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Go with either the Sally Hansen's or step up and get some Loon Hard Head. It works great and will not dry white on you.

Agreed. Spinnerbait skirts seem to be more durable than the traditional "crazy legs" you see for fly tying.

Great looking poppers! Have you epoxied them yet? After that, you're set to tie them however you want. Plenty of good resources out there for creating some cool poppers, have fun!

I have the Redington Sonic Pro waders and I love them. I've owned several other pair of cheaper waders (and boots) and I think you get what you pay for. I also think it depends on your fishing habit. You going to be in those waders 3-4 times a week or a 3-4 times a month? Big difference there and I think that is where gear selection is important. I always say buy the best you can afford. You can always upgrade later, especially when new models come out and last year's stuff gets marked down. Just make sure they fit you really well! Waders that are too big are uncomfortable and extremely hazardous on the river.

As ditz2 said, wrapping a foam base the entire length of the shank is a great way to make sure you tie the foam in really well and keep it from spinning. This would, obviously, only work on certain patterns or certain hoppers that you're tying. For patterns that need full body both above and below the shank, super glue works perfectly to keep things in place.

I too have had some recent shipping lag experiences with J. Stockard. My last order took like 9 days (including a weekend) to get to me. I don't care if it's free shipping or what, 9 days is simply unacceptable to me when so many others easily do it in 2-3 days.

For myself, I found it easier to identify two or three patterns that I wanted to tie and buy the materials just for those patterns. This did two things for me, 1) It taught me how to tie flies and 2) It kept my inventory and costs down to only what I needed, which made things much less confusing. What I also did was buy materials that could be used for other flies and across those few patterns that I was learning with. So if one pattern called for deer hair and the other called for elk hair, I purchased one or the other and used it for both. This was a great way for me to get started and it might be something you'll want to try as well. You'll of course need the basic list of tools, hooks, thread regardless of what patterns or types of flies you're tying, so start there first.

Both of those articles are super helpful for picking up some great tying tips. Also, when you want to save articles like that, and you're a total tech geek like I am, I suggest Evernote. You can use the Evernote web clipper to save a streamlined version of the article and then print it or make it accessible across your computer, phone, tablet, etc, with your Evernote account.

I would strongly suggest the advice of Sundance. Having a fly in front of you and trying to mimic that same fly is a great way to learn proportions and tying better quality flies. If you don't have an actual fly, print out images of flies. Having something as a guide can be a huge benefit.