So I am planning on trying a little fly fishing this year at the ponds for bass and bluegill / sunfish. And my question is about flies. Where do you buy them at (if so) and/or do you find it much cheaper to just make your own. I figure at first I will be buying them as I have no clue how to tie. Just wondering where to get a good deal and some suggestions on what to get. Thanks for any help PM is you like.

there are many places to purchase good quality flies. Firstly I would look to a local fly shop if you have one and ask their advise as to patterns etc. Don't go for the flies you often see advertised at 50cents each!
Next best thing is to learn to tie your own it will bring a different perspective to your fishing to make a fly yourself and catch with it
Have fun

Mike

first of all I never saved a dime tying my own flies. Fly tying is addictive; it is a fun hobby in itself but you'll spend more money on materials than you'll ever spend on finished flies. I tie and sell enough flies to buy my hooks but when you add up all the material cost, vise, tools, etc. it gets expensive. That being said, fly tying is just one of many different facets of fly fishing. Catching fish with a fly you tied is a fun experience. Experimenting with different patterns; changing the pattern to solve some particular problem; coming up with a unique fly pattern, etc., etc. just adds to the fun of fly fishing. Chefmike, me, and a bunch of others on here can fix you up with some starter flies; especially flies that are commonly used in our area. At some point you will start tying as it is a natural follow-up in the fly fishing game; it fills in those cold, windy or hot days when you can't/shouldn't go fishing and adds to the fun. That's my take on it-p-

Ok thanks for the advice would I be ok buying flies from bass pro or cabelad to get started? And which ones should I get just to get me started?

Very well stated, Pearow. Don't look at tying flies as a means to fly fish. It is a separate hobby, with its own equipment and time requirements.

As for flies, look at poppers, clouser minnows, and briminators. If you can't catch a pond fish with one of those three you are probably doing it wrong.

Your location shows Lake Lavon, so I'm assuming you're in the Dallas area.

Local shops with flies include Tailwater's, Barlow's, Cabela's, Bass Pro, and the Orvis shops. And as mentioned several people on this board sell flies. The smaller, size 8 and 10, balsa wood poppers are often available at Walmart and Academy.

You asked about Cabela's and Bass Pro. They sometimes have flies for ridiculously low prices and other times their prices seem to be on the high side. Shop carefully and you can find some good deals.

Another option is to stop by Cabela's or Bass Pro on Wed evenings or Saturday mornings and visit with the folks that are there tying flies. You can learn a lot about flies talking to them.

Another good fly that will catch pretty much anything is a Wooly Bugger.

Have fun!

Ok so I've been fly fishing for about a year now, so I figured that it wasn't all that long ago I was in your boat and that I might have some wisdom to offer. I'm in the Oklahoma City area and it sounds like you guys have a lot of options when it comes to fly shops. We pretty much have Bass Pro or Backwoods. My advice is to visit several fly shops, pick the one you like best and then have that become your regular shop. For me, since Bass Pro is closer that's the shop that I spend 90% of my fly shop time. I've gotten to know the guy that runs the fly shop there and have gotten some really good advice on technique, fishing areas, fly selection etc. It's become a ritual of mine to make a trip to Bass Pro before every fishing trip and talk to the guy there about wherever it is I'm going, what the hot fly has been at that river lately, and obviously pick up any gear that I need for the trip. You'll quickly find out that there's more to this sport than can be learned in a lifetime. That being said I do feel like I've learned a tremendous amount about fly fishing in the last year, and a lot of that has come from sitting around the fly shop talking to people. Of course there's no substitute for on the water experience.

With all that being said, as far as buying flies go, if you visit some various shops you'll figure out that flies are pretty much the same price everywhere. I think they might be a little cheaper at Bass Pro than say a Backwoods, but then again Bass Pro tends to carry flies that I consider sort of generalist patterns which is totally fine 99% of the time. If I need a zebra midge or a hare's ear, I know that I can get that at Bass Pro pretty easily. If I'm going to the lower Mountain Fork and I plan to fish a BWO or March Brown hatch, then I probably need to stop by Backwoods and pick up some flies there, or better yet, stop by the fly shops down there to pick up flies.

I do like to tie flies myself, but unless you're gonna tie 100 flies of a particular pattern, it's usually more cost effective to spend 10 bucks and get 5 of the flies that you're gonna use on a particular trip than to spend 25 bucks on materials. There are some patterns that you'll find you can never have enough though, like woolly buggers for example, that it makes sense to invest in the materials to tie whenever you start running low.

I've also found a great website for buying flies cheap. Check this out http://www.theflystop.com. They sell flies for a fraction of what you can get them for at most fly shops and they're pretty good quality as well. This might be a good place to look if you're gonna do a lot of bass fishing as poppers and streamers tend to be pretty expensive.

by your flies online. It's much cheaper. The fly stop.com is great.you get flies that a store would have for 2 dollars for 50 cents. Flies aren't sold everywhere so the shipping cost is worth it.

In flies as in anything, you get what you pay for. Fifty cent flies are invariably tied on cheaper hooks with cheaper materials and less quality control. In my experience, they fall apart more easily and the hooks tend to bend or break. Tying your own won't save you money, but it will put you in control of the quality of materials and the care taken while tying.

That's the primary reason I tie.

Check out http://www.millersflyshop.com/. I've been happy with their flys, and the prices are good. I usually order a few if I don't have the mats to tie certain flies before a trip. They are in Tyler, Tx, so you should get your flies in a few days as well.

As far as suggestions on what to get; wooly booger, muddler, and a foam hopper or spider. I've had good luck with these while targeting bass and gills.

Join Dallas Fly Fishers dff.com

Thanks guys for the advice! I will check out these places. I might try a few from the online places. But I do like to put things in my hands, I have an addiction to details and usually can tell when something is of good quality or not. I will eventually figure out what works for me. And thanks for the suggestions of what types of flies to try as well!

Don't expect to save money buying flies at BPS. $3.95 a clouser is highway robbery IMO. If you tie your own flies you will save money compared to BPS....but there are better options for flies to save $$$.

Check out Millers....best prices and local company.