Hand-Tied by a Kid Who Lives on the Water.
Ferris Meurer is a middle schooler from Mequon, Wisconsin who ties fishing flies the way most kids play video games — seriously, obsessively, and with a level of knowledge that catches most adults off guard.
He grew up on Lake Michigan. Not just near it — on it. He walks the shoreline studying duck and bird migrations, hunting for driftwood pieces worth turning into something, and skipping rocks into the horizon the way kids do when a place feels like home. The lake is woven into everything he makes. His flies are built for the waters he knows: Lake Michigan tributaries, inland lakes, rivers, and streams across Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, and Minnesota.
He learned to tie from his Uncle Jay — a lifelong angler, lifetime member of Trout Unlimited, and someone who has fished alongside the Orvis community. Jay now manages Ole Florida Fly Shop in Boca Raton, where he works with fishing captains and helps customers stay on the bite across ocean and freshwater.
Ferris didn't learn from YouTube. He learned from someone embedded deep in the real fly fishing world, and it shows in every fly he ties.
Every pattern Ferris ties is built around the fish that live in his home waters. His dry flies, nymphs, and emergers target brown trout, brook trout, and rainbow trout on Midwest rivers and streams. His streamer patterns pull smallmouth bass out of rocky structure. His panfish flies work bluegill and perch on inland lakes all season long. And his salmon and steelhead patterns are tied specifically for the Lake Michigan tributary runs that define fall and spring fishing in the region. If you fish the Midwest, there's a Ferris Fly Works pattern built for your water.
His flies are priced for fishermen, not collectors. He wants them on the water — in the hands of anyone who loves to fish, regardless of age or experience. Every hand-tied fly is made one at a time, at his own vise in Mequon.
The mission: if a kid sees a middle schooler running his own fly shop and decides to pick up a rod, that's as much the point as the flies themselves. Getting young anglers on the water is what this is really about.
Custom hand-tied fly orders are filled in the order received, with a 1–2 week lead time. If the pattern you're looking for isn't in the shop — a specific size, color, or species-targeted tie — the Custom Order page is where to start that conversation.
Hand-Tied by a Kid Who Lives on the Water.
Behind the Vise
Ferris at work tying custom flies and foraging along the Wisconsin shoreline
The Elk Hair Caddis, tied for local hatches.
The shoreline that inspires the brand.
Ferris at the vise, Lake Michigan studio.
Sourcing only the finest materials for every pattern.