chazg

Need a little guidance here and hope one of you gents or ladies can help me out. I'm starting to endeavor into tying dry flies and I'm wondering how I determine the size and width of my wings on Catskill style dry flies. Thank

Welp, I took the plunge and purchased my first 2 capes..after researching for well over 3 weeks I decided to go with Collins farm. I called Mr. Collins and after about a 45min chat I ordered a grade 3 grizzly and a brown cape to start.. Mr Collins was a real down to earth gentleman with alot of knowledge, he gave me the "beginners" speech which helped me out alot, and also advice on storage of materials. He did not try to sell me anything in a higher grade and reccomend the grade 3 cape because of my tying range. A big plus and selling point was the matching saddles included, he stated he raises his birds for the capes, and does not grow out his saddles like competitors, yet his saddles are perfectly fine for tying drys, just not as long. He gave me a list of the 4 main colors he reccomends for a beginner tier and I wil prob purchase the other 2 colors in a couple of weeks from him..all in all for 2 full capes with matching saddles , a pack of grizzly and a pack of brown spade hackle for tailings my total cost with shipping was $76.50 not too shabby.. the hardest thin was getting a money order (never got one before) and this was because I wanted to hide the purchase price from my wife and didnt want to write out a check which would have left incriminating evidence of my purchase

I was contemplating trying some Collins Farms hackle, what I've seen is they come with both saddle and cape together ??!!?? Is this true ?? and how is the quality of his material, I see on his website, his hackle are grade #2. this confuses me greatly, what differs a grade 1 from 2, bronze from silver or red from green...Collins farms is about a 2hr trip from my house, I was considering giving him a call and possibly a ride, I was also on feather imporium, and see they have decent deals on capes, is their material of good quality ??

Thanks gents for the input.. I think i'm going to start off with choosing 2 colors...problem is now which 2 to start with....I think I'm also going to look into Whiting Farms Intro packs...

Also did anyone ever purchase the whiting farms intro hackle pack ? And were you pleased ??

Also did anyone ever purchase the whiting farms intro hackle pack ? And were you pleased ??

Rockworm, let me ask you this. What would you recommend I start tying and what colors should I purchase. I live in north eastern PPAif that would help.. Money wise haha (married with children). I have a few bucks and dont mind starting off with 1 or 2 colors. And as for whiting capes, will I get years out of it ??

Hi all, I have a question that I need help with. Im going to advance myself and start tying some dry flies and Im confused on what type of hackles to use.. aka saddle, cape, rooster, hen...very confusing here...Im mainly tying between size 12 to 16 to get started and I am looking to tie some BWO, light cahil, march browns, sulphurs and adams to start..any suggestion on what to buy here and in what colors?? I currently have nothing dry fly wise to start so any help would be much appreciated. Oh and Im looking at tying catskill style dries and maybe some wuff style for faster current.

Oh, Ok....LOL I wasn't too sure if you meant cloves of garlic or something else...

Perchjerker, a few whole cloves of what ?

Good morning all, my newbie question today is, what is the best way to store your materials (fur/feathers) to protect them from bugs, humidity level changes and fading ? Currently I keep the material in the bag it comes in and I store those bags in the plastic dware type containers you get from walmart. With all the $$$$ I'm investing into material, I want to keep my investment safe... any thoughts??

Like yourself, I'm very new to tying (2.5 months) and so far I've tied over 200 flies ranging from different materials. To me, what I've found out is, this hobby/skill is very addicting, but I find it. Very relaxing to almost zen like (lol).. I'm the type of person who is very impatient, the kind of person who wants results now (or better yet yesterday). But when it comes to tying flies I can calmly sit for as long as it takes to tie one tiny fly.. its to the point that I upgraded to a mid value rotary vise and am constantly ordering items from stockard..I have to laugh, my wife calls it "arts n craft" time, and my 5yo daughter grew an interest in it also.. my advice to you (newbie to newbie) is ask a lot of questions, the ladies and gents on this forum are very eager to help and search the internet, u will find a gazillion videos on youtube on fly tying and they help...good luck

Hello All, I'm in the process of purchasing some materials to tie some basic nymph patterns, and am in the process of buying some dubbing. My question is, with all the choices of dubbing out there, what is a good type/choice for a beginner to purchase. I'm kinda overwhelmed with all the different types out there. can anyone point me in the right direction, and do i need to get wax also ??? thanks..

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good weekend. I am going to broaden my horizon and attempt to start tying some copper johns and pheasant tail nymphs, over the weekend I was going to order materials to start tying some of these patterns, but I ran into a sanfu. I noticed their are 4 different sizes of copper wire available and unsure what size to purchase, I'm going to be tying these patterns on size 14 and 12 hooks, could someone point me in the right direction on the correct size copper wire to purchase thanks.

Ok, I think I'm getting it now....cock(rooster) is stiffer and best for drys, hen is softer and better for wets and nymphs. Saddle has usually only 3 hook sizes and necks more sizes..and my first 2 colors should be grizzly and brown... good info thanks, also I never even thought about coloring my hackles with perm marker, hmmmm I have some white strung saddle at home and I'm gonna give it a try, thanks guys for setting me straight, I think I'm going to purchase 2 hen hackles to start, and right before next winter purchase 2 rooster hackles to start tying dries , but before that I'm going to find out the most common hatches on the streams I fish and the average size of them, before I determine if a saddle or neck is best for my use...thanks

Ok, I was on Stockards website, and I was looking at whitings farms hackles and still confused. They have dry fly prograde saddles,dry fly saddles and american rooster saddles plus not to mention the hen hackles.. so I guess my question is, if I was only able to purchase 2 colors to start, how should I go?? And what is considered whitings med grade hackles?? I was also told by someone that a saddle is a better way to go instead of a neck because I will be able to tie hundreds of flies from one saddle and probably won't need to purchase one for the rest of my life, is this true?

Good morning fellow fly tiers. I am wondering if someone could help me. I am very new to fly tying, currently I'm tying flies for smallmouth/largemouth and some nymphs for trout. My problem is when I'm reading a recipe and it calls for grizzly hackle or just hackle in general, do I need to spend $$$$$ for the good quality neck/saddle hackles that are used for dry flies?? Or is their a hackle of a different kind that is cheaper that I can use?? I'm mainly using them for wollies and leggs on some nymph/terrestial patterns I'm doing..I know eventually (funding permitted) I'm going to purchase 2 good hackles when I start tying dries, but don't forsee that anytime soon..what are indian hackles?? Are they good enough to use, with all the hackle choices out there a greenie like myself could get confused. Thanks in advance for the help

Would anyone be willing to post a SBS of the Clouser Crayfish ? I have the recipe for it, but I am a goof when it comes to figuring them out (yea I'm a greenie) thanks in advance...

I'm very new to fly fishing and fly tying (2 months), and I just want to say thanks to all the kind people I've meet that gave me tons of useful tips and help. Last weekend, I attended the fly fishing show in Lancaster, Pa and I was in amazement in the amout of generosity and kindness that professional's showed a greenie like myself..every question I asked was not only explained to me but also shown to me, I had one gentlemen who was tying there take up about 40min of his time showing me how to tie different minnow type flies. So far on this short jurney I've started I've made numerous new friends who willingly give me their email address and tell me to contact them anytime if I have questions..now I'm no rookie at fishing, as a matter of fact I have 20+ years into chasing bass,muskie and walleye, and I was a firm believer in trolling and crankbaits, but one thing new that I did learn since I took an interest in fly fishing was that compared to people that are crankbait/plastic fishermen, fly fisherman are more willing to help than hide info from fellow fisherman. Don't get me wrong and not to offend anyone, but as my personal expierence showed me, fly fisherman are a class act group of people. So I just want to finish with a thanks for making me feel accepted. I've always said fishing is about the new friends you meet, the new places you visit and the memories you created, and catching a fish is just a bonus...

Thanks guys for the usefull input. Yes, I must admit, fly tying is VERY addictive and I now see it isn't cheap but the outcome is very rewarding to the point that I feel it to be actually relaxing...I'm fortunate that I have a good friend who is a taxidermist and is willing to give me all the turkey, duck and pheasant feathers I want and all the deer hides and tails to match.. My biggest issue right now is hiding my spending from My wife..... but then again, to smooth things over I'll just buy her another pair of shoes and a purse to match....thanks guys

Well, I've been tying now for about 2 months and am addicted.. I came across this awesome web forum and am constantly checking out new and past treads for hints and tips.. so I'd figure I'd ask you Gents (and Ladies) for some help. My problem is I found a lot of awesome flies I'd love to tie on the fly tying database, but I cannot figure out the tying sequence on the Recipes. Basically, is their an order to follow when following these recipes, so far the only way I'm learning to tie is via videos, But would love to learn how to follow all the recipes that have no tying instructions... Thanks for any input to feed my addiction...