[bobinalong]

...taking the plunge and learning to tie my own flies. Then I looked at the staggering cost of good materials and now wonder if I'm better served buying the flies I hanker after. For instance hooks seem to cost around 10p each and I can buy a very nice fly for 28 to 35p from a number of sources.

What do you guys recon that it cost you to produce a fly.

Go on convince me, and I'll start looking at road kill more seriously.   

 

Clive

[Peter McCallum]

The flys you will tie will be yours not someone elses so they will be what you want. It can however become a money pit which if you are not careful will take over your home  you'll love it

[Barry Robertson]

The more serious you get about your fishing the more you will realise how shit the 28p flies are!
I doubt i would catch half the fish i catch if i was only to fish with shop bought flies, the best flies are the flies that are not sold over the counter  
Forget about the money issue or it will never happen, fly tying is expensive but well worth it in the end  

[Ben Dixon]

Hi Clive,

If you looked long term and only bought the materials you need for the flies you fish then you'd probably make a long term saving over the cost of decent commercial flies but it would be slight.

Materials and prices for a basic fly like a hares ear spider are:

hook 20p each
bag of partridge £2.50  (will tie about 90 flies)
spool of thread £1.80 (will tie several hundred flies)
Hares mask £2.60 (will tie about 350 flies)
head cement £2.25
Thinners £1.80
Spool of wire £2.00

so knocking up a dozen spiders in different sizes is initially quite expensive but, if you add the following

Cobblers wax £1.20
Pearsalls #5 & #6a £3.20 ea
brass beads £2.20
Cock Pheasant tails £2.20
pack of grizzly genetic saddle hackles £12.00
Black & med olive dry fly dubbing £2.20
Pale olive thread £2.20
Poly yarn £2.20

Then you've also got Partridge & Yellow / orange, GRHE, GRHE gold head, hares ear dry, pheasant tail dry, Klinks, black dries - gnats, parachutes, midge.  Pheasant tail spinners, olive patterns.  In fact from the above list you could probably just about get an entire season of fishing on the river and rainbow waters, with another tenner or so and a selection of different hooks you certainly could.

If you stuck to that, you'd probably tie your money back in a few years but, the problem is it is all too easy to become addicted to this shit and buy materials simply because they look nice and may come in useful for something.

I work in a tackle shop and I compulsively buy every top (what I'd call 1st grade) orange or yellow bucktail that comes in, I reckon I must have about 10 of each still in packets.  Then there's the stuff that you buy "cos is would make a nice x for y" that you never use because fly X catches anyway.  by then you've accumulated so much that you can't find anything and have to buy something from the basics list above to tie more of the first pattern you ever attempted.  Or maybe I just have a problem 

Careful with road kill, you need to either chemically treat it, microwave it (very briefly) or deep freeze it to ensure it is free from nasties.  I'd also recommend putting some napthalene crystals into the bag with any roadkill stuff just to be sure.  In my experience, it is not really worth the hassle factor unless it is something either very hard to find or very expensive to buy.

Cheers

Ben

[Iain Goolager]

Hi Clive,

I agree that fly tying can become very costly, thousands of pounds costly.  That's not to say that an initial compromise can't be reached where you may have, say 10 favourite river course fish/Trout flies and decide on budgeting for the hooks, tools and materials to cover these. If this is financially realistic then that's the way I'd go.
Once you master the basics and start to present your offerings to the fish you will catch and from there on in the slippery slope begins. There is great satisfaction to be had from the many avenues that fly-fishing can lead you - rod building, furled leader making, line control geekiness, entomology, photography, line design, etc. etc. but one of the most revolutionary experiences is catching those first few fish on your own tyings - or better still on your own creation. 
On the majority of sites that I've seen that sell the type of well dressed flies that I'd consider fishing, you are looking at £1.00 per fly (ok I don't peruse many sites but I'd say that was a fair benchmark). Commercially sourced cheap flies are just that and often overdressed. I happened on a site a month or so ago where Klinks were being advertised & they reminded me of the sh** I used to buy 20 years ago, huge bodies and the hackles were far too long - these were £1.25ish each. 

Much aqua has flowed under the bridge since I started tying and that feeling of catching fish on my own tied flies has long sinced passed as it's now the norm - only in very extreme circumstances do I buy flies BUT the thrill comes from the fact that I decide the size, hook shape, shade, material, weight, proportions, how it sinks, how it floats, etc & that is about as personal as you will ever get with the fish.
There is such a wealth of ideas and fantastic patterns from all over the world out there in the magazines and on the internet that it must be horrible not to be able to get yer kit out and have a go.

I also feel that it's as much a part of the experience of fishing as actualy being on the bank.

I say give it a go, you won't look back.

All the best

Iain

[Hamish Young]

I once tried to work out how much it cost me to produce flies..... I burned the piece of paper I'd done the maths on, sat down, had a stiff drink with a ciggie and contemplated the futility of the exercise.
What it actually costs isn't the 'bottom line' and never should be. The hours of fun, the fly boxes full of 'prototypes', knowing I've tied the flies myself, having that 'frankenstein' moment at a vice all makes it another dimension to the sport I genuinely believe every fly fisherman should taste.

The truth is it ends up costing more, but that's only because once you've got the fly tying 'bug' you'll continue to invest in materials, hooks, and just stuff because 'it will come in useful one day'. And you know what It will. I have many many pounds worth of fly tying materials, some I bought in excess of twenty years ago some a few months ago and other folk have donated to the 'cause' over the years. It all gets used.

Many commercially available flies are dressed to a far higher standard than they used to be, but is that a reason to buy them Hmmmmmm....no, it's not. Buy a fly tying kit and you will not look back.

H

[Sandy Nelson]

Buy a fly tying kit and you will not look back.

Absolutley.

I'm a flytyer who fishes and Proud of it .

All the advice above is Superb, i like Ben's list i have been trying to do something similar for a mate.
And i keep adding to it ........ the whole idea is he is the one who will be adding to it , so keeping it very simple to start is a great idea, i'd add a mole skin to list as well to begin with ( a personal favourite cheap and versatile dubbing )

ooops there we go again    

Sometimes a simple kit is a good starting point to explore, even though some of the stuff you may not use immediatley you may in the next experiment, which could be the next "worlds greatest fly"

I've always thought this is great way to start  http://www.sportfish.co.uk/product/beginners-material-fly-tying-kit
Just add a vice (£10 most of us started with an AA), scissors(£3), hackle pliers(£2) and a bobbin holder(£3), Varnish (£2)
And away you go

Hope you give it a go

Sandy

[bobinalong]

Wow, me thinks there is some enthusiasm in the tying world     

Thanks to you all for your measured arguments and suggestions and Ben for your very comprehensive and helpful reply. I am going to have a go, how could I not  . The step by step section makes it all look so possible  ???.

One thing though.......... In the past, when I have been fortunate enough to meet up with guys who tie there own, I might perhaps show them the 6" x 4" book that contains my fly collection........................ and they produce what can only be described as a library       Is that going to happen to me as well 

I think that my Christmas list will now start of with a vice. What would you gentlemen suggest is a decent, cheep, one to start with?

 

Clive

[Sandy Nelson]

Great stuff

I'd go for a Snowbee Flymate clamp vice, i still have my one and its great
But i do know others have not had quite the same experience
most basic AA vices are a good starting point on a budget.

Sandy

[Barry Robertson]

I had a rotable regent for a few years and found it perfect and at 15 pounds a real bargain 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotatable-Regent-Lever-Spring-Eagle-Fly-Tying-Vice-/390369789853?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item5ae3da479d

[Peter McCallum]

I'd go for a Snowbee Flymate clamp vice, i still have my one and its great

I would too though I'd prefer the one with the base, I still have mine though it's retired now.

[Sandy Nelson]

Anyone knows how they can do this????

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AA-FLY-TYING-VICE-CLAMP-MODEL-/290426409589?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item439ec35275#ht_2567wt_1189

 

Just add

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-piece-Fly-Tying-Tool-Kit-Trout-Fly-Fishing-Dressing-/250919511816?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item3a6bf7e708#ht_698wt_956

And

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beginners-Guide-Fly-Tying-Veniard-Kit-Materials-/360411854287?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&var=&hash=item92b0648f53#ht_2713wt_956

Add a bottle of Cellire varnish and you are up and running for £30 (incl.p&p) with all the tools,materials and a book to get you started

Amazing really


Sandy

[bobinalong]

Been away for a couple of days, earning Brownie points helping with the yuletide shopping 

I've been watching those on ebay Sandy and wondering if they can be any good at those prices. I really need one with a base, my fine Georgian Ikea table may not take kindly to the clamps, or so the good lady, SWMBO (sometimes at all times) informs me.

Tell me, is any old type of bobbin holder suitable, or should I be looking for some thing special in their construction.  I ask because in the video's of tying I have seen this bit of kit seems to do the most work.
    

Rabitangler, if you want to offload that retired vice................

 

Clive

[Peter McCallum]

PM your address

[bobinalong]

PM your address

You have a PM 

[Iain Goolager]

Clive ( sorry that's a crackin' handle),

IMHO I'd go for a bobbin holder with a ceramic tube. It looks like you are on your way to saving a couple of pounds from the start so I'd invest in one. Things are going to be hard enough when you are learning to tie without the thread fraying & snaping on you because of a poorly finished spiggot. Look after them and they will last you for, eh, a long time.

I've a few holders with metal tubes - some are spot on and a couple of others are poor, one in particular is hellish.

Give it some thought.

Iain

[bobinalong]

Thanks Iain,

Not sure how one could survive without this forum, you guys are very kind, helpful and encouraging  I will take your advice on the bobbin holders and hit ebay for a few more tools of the trade 

Frankly I can't wait to get going 

 

  (this one is for Rabbitangler)

Clive

[bobinalong]

Can someone please elucidate on the subject of bobbin holders. 
They seem to come in a variety of guises. I have taken Iain's advice and bought one ceramic tipped  , but when I look for a second one, do I go for a flared tube  (not offered in ceramic), wide tube  (also not offered in ceramic).   
The water is looking kind-of-murky at present. 

 

Clive

[Irvine Ross]

Clive

I have survived for years without either a flared or a wide tube bobbin holder, so my guess is, you won't need either at this stage. I would have said I tend to work on the KISS principle but I'm sure someone will see that as an opportunity for a witty riposte.   

Irvine

[bobinalong]

Clive

I have survived for years without either a flared or a wide tube bobbin holder, so my guess is, you won't need either at this stage. I would have said I tend to work on the KISS principle but I'm sure someone will see that as an opportunity for a witty riposte.   

Irvine

Thanks Irvine.  I had a feeling that might be the answer.