Our first featured fly-tyer is Christian Kirchermeier, who makes his home in Bavaria, in the shadow of the Alps. We wanted to know about his process, his gear, and what first inspired him to start tying.
“I was around 12 years old,” Christian muses, “when I started fly tying. A friend of my father showed me.” Like many, he admits to some frustrations in the early days of his work. “I quit after two years,” he sighs, “after trying to get a handle on it.” Yet the river of a passion has a way of running through a life, sometimes underground, and Christian found himself wading back into fly fishing “a few years ago,” which inspired him to “start tying flies again.” “For me,” he says, “there is nothing better than catching trout on your own flies. I like Parachute Dryflies and Pheasant-tail Nymph patterns, but I have to say, I try to tie as simply as possible with my go-to fishing patterns. On my Instagram page, I have a lot of fun creating and sharing the occasional difficult pattern, but my style of tying is mainly focused on useful, tried-and-true patterns. I want to show people flies that will catch fish.”
When we asked Christian if tying is a hobby or a professional pursuit, he was certain: “Absolutely a hobby! I try to tie some flies four or five days a week, often only two or three flies total.” Like many tyers, he finds that stepping away from the work station makes the return even more pleasurable. “It’s good,” he says, “to come down and rest for a while.”
As for his advice for beginners, Christian recommends “looking for an easier pattern like PTN, Shuttlecock Emerger, or something similar. Keep tying that pattern until you feel confident with it, and you can tie a few in row with consistency. Then you can move on to the next pattern.” What about size? “Start bigger,” he insists, “and go smaller when you have a handle on the pattern.”
Of course, flies are meant to do their work in the water. Christian’s favorite species to fish for is brown trout, and he balances his passion for angling with his love for family. “We have a young daughter now, so fishing time is a bit limited,” he says, “but I try to go two or three times per month, even if I’m only out for a few hours. I have big goals for the future, including catching a 25-inch brown trout, so I’ll have to make the most of my time.”
When asked what rod and reel he favors in his quest for these goals, Christian admits he is “no tackle nerd.” “For me,” he concedes, “rod and reel are tools. Just yesterday, I broke my rod tip, pulled out my scissors, cut off the end, and started fishing again. I build all my rods on my own, most of them on ‘TAC’ or ‘PacBay’ Blanks, but one of my favorite Blanks for Euronymphing is my ‘Adams MAX Evo,’ a pretty young brand from Spain that specializes in Nymphing Rods.” As for reels, Christian’s favorite is “my old-school Danielson DryFly, a reel without a drag.”
Like many fly tyers, Christian is grateful for his sponsors, who “give [him] the opportunity to show [his] hobby to you all and give back a little bit to all.” His first sponsor was www.gofish.it, and his second was GULFF Flyfishing (@gulffflyfishing). “They picked me for their Pro Stuff Team,” he tells us, “so I have the opportunity to work a bit on new stuff for their future program. I’m happy to represent them on social media.”
What does the future hold for Christian? “I always work on my skills,” he says. “I’m never quite content with my flies, as I’m always seeing something that could be done better. For me, the important thing is to never think you’ve mastered it all. Keep pushing your limits.” And that, to us, is the definition of a lifelong passion.
