Brad Sprinkle's Trash Flies

FlyfishMagazine's friend Brad Sprinkle is famous for re purposing found and abandoned items for fly tying. His website, www.TrashFlies.com has lots of tips for the angler who wants to keep our landfills a bit less crowded while saving a buck or two. Brad also wrote an excellent article for us on the subject. Note the bugger above with a cone head made from a hollow point .177 caliber pellet.

TrashFlies: Sprinkle's Poptart Wrapper Midge

FlyfishMagazine's Editor of fly tying with found items, Brad Sprinkle just sent us this beautiful example of his art.


This is a simple one material fly. It was an idea that came one day when I was waiting for a long while in the Jeep and tying to pass the time. I hadn't taken very many materials and had tied as many as I wanted of what I had planned. I found a Pop Tart wrapper in the floor that my son had finished off earlier. Well what could be done with this thin silver material crossed my mind. Here's what came of it.

Hook: #18 Tiemco Scud
Abdomen: Pop Tart Wrapper cut to thin strips.
Rib: Black tying thread
Head: Black tying thread
Note: All coated with head cement, super glue, or Sally Hansens clear polish.

See Brad's previous article "Trash Flies" to get some insight on his inspiration and what he can do with the stuff most of us throw away.

You can also follow Brad on twitter @teachrtec (also, while you are at it, feel free to follow us as well @flyfishmagazine)

Featured Article: "Tying Trash Flies" by Brad Sprinkle

Brad Sprinkle is a teacher by trade and the Vice President of Asheville, North Carolina's Land O' Sky chapter of Trout Unlimited. Aside from being a skilled angler, Brad has gotten a reputation for tying some snazzy looking flies out of items that other folks might simply toss in the trash. He has been kind enough to share no less than eight of his "trash" patterns in one of this month's featured articles over at FlyfishMagazine.com.

"I found a set of broken headphones left behind in my classroom. My natural curiosity made me cut into them to see the wire. I found out that the wires inside head phones were different colors for each ear. One side was an interesting shade of red. I stripped it out and saved it for the bench."

After you try to guess what sort of everyday garbage the wings of this great looking fly are tied out of, click on over and check out "Trash Flies" by Brad Sprinkle. Follow his advice and you will be tying great looking flies, saving money and the planet, all at the same time.