Wanting to tie flys

[sprintcar13]

Hello I am wondering if you guys know of any good fly tieing kits out there that would suit somone that has had no experiance in tieing flys. Heres the only catch im only 14 so I am on a very tight budget. Also what kinds of materials books extra tools ect will i be needing?

Thank you in advance

[TheShadKing]

Hello I am wondering if you guys know of any good fly tieing kits out there that would suit somone that has had no experiance in tieing flys.

I'm basically headed out the door and won't have email access and then I'm in the hospital (so maybe I'll have net access and time, but maybe not) but I have the following comments:

I wouldn't buy a kit, because most kits I've seen come with iffy materials, and virtually all of them will overload you with material types ... but don't give you enough material for the flies you'll actually tie. So you've got all this stuff you need to keep track of, but you've only got enough to tie a half-dozen PT nymphs or woolly buggers ... not what you want if you're on a budget.

Start by going to your library and getting a book on fly tying. There's a bunch of good modern books. Read it, and get a sense of a few flies you really want to try tying. I'd personally suggest:

* woolly bugger
* soft hackle
* parachute Adams

I'd buy the cheapest vise you can find locally ... ask at the shop if they've got an old vise kicking about, or know someone that wants to turn one over.

At the same time, buy hooks and materials to tie a few dozen of each of the above flies in sizes 4-10 in the woolly bugger and 14-18 in the soft hackle and parachute Adams.

If the local shop won't help you with the above, go to the next closest local shop. It'll help if you call them in advance to know when a good off-hour, but you obviously may be constrained for transportation.

Start with one fly pattern, and work that pattern from the large hook size down to the small size. When you get bored, try a different pattern. But whatever you do, don't try to tie the small sizes first!

Best of luck!


Rolland

[sprintcar13]

thank you i will give that a try

[Jake Bannon]

Even though Im only 15 I had started tying flies since last October and believe me, every time you go to the store just buy 20$ worth of new materials and it will add up over time. But for now just buy your basic stuff, marabough (black, olive, purple) they are all good trout colors and Id buy the same color in hackle. As for hooks when I began tying I just bought a 50 pack of mustads for like 4$ in size 6 for your basic trout flies. Im not really sure what your into fishing for but Id just buy the basic stuff (marabough, hackle, bead heads, hooks, chenielle...). Good Luck!


-Jake

[Josh Root]

Sprint,

You might reach out to a couple of the guys on the board who are here in Bellingham. You might be able to convince them to spend an afternoon showing you a few basic flies.

I'd offer to help myself, but I know virtually nothing about tying flies. I can hardly tie my shoes half the time.

[Loopy]

Hello I am wondering if you guys know of any good fly tieing kits out there that would suit somone that has had no experiance in tieing flys. Heres the only catch im only 14 so I am on a very tight budget.

You can use wool from old jumpers for body material, feathers can be picked up on the riverbank. Copper wire for ribbing can be had from old electrical equipment. And if you are not too squeamish roadkills offer a variety if useful items as long as they are sterilised.
Wish I was 14 again.
;)

[Terry Bare]

I think that you have a fly fishing club up in Bellingham too. It would be good to get in with them. It is a good source of knowledge.

[kodiaksalmon]

Meh, I think I'd skip the roadkill! Plus, it's illegal to pick up roadkill in alot of states. :hmmm:

Don't just walk into a flyshop and start picking up materials you think you might need. Do this, and you'll end up with a bag full of unassociated materials, and be left needing one or two additional materials to get a fly tied.

Rather, pick a specific fly or two-say a wooly bugger and a Clouser Minnow. Write down the materials requred for each, and then go get 'em. Better yet, do a bugger and a Deciever, and you can use the same hackle on each. Or do a Deceiver and a Clouser, and you can tie both with the same bucktail. See what I mean? Plus, all three of these are easy to tie, and are very versatile to fish. My first fly was a Deceiver.

For vises and the such, get the best vise you can afford. It'll pay off end the end. And look for suitable replacements where you can. You can make a whip finisher from a paperclip, a bodkin from a regular old sewing needle, a hair stacker from a film cannister and so on. It's nice to have those things in proper form, but to get by on a budget, you can use the substitutes until later on.

Jeff

[sprintcar13]

thank you and the road kill did scare me a bit. But its alrite.

[kodiaksalmon]

Yeah, roadkill is often more trouble than it's worth.

I won't lie to you though, I once saw a guy swerve to actually hit a turkey on the side of the road. He hit it and kept on going. I went back to make sure it was dead and not laying there suffering. Well it was dead as a door nail....been dead for about two minutes....in one piece.....remote country road.....didn't want it to senselessly go to waste.....yeah I took it home and ate it!

Beyond that though, I'd not deal with roadkill. But that is just me. I know a guy who has a roadkill permit to gather it to feed his (legally-owned) mountain lion and bobcat.

Jeff

[Les Johnson]

Most fly fishing shops have winter fly-tying classes; contact one near you. Also Washingon Fly Fish Club offers a class (Check the web site for details). My grandfather Ed and my uncles all tied trout flies but it was a pretty simple game in those days when I learned from them (late 1940s-1950s with time out for a stint in the USMC). Later I purchased a little book titled, "Family Circle's Guide to Trout Flies" (1961), which I still have. All of the flies and materials are beautifully illustrated in full color with tools photgraphed in b&w. It includes a chapter on how to tie a fly. There were a lot of us who relied on it, along with "Tie Your Own Flies" by Roy Patrick. A good book like this will will really help if you choose not to take lessons. There are a lot of contemporary books that offer similar information. The one I mention is long since out of print. I use it as an example only.
Good Tying,
Les Johnson

[Josh Root]

Most fly fishing shops have winter fly-tying classes; contact one near you.

All of the suggestions about visiting the local fly shop are pretty useless for a kid without a drivers license in Bellingham. Last winter, H&H would have been a solution to the problem. But the closest place now is either Mill Creek or up in Vancouver.

[sprintcar13]

no kidding i can litterally ride my bike to were h&h was.

[FT]

Sportsmens Warehouse in Burlington has a great selection of tying materials, hooks, and tools. Plus it is a lot closer than Mill Creek for you. The downside to the Burlington Sportsmens Warehouse, they don't have folks working there who no about fly tying.

I've written this many times and have told several hundred people this over the last 30 years: Never buy a fly tying kit unless it has been custom made for you and includes the materials for not more than 3 or 4 different fly patterns. Otherwise, you will waste your money on stuff you will never use.

I know this is going to go against something that another person has posted, and I have posted it before, but it needs repeating. The most important tool for fly tying is the vise! Therefore, avoid the cheapo's like the plague! The cheapo vises are poor quality, don't hold hooks well (the jaws are either too hard or not hard enough and are often misaligned too), don't hold up over time (many break or quit working to any acceptable degree after a year or less), and are really false economy.

A good vise doesn't have to cost a fortune! Griffin makes several, such as the Griffin Model 1A that sells for about $40.00 new, and the Griffin Model 2A (a bigger version of the 1A) with a little more versitility, it sells for about $50.00. Thompson has the Model A, which is the original draw collar, cam vise first made back in the late 1800's, that sells for about $55.00 and the Thompson Pro (a slightly smaller version of the Model A) that sells for about $40.00. These Griffin and Thompson vises are some of the best built and have excellent hook holding, well-made jaws. They also last a long time and if something should break on one, replacement parts are readily available, but unless you tie thousands of flies/year, you will not wear one of them out.

Griffin also offers a complete fly tying tool kit based around either the Model 1A or Model 2A vise at a very reasonable price (under $70.00). The Griffin Tool Kit has very good scissors (these are the second most important tool after the vise), a very good bobbin (it hold the thread as you tie), a good whip finisher (used to tie off the fly after it is tied), a hair stacker (you will use this as you gain tying technique for hair winged dries), a bodkin (used to put cement on the fly), and a bobbin threader (it makes putting thread in a bobbin's tube easy).

And as a few other have mentioned, only buy the materials needed to tie between 1 and 3 different fly patterns. This will keep you from buying stuff you don't need and help keep the money you spend on tying way down. Only buy new material as you need it for another pattern you wish to add to what you are fishing.

And above all, when you start tying, tie at least 6 of any given fly pattern in the same size before you move to either a different fly or a different pattern. This will shorten the learning curve, you will see the improvement in fly quality from the first one to the 6th one as you do so, and keep you focused on a result that will be useful (i.e. flies to fish with in enough quantity to not worry about losing a few when fishing). I am aware that many disagree with me on this, but everyone of the hundreds I've taught fly tying to over the last 30 years who have tied at least 6 of any fly and size before moving to another one, learned good technique far faster and produced far better flies in less time than those that jumped around from pattern to pattern after tying only 1 or 2.

[Les Johnson]

Maybe you can get a ride to and from four once-a-week fly tying classes. Classes would help.
Les

[TheShadKing]

I know this is going to go against something that another person has posted, and I have posted it before, but it needs repeating. The most important tool for fly tying is the vise! Therefore, avoid the cheapo's like the plague! The cheapo vises are poor quality, don't hold hooks well (the jaws are either too hard or not hard enough and are often misaligned too), don't hold up over time (many break or quit working to any acceptable degree after a year or less), and are really false economy.

A good vise doesn't have to cost a fortune! Griffin makes several, such as the Griffin Model 1A that sells for about $40.00 new, and the Griffin Model 2A (a bigger version of the 1A) with a little more versitility, it sells for about $50.00. Thompson has the Model A, which is the original draw collar, cam vise first made back in the late 1800's, that sells for about $55.00 and the Thompson Pro (a slightly smaller version of the Model A) that sells for about $40.00. These Griffin and Thompson vises are some of the best built and have excellent hook holding, well-made jaws. They also last a long time and if something should break on one, replacement parts are readily available, but unless you tie thousands of flies/year, you will not wear one of them out.

Well, if I was the guy with whom you were disagreeing, I think we actually agree completely. I do apologize for not being anywhere near as specific as FT in terms of vise selection ... but what he described is what I had in mind. The other brand I'd mention is Integra. It's a knock-off brand, and only somewhat cheaper than the ones that FT mentions. However, I know a number of very good tiers who used it for tying flies in their early days.

I was thinking of the Integra brand specifically, and the ones FT mentioned generally, in contrast with the ones that are 2x to 5x the prices of the vises FT listed..

FT's other comments on working on one pattern ... a half dozen flies or more in a few sizes, larger sizes first ... also lines up with my experience.


Rolland

[Tim Garton]

how much you looking to spend? I work with a guy who's looking to get out of tying and he's mentioned it to me on several occasions. I think he probably has some good stuff... interested? I'll ask what he's asking (including my middlemans fee ;o)

[sprintcar13]

yeah i dont have much but ask him

[mozart]

You can get cheap vises at either Basspro, Cabelas, or eBay for under $25 shipped. Then head to Yeagers or Joes for some material. From what I heard, Yeagers bought out a lot of H&H's products and has them discounted up to fifty percent. There's not much but there's some olive and black dubbing for cheap.

[Tim Garton]

So, I talked to my co-worker and, I know nothing about tying flies but he said he had alot of stuff (vise and materiels) and wanted $400 for it. Said the vise alone was $200. Anyway, sounds pricy to me. Let me know if you are interested.

[sprintcar13]

no i just cant come up with that much cash. thank you though!

[Gary Thompson]

Cash is a problem for all of us when we were starting out.
I have an old vise I would give you, but it isn't worth the cost of shipping.
I also would be happy to teach, but again the cost to get from Wenatchee to you.
Christmas is coming up so ask Santa for some tying stuff.
My mom got me my first kit, that I passed down to a good kid.
My mother in law got me my second kit. I have since replaced all the cheap stuff, (vise, bobbin, etc.)
Kits are mostly worthless unless you spent big bucks on them.
Check for close outs at the big box sporting goods stores (online) you will find good stuff cheaper.
Remember you crawled first, then walked (fell down a lot) then learned to run.
Life takes time.
If ya get over this way stop in and say Hi.

[Les Johnson]

It isn't long until Christmas, a great time to get the list out to all the family and extended family. I would steer clear of a kit as they usually are stuffed with a whole lot of feathers that don't do much for us out in the Pacific Northwest. There are excellent material lists in some of the contemporary fly tying books. Perhaps you could ask for a gift certificate or two for stocking your feathers, fur and hooks. Just a thought. I still believe that the lessons would be of great value if you can arrange travel.
Les
Les Johnson