Safet Nikocevic was introduced to the wonders of fly fishing and fly tying at a very young age. He grew up in Montenegro (former Yugoslavia) near some of the finest rivers his country had to offer. But, with no fly fishing stores anywhere in his country and no money to buy a vise, Safet began tying at the young age of 10, by hand. Tying materials came in the form of chasing roosters in his village in hopes of getting a perfect feather for his flies, local sheep and anything he could “borrow” from his grandmother’s sewing box. He used whatever he could get his hands on to create the “perfect” productive fly. Those early flies were “crude” in appearance, but worked well on the rivers and streams. It was those early days where “creative” fly tying was a must and ample time on the river helped Safet to evolve into the exceptional fly tier that he is today.
In 1993 Safet decided to leave his native country and move to New York City, where he found full time employment with Steinway and Son’s Piano Company. He was grateful for his position with Steinway, but needed to find an outlet for his fly tying passion. That outlet came in the form of commercially tying for the Urban Angler Store in New York City where he had earlier purchased his fist vise, the Dyne-King Aristocrat #627. He learned how to make flies the “Steinway Quality way” and was grateful for that lesson. His flies were an instant success and many people started ordering directly from him. Safet is still gainfully employed with Steinway and Sons Piano Company and continues to tie flies on his lunch hour for which he has been affectionately dubbed the, “Steinway Piano Fly Tier”.
2010 brought great fly tying opportunities for Safet. He was invited to attend various fly fishing shows and seminars throughout the Northeast where he eagerly shares, with people, his “unique” processes of developing many of the materials he uses and the tricks to tying the flies that he does. People who have seen the quality and realism of his fishing flies have become instant and loyal customers.
Safet creates exceptional flies by creating a lot of the materials he uses and using unconventional tying methods. He uses only the highest quality materials and ties flies specific to some of the finest rivers in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. His flies are creative, very durable and “deadly” effective.
Safet invites you to take a moment to see for yourself what he has to offer and appreciates you taking the time to find out about him and his style of tying.
View Safet's Flies
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