart The first page of Skip Morris's Trout-Fly Proportion Chart



Flies with good proportions not only look handsome,

they convince trout, hook them solidly, and, best of all, bring them to net



Flies with good proportions—wings and tails of proper length, hackle fibers neither overlong nor stubby, a body of suitable length to balance the look of the fly, and much more—not only look handsome, they convince trout, hook them solidly, and, best of all, bring them to net. A fly with bad proportions? A fly like that won’t look like the bug it’s supposed to suggest and therefore won’t fool trout, it won’t sit on the water in the right posture (which also won’t fool trout), won’t hook trout solidly, and consequently too many of the trout it does hook never see the net.




"After a few decades . . . he settled on the proportions presented in this chart."




Skip figured all that out by growing up tying flies and fishing the flies he tied—real on–the–water experience. He read many books on tying, experimented to determine where a wing is best mounted on a parachute fly and how long to make the hackle on a soft–hackled fly and much more. After a few decades of measuring the proportions of flies appearing in magazines and books and tied by the experts and of striving to find balance in the materials that go into each type of trout fly, he settled on the proportions presented in this chart.

For twenty years, Skip Morris's Fly Proportion Chart was printed and distributed by Frank Amato Publications. When it went out of print, Skip started seeing the same question in emails and hearing it at the fly clubs and fly–fishing expos where he spoke:

“When is your fly–proportion chart coming back into print?”

So, Skip redid the whole chart, made it bigger and easier to read and to understand, and adjusted the proportions by what he’d learned about tying flies over the two decades since the Amato version had come out.

And, dropped the price, drastically: from $3.95 to . . . free.



Just print one out, no charge. Yours to enjoy.



Fly proportions do matter—poor proportions make flies ugly and ineffective; good proportions make flies elegant and deadly. Follow the chart and the flies you tie will be of the latter kind.




This handy three-page guide will make fly proportions easy to understand.




Are you ready to tie better-looking, more-effective flies?





This three-page trout–fly proportion chart :

  • is full of information on the nine most common trout–fly styles and their proportions

  • is 8.5 x 11 inches

  • has color photographs of each fly style

  • has black and white illustrations

  • COST : FREE (print the chart by pressing on button below)









Click here to hear Skip's interviews on popular podcasts...


Click here to hear Carol's interview on photography
(How to Capture What You See) on AskAboutFlyFishing.com...


*Announcements*



Skip has an essay in Big Sky Journal's annual Fly Fishing issue, called "Montana Hoppers: the Princess and the Brute" released February 1, 2023. Skip rewrote it a bit; I painted and illustrated it here, on our website. Here's the link on our web page to check it out:


Click here to read Skip's essay Montana Hoppers: The Princess and the Brute...



Skip's latest books:

Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them, is now available on Amazon as an ebook...check it out! Click on the links below to go to the information page on Top 12 Dry Flies (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page...)


Click here to get more information about

Top 12 Dry Flies for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page)...

Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them, 2nd Edition, originally published as an e-book only, is now available on Amazon as a paperback...check it out! Click on the links below to go to the information page on Top 12 Nymphs (the link to Amazon is at the bottom of the page...)

Click here to get more information about

Top 12 Nymphs for Trout Streams: How, When, and Where to Fish Them (2nd Edition). . .



Click here to get more information about Skip's e-book,

500 Trout Streams...

Skip's latest paperback book:

Click here to get more information about Skip's latest book,

365 Tips for Trout, Bass, and Panfish...



Print Skip's chart for FREE:

Skip Morris's Trout-Fly Proportion Chart

Go to Skip Morris's Trout Fly Proportion Chart






Skip's Predator is available to buy...

Skip's ultra-popular Predator—a hit fly for bluegills and other panfishes and largemouth bass (also catches smallmouth bass and trout)—is being tied commercially by the Solitude Fly Company.

Skip Morris's Predator

The Predator


CLICK HERE to learn more about or to purchase the Predator...






Learn to Tie Skip's Predator

Do you want to tie the Predator?

Skip Morris's Predator

Tying the Predator

Skip shows you how to tie it on his YouTube Channel link, listed below:

CLICK HERE to see Skip's detailed video on how to tie the Predator...