What to get .... $100 to spend

[Nachos 0]

So I was surfing online for some Christmas gifts for others when I somehow landed on Cabela's site and somehow hit the buy it button for the Windriver 9' 6wt fly rod/reel/line outfit for myself.

So now i have to learn the skill of flycasting. I plan on fishing small ponds with 2 lb. or less Bass and small "panfish" so i believe that combo should work well. But once i get flycasting under my belt I'll need some flies to cast. It would be easy to just buy premade flies and start fishing but I'd like to give it a go and make some of my own and so I found this forum on fly tying. I have a few ideas on what type of supplies are needed to turn out a few flies for small bass and panfish but I though I'd run it by you all to see how on target I am. My dad wants to know what to get me for Christmas and since i have the rod/reel on the way I figure this http://www.jsflyfishing.com/cgi-bin/item/OF-902100-0000/86000/J.-Stockard-Economy-Fly-Tying-Vise-&-Tool-Kit.html Economy Fly Tying Vise & Tool Kit would be a good start. But I have about $100 for my present and the vise kit is about $30. $70 left for glue stuff, eyes maybe and I'm guessing that #4 #6 and #8 hooks are what I should be using but i'm not sure which to get as some are long and shorter and are bent up/down and straight eyed. Then there is the tying line should it be waxed 3/0 or 6/0 or what for the fish I am targeting? Then there is the all the flashy and fluffy stuff that goes into making the fly, I'm not exactly sure what materials would be best to purchase as some are more floating and others are more sinking material I guess. Picking colors are easy, white black yellow green brown and chartrusse as bass will just about hit on anything that aggravates them enough. and i am probably leaving out some needed supplies that I haven't even though of or heard of before.... I'm from the New Orleans area and if I do well catching smal pond fish I'll venture into a larger 8wt rod for redfishing in the marsh. Tight Lines!

[flymanaj 0]

I've heard that Waspi sells a pretty good starter kit.

[ikerajala 0]

DON'T BUY A WAPSI STARTER KIT!!!I bought one to start out on and it was really disapointing.Besides it only ties a few bass type flies most are trout flies(you know freshwater trout!).It sounds like you got the right Idea.The tool kit from J stockard is the way to go.Buy materials for flies YOU want to tie,And you should be just fine!

[flygirl 0]

You can't go wrong buying anything from JStockard & they're more than willing to answer any questions you have ....Sounds like you'll be doing warmwater fishing , so I'd pick up some deerhair, some assortment boxes of dubbing, some rubber legs, maybe some popper bodies, coneheads for wooley buggers, saddle hackle, black, brown & olive chenille...and you can never have too many hooks. as far as any flashy material, it's x-mas time...just go check out the assortment of Tinsel & you have all the flash you need. A few years ago Walmart was selling 'Holographic Icicles ' in their Trim a Tree dept. & I have yet to make a dent in what I bought. I'm set for life.!! Also check out their craft dept for Foam,eyes,wire....the list goes on. welcome to the addiction

[mybadhabit 0]

I started with an Umpqua Deluxe kit and it had enough stuff in it to tie about 100 flies. it was about $50 and was worth it to me. Take a look at fly tying on youtube for some ideas on what you might tie for bass also, warmwaterflytying.com is a really good place to see some flies you might tie, and it lists the ingredients for each fly, as we do here on the database. It should give you an idea once you've gone over a few as to what you will need most for tying flies you like. I started with woolly buggers, there is the stuff to tie those in almost any starter kit. One thing you might want to look at is lead/non-lead wire, bead heads, and krystal flash, which are a staple in many flies around here in TX.

 

Blane

[ninja115 0]

Picking colors are easy, white black yellow green brown and chartrusse

 

I would add purple also, as it is at the far end of the spectrum, and maybe orange as it is near the other end. Chartreuse should be close enough to yellow, if you wanted to drop yellow for now. ROYGBV & WHITE BLACK BROWN

 

Pick 2-3 patterns for each species and make a list of materials that you need for each one. Buy different colors of each material. You will most likely find that a lot of the materials can be used on more than one fly. When I started tying, I did the same thing you are doing....$30 vise kit, and I had a list I made, walked into the fly shop and looked the guy in the face and said I'm spending $100 today and no more. Well, I kept a running total as I grabbed stuff, leaving a little room for taxes and ended up at $98. Left the store and realized I had forgotten an ingredient, and had to walk back in and spend $3 more. $1 over the limit is actually very good for me, and I was really excited the first time I left at $98, because I always go over budget...

 

I would start with tying some wooly buggers to get your techniques and proportions within reason, then move on to your other patterns. Search the database by species. Poppers might put you out of you budget with paint and epoxy and turners and such, but with the species you are going for, I would probably include them if you can. I would go one surface, and one subsurface for each species if that is the case.

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=62424

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=62044

 

Not exactly how I tie mine, but helps with getting proportions down:

http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/2011/6/2/the-copper-and-black-bugger-by-carl-e-sanders/?utm_source=FTFEmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11-7

 

There is a lot of info on this site, and more comes in daily. It can get very frustrating trying to remember it all as a beginner, so my advice is this.........KISS.......and remember...no fly recipe is definitive...there are always materials you can substitute...

[ninja115 0]

HEAD CEMENT....That's what I forgot.....might have been $4.....

[Nachos 0]

This has all been good advice. I decided to hold off on getting the Fluff and Flash stuff and head cement for the moment and went ahead and ordered the JS Economy Fly Tying Vise & Tool Kit, 3 types of J. Stockard hooks in #6 and #8 sizes (streamer, long nymph and the multi use hooks) and a spool each of black 3/0 and 6/0 waxed thread as these seem to be the very basic universal items to get started tying.

 

The Waspi kits look like alot is offered but I'm not sure if I'd use all the supplies.

 

Thanks, gonna check out warmwaterflytying.com and see what is really going on!

 

flygirl, maybe some silicone spinnerbait skirts I have can be modified into bug legs? also, my cousins hunt so I'll check with them on some dear,squirl, rabbit and hog fur. They just may have some to spare! Christmas tinsel eh, good one.

 

Ninja115 I spotted a long hair wig left over form Halloween and guess what color it is... Purple... Yay! I will get to cut it up some. and the links you post I'm gonna checkem out, thanks.

[Guest]

Check out flytyersdungeons web site. You can get a ton of quality tying materials for about $20.

 

Dave

[Dezod 0]

I will be in the minority in my opinion here, but I think that kits very much have their place. I started with a kit, and while I have replaced almost ll the tools and the vise with upgraded peices, I still use the original stuff for my traveling kit (except vise).

 

I would recommend checking out the kits offered by Bass Pro Shop. The reason is that they separate their kits. What you will likely find with most kits is that they have a bias towards trout flies and materials. At BPS they have a kit for bass, and another one for saltwater. They have videos giving step by step instruction for tying not only the flies featured, but fundamental tying skills every tyer needs. I have tought two of my good friends to tie flies, before we sit down at my house for the first time I give them my tying DVD from my BPS kit and tell them it will help them to watch the way that the very skilled tyers manipulate the thread and the materials.

 

The nice thing about a kit is that you know that you have everything you need to tie a small variety of flies that you will fish as long as the kit is specific to the type of fish you are after. Then to agree with Dave above, with my extra $20 I would buy a ton of materials at the flytyersdungeon website. Great stuff at great prices especially if you know what you need to tye a few specific flies.

 

Hope this helps.

 

C

[wrc2121 0]

Part of the reason I got the bps kit was I knew I would make a lot of mistakes, or just sloppy flies when I very first started tying. I didn't want to go out and spend good money on materials till I got my technique down. I would just be throwing away wasted quality materials. Then when I could tie some patterns that I thought looked good, and where consistant enough to fish, I then started buying the good stuff. Although i'm not where I want to be yet, I'm along way from the first few flies.

 

Rob C

[jhammer 0]

Here's my $.02.

 

Get some size 6-10 hooks, beads, marabou, saddle hackle, chenille, and some sort of flash. That way you can make many variations/colors of woolly buggers. They're ultra-easy to tie and almost every kind of fish loves them.

 

You can also tie up some woolly worms using shorter hooks. Many fish love those as well.

[Noeproblem 0]

Totally agree with wrc2121 - I started with a BPS kit and have been evolving as I discovered the types and sizes of flies that I want to tie. It is a great way to get started. But be warned that fly tying can become an addiction

 

I am wanting a rotating fly vise as my next major purchase in this great adventure of tying my own flies. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from catching fish on flies that you have tied yourself!

 

Regardless of which way you chose to go I am pretty certain that you will enjoy this new found hobby. I have read that there are over 7 million different fly patterns in the world - but that is not a problem because you will find that there are certain flies that work very well in your area. Learn to tie those first and then as your fly fishing adventures increase, so too will your fly tying talent.

 

Keep those hooks sharp, your equipment clean and have fun!