Welcome to The Flybrary! This “index” of fly images, both imitations and eventually naturals, is a long term project that will constantly be growing and morphing. It intends to document the evolution of fly design by individual tyers…. famous, infamous or obscure.

The design of this website is simple – based on taxonomy.  The images are photographed by myself, processed, keyword tagged and categorized.  The keyword tags are initially created by the fly tyer (if alive or available for input), then edited by me, and then built upon by you, the viewer, in the form of comments which I will moderate and subsequently incorporate into the taxonomy.  The title includes the tyer’s name and the title of the fly.  And that’s it.  You can just bounce around and jump on keyword tags, or you can do a formal search of terms and tags.  It’s a real time waster (but also a time saver if you’re looking for something in particular) and hopefully, as it becomes bigger, will become a substantial and reliable fly fishing resource.

Where did the idea come from? Well, years ago, I was cubicle bound from 9-5 and poorly mismanaged by my supervisors.  I spent hours prowling the interwebs looking for fly tying inspiration.  Much was found, but there was a lot left to be desired.  So after some thought, I created what I always wanted:  A place based on solid photography, where my query would deliver many versions of a single “fly design”.  If you will,  not just one “wooly bugger” but 100 “wooly buggers”.  I want to see the modern evolution of a fly.  I want to know how, and by whom a tyer is, or was influenced.  In addition to new designs, I want to see how one tyer interprets an old classic design.  It’s an infinite work.  It will never be complete.

For the most part, The Flybrary is now open source.  It’s free, with no monetary exchange.  However, it requires your participation in the form of tagging info via comments and the submission of your patterns to be photographed by me.  Please see the Contribution Page.  One important thing: All the images are copyrighted and cannot be used in any way without my written permission – period.  Some activities, especially fly tying and photography, are labors of love.  Even though they are enjoyable activities to some, they require skills and hard work. So while I hope you enjoy my photographs, keep in mind that they are my intellectual property and required my hard work to bring them to fruition.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact me at: theflybrarian@theflybrary.com.  My other photography can be seen at www.tcgeist.com.

-Tim Geist / April 2012