The Vise

The Vise — Fly Tying Recipes

The ultimate fly-tying reference for trout, salmon, and saltwater anglers. Expertly curated fly recipes at your fingertips.

The Vise is the ultimate fly-tying reference for trout, salmon, and saltwater anglers. Whether you're sitting at the vise for the first time or adding a new pattern to your repertoire, The Vise puts 109 expertly curated fly recipes at your fingertips — every material, every step, every hook spec.

Browse a Complete Pattern Library Explore nymphs, dry flies, streamers, attractors, Tenkara flies, and saltwater/flats patterns tied for trout, salmon, bonefish, permit, tarpon, and redfish. Each pattern includes a full materials list, step-by-step tying instructions, hook specifications, a suggested hook type, difficulty rating, best season, ideal water type, and a color illustration of the finished fly.

Find What You Need Fast Filter by fish target (Trout, Salmon, Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon, Redfish) and fly category (Nymph, Dry Fly, Streamer, Attractor, Saltwater/Flats, Tenkara). Search by pattern name or material to zero in on exactly what you're looking for.

What Can I Tie? Tell The Vise which materials you already have in your kit and it instantly shows every pattern you can tie with what's on hand — so you can sit down and tie without a shopping trip.

Hook Size Finder Not sure what size a bare hook is? Lay it against your screen and match it across dry fly, nymph, streamer, and wet/scud families, in barbed or barbless. The app remembers your barbed/barbless preference.

Save Your Favorites Mark the patterns you tie most often and reach them instantly from the Saved tab — no searching required.

Identify a Fly Not sure what's in your fly box? Snap a photo and The Vise's AI matches it against the pattern library, comparing hook profile, body silhouette, wing shape, and color. (Identify uploads your photo to our service for AI analysis and needs an internet connection — see Privacy.)

Print Tying Guides Generate a print-ready tying guide for any pattern — materials checklist, numbered steps, hook details, and an image of the finished fly. Perfect for the vise or a day at the fly shop.

Three Languages Use The Vise in English, Spanish, or Japanese — patterns, instructions, and tools are fully translated.

Works Offline — No Account Required Browse patterns, save favorites, use the tools, and print guides with no account and no connection. Your favorites are stored locally on your device and never leave it. The only feature that needs a connection is Identify, which uploads your photo for AI analysis.

Patterns include classics like the Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail Nymph, Elk Hair Caddis, Adams, Woolly Bugger, and Muddler Minnow; iconic salmon flies like the Jock Scott, Silver Doctor, and Durham Ranger; and saltwater staples like Lefty's Deceiver, the Crazy Charlie, and Del Brown's Merkin — plus dozens more.

Privacy Camera and photo access is used only for Identify. Your photo is sent securely to our service, compared against the 109 built-in patterns by an AI vision model, and used only to return a match — it is not saved to your device or stored in our database. You can revoke the permission in device Settings anytime without affecting the rest of the app. We do not require an account, do not sell your data, and include no analytics or tracking.