I tied it and I liked it!

After several years of "thinking" about trying fly tying, I finally gave in and got a beginner's kit and some supplies to tie up a few flies. I started off with the simple san juan worm and plan to move on to the next level with a woolly bugger in the next few days. Many thanks to the fine folks on this forum for the "how to" tips and website links. I've subscribed to "In the Riffle" and several other you tube fly tying video sites. I think I like watching the videos almost as much as tying. I'm excited about learning to tie my own flies in the colors and sizes I prefer for fishing Texas and Colorado. I now have to think twice before passing up the opportunity to scavange fur off of road kill.

It's too late for you old son, too late

Super cool! Congrat.

And, open wide! I do mean your wallet.

Try Hook-Line & Sinker's beginner Froggy tie. Extremely simple foam frog popper tie that has been extremely effective catching bass for me this year.

Welcome to our world fishr3.............and keep your wallet open......ha ha
Mike

Yes! WIDE open. Welcome to the addiction. We should have weekly meetings.

So tying your own flies is not a money saving option? Just like, catching fish for food never seems to save me money.

No! It's a money spending option, But very rewarding!

No, you will not save money tying flies, with a few exceptions to be noted later. However!, lol
What you can do is kinda spread it out a bit.
Instead of having to say, "Honey, I need to buy another 3 dozen flies for $45.", you can instead say, "Honey, I'm going to spend $50 for a bunch of stuff to tie flies with. That way I won't have to buy flies all of the time." You can also sneak....uh do the shopping at Walmart and make a turn thru the aisle where they keep all of the craft stuff for foam and any other goodies that may catch your eye. (Stay away from beading wire, unless you tye a LOT of 3/0 flies.) You can also score points with the missus by agreeing, reluctantly, to accompany her to Michaels', Jo-Anns', or Hobby Lobby, therein to score rabbit skins, Peacock eye sticks, various paints with which to make eyes and such.
Starting to see a trend, here?

Now, about those guys that save money by tying their own flies.....they are SICK! No, wait, that wasn't my point. What was my point?.......
.....
.....
Oh, yeah! If you only tie a limited selection of flies, and only buy materials that will tie those flies, you can save. Eventually. You still have to pay off the vice and tools and materials first.

Good luck, and welcome to the madness. It really is a lot of fun to tie your own, and fish with them. I already have WAY more than I can ever, or will ever fish with. I have been tying for about 6 years. I could stop tying now and probably never run out of flies.
But I won't.

Kirk

Well said!

Wait! What??

We're supposed to be saving money by tying our own flies??

Why didn't someone tell me this sooner? I've been doing it all wrong!!!

My starter kit with vise and tools plus beginners materials cost me about $70. I figure I need to tie up about 35 flies to break even, but I probably won't use or lose 35 flies before my fishing days are ended. At this point, it's still an inexpensive hobby when compared to my other fishing gear. Anyway, I tied up a batch of "ugly Betty" woolly buggers today with varied results. I learned how to do a hackle haircut. I also discovered I need to open the wallet again to get a magnifying lamp so I can actually see the thread and feathers as they are applied.

Don't let our comments get to you. You are off to a great start. Before you know it, you'll have a dozen plastic storage containers full of materials like the rest of us. However, you still won't have everything you need to tie the fly you want to tie.


Here's a quick suggestion that will make tying a little easier. Your vise jaws are upside down. If you rotate them so that the angled part of the tip is on bottom, you will have easier access to the gap between the hook point and the hook shank.

Also, your hooks are a set little bit too deep in the vise jaws. If you will pull the hook out a little and just hold the bend of the hook with the vise jaws you will have better access to tie the materials to the hook. Yes, the hook point will be exposed and you will learn to be careful not to poke yourself while tying. But, placing the hook this way does make tying easier, especially with smaller hooks.

I don't have a very good picture of a fly in a vise currently uploaded, but this one shows how the hook is placed in the vise with the point exposed. I'll try to find a better picture that shows hook placement.




One last tip and I'll shut up. I have found that good, bright lighting is more important than magnification when I'm tying.

Thanks for the tips on hook and vise orientation. I received some good pictorial instructions for the fly tying materials, but the tools and vise didn't include any vise setup instructions. I'll bet the vise holds the hook a lot better right side up.
I already poked a hole in my thumb, so I have a new respect for the exposed hook point.

So what's the coiled spring thing on the vice?

The spring is often called a "materials clip". The idea is that you can use it to hold materials out of the way as you add them to the hook.

I never use the springs, but some folks can't live without them.

It's an ugly picture, but it illustrates Rex's point.
The jaws are a little different, since it's a Danvice instead of a Thompson, but the principle still holds.


I use the material clip all of the time. It helps keep ribbing, long feathers and other such out of the path of the bobbin holder. It's annoying when the bobbin spins and tangles up with whatever is hanging down. It's also handy when using a rotary vise.
As far as poking holes in your digits, keep in mind that some streams have rules against using artificial scents and flavors on flies....

Kirk

Great foam, there Rex. Reminds me of Big Dale's Psychedelic Foam. Do you have a source for that?

Kirk

Thanks Kirk, the foam came from Hobby Lobby. It does make for some fun flies.

I'm still listening and taking notes.
Work in good lighting.
Shop for materials at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Jo Ann Fabrics, etc.
Ask Santa for a Danvise or other rotary vise.
Don't bleed on flies.

It looks like you are doing good at this. Just take your time. Remember that you aren't tying against a clock.
Take the time to do it right. Only perfect practice makes perfect. Once the skills are there, the speed will come.
Well, usually, lol. It still takes me a while to tie even simple flies, but I'm easil....Ohhhh, shiny!


My goodness at the cliches. But it's all true. You'll be tying stuff you wouldn't believe in no time.

Kirk

I gOttlite and it makes a huge difference. All Ottlite products were %50 off at JoAnn fabrics.

I buy my foam at Hobby Lobby as well. Silly Winks brand in about 3 or 4 different thicknesses. The bigger the foam froggy popper the thicker the foam needed.

Good choice! Many of us use them too.

Do you need fly hooks? Trout Line online shop have top quality fly tying hooks made by Maruto Dohitomi Japan and Daiichi Fly Hooks Japan and a great range of barbless hooks for competition.
Please click here:
http://www.troutline.ro/flytying/fly-hooks.html

I noticed that when I went to my first fly tying deal. So what did I do....headed to Michaels and picked up one for $25 on sale! You don't realize what you are missing until you turn it on.

A good neutral background helps, too. One like fishr3's would be good. A matte medium color like a gray is real good.

Kirk

So I tied some San Juan worms, wooly buggers, and fur ants using the tools, materials, and instructions from the beginner kit, but I just didn't have the patience to continue tying the other beginner fly patterns. I moved on to tying what I really wanted, big marabou "shad like" streamers/buggers for bass. I also upgraded to an Anvil Apex vise and I like it even more. I seem to learn something new with each fly.

cool.

That there is what it's all about.

Well, that and having fun! (Thanks, Big Dale)

Good job on the flies. I wouldn't have a problem fishing any of them. and catching!

Kirk

Well, it looks like you are past the point of no return. Like it or not, you're one of us now...

Have fun playing with different styles of flies, you'll learn new techniques with each of them.

If you want to try something else with the flies you've posted, try adding a chennile body similar to that of a Wooly Bugger, but use the sparkley style chennile (i.e. Estez, Cactus, etc. brand names.) I use white and pearl colored bodies a lot in my shad flies, the bass and Stripers seem to love it.

Adding a chennile body helps produce a more tapered look to the fly from head to tail when it gets wet. Not sure if the fish really care, but they will eat them.

Keep having fun!

I actually used small pearl chenille but it's a bit too small for the #6 hook. Think I'll get a medium size chenille for the larger hooks. I'm also planning to buy some sparkley and shiny materials to make crystal buggers, but I need to spread out the purchases over time. I definitely like the fly patterns that imitate shad or shiner.

Well done fishr3!!!! Looks like you have the gift, those are extremely well tied files.

Tied up some bead head buggers and a couple more barbell eyed buggers with medium chenille. Now it's time to get out and do some field testing.

check out the book how to tie better flys. i found one at half price books. never mind don't start with the book yet there almost as bad as collecting feathers and threads. it never ends. also try looking for fly tying material lots on ebay. ive gotten great random stuff from getting cheep lots.