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How to get started in fly tying

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I want to learn how to tie my own flies. Here's a couple of questions. How should I get started? How much will it be? What all do I buy? I'm on a Really Limited budget. Any other answers I need to know would be awesome. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I am a beginner also to fly tying, I bought a beginners kit for about $50 including postage (i'm not in the states) off ebay. It looks pretty good for a beginner, with all of the appropriate tools as well as a nice little vise. I haven't got the materials yet but they should add a bit more to the cost. As for getting started, check out my thread 'first fly recommendations' it has plenty of good info in it.

 

Hope this helps

 

23Trout

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Here is my advise. This is one of those things that you will constantly be paying for, but most of it will last a long time. To get started there are some bare minimums tool wise.

 

1. Vise- There are two schools of thought here. A. Buy a cheap vise, for anywhere from $10-35 dollars and decide if you really want to continue. Pro- It is a small investment up front. Con- In most cases it makes fly tying more difficult than it should be and you may get frustrated.

 

B- Buy a vise that will last you many years, and most quality vises will. If you treat it right, aside maybe from additional jaws, they should last you near a lifetime.

 

2. Bobbin or more accurately, bobbin holder. These come in brass or ceramic, and to start with brass is fine. They will cost you $3-10 dollars depending where you get them.

 

3. Whip Finish Tool- There are multiple styles, and while you don't necessarily need this tool because you can learn to hand whip finish, your flies will come out cleaner and more durable with the tool in the beginning. Price, $4-15 dollars.

 

4. Scissors- You need a decent pair of sharp scissors, and try and get an arrow point to really get as close as you can. $5-10 dollars. Don't cut wire or lead with these. Find an old pair from around the house.

 

 

Bare neceesities, that is all you need tool wise to get started, but it also depends which flies you want to tie.

 

My advise, is don't buy a materials kit. Pick out 5 flies that you want to tie, and write out a materials list. Most kit materials are of poorer quality, and you often get stuck with useless material for flies you don't want to tie. Buying the materials for the flies you want ensures any leftovers can be applied to those same flies later on down the line.

 

 

I wouldn't even say you need a good book to get started. With so many websites with tutorials, to get started thats it.

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I imagine this post will be moved to the beginners forum.

Getting started in tying can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. As 23Trout already mentioned, the cheapest way is to purchase one of those preassembled kits. They're not much but they will get you started. Its a good way to find out if you are really interested in the hobby. The down side to them is that if you do decide you really like tying and want to continue, you are going to end up replacing every tool in the kit most likely and the materials in the kit are not typically top quality.

 

A better way to jump in may be to buy a middle of the road vise (see the vise thread in the beginners section) and a tool kit. The tool kit may be a touch pricey but its cheaper than buying all of the tools individually. I know you can get one kit that is decent for around $30 but I forget the name of the brand one of the better kits will cost you a little more. If you decide to go this route, pick up a book that teaches basic skills, I recommend Basic Fly Tying by Charlie Craven. Thumb through the first 4 flies in the book while you are in the fly shop and ask the staff to help you pick out the materials you need to tie those flies. After that, you can buy the materials you need to continue on in the book but the first 4 or 5 will be fairly cheap to buy the materials for. If you want to look at those flies here, you can look them up in the fly data base, they are the Brassie, Black Beauty, RS2, Hare's Ear Nymph, and the Pheasant Tail Nymph. There are plenty of variations of each of them but the materials for the first three flies shouldn't cost you more than about $10-$15. Buying the materials to make variations on those flies will cost you another $10 or so and then you can move on in the book but you could tie several boxes of flies on those patterns alone. I am sure that other people would recommend other books to start with, there happens to be a whole thread about the best starter book too down in the beginners section.

 

Other than that, all I can say is search the forum, this question has been asked and answered several times and you should be able to find all the information you need in those posts as well as the stickies in the beginners forum. Good luck and let us know how your first fly turns out.

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On the cheap vs. mid priced vice, if you buy a more expensive vice and decide you don't like tying, you can resell it for little loss. With a kit vice you are out that cost because there is very limited resell market. I still have my kit vice because once I started tying I needed to upgrade, so I did not save anything.

 

Charlie

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take tying lessons - everything will be explained to you and it definitely reduces the learning curve

 

to buy or not to buy a tying kit - i have always advocated not to buy a tying kit, but after thinking about it, it just might make sense for a beginner. yes, you don't get the highest of quality tools or materials, but you do get to start tying at a reasonable price. if you decide later on that tying is not really for you, you're not out a bunch of money. you may not get any resale on the vise but the other tools and material are worth saving. you're a beginner and most of the materials in the kit will be fine for tying your first batch of flies. you know they wont be that great but so what! they will still catch fish. throw them at bluegills etc. those material in the kit are good enough to practice fly tying. learning tying techniques should be first and foremost. use up the kit materials then buy some better quality stuff as you get better at tying flies.

 

learning from tying videos - videos just show how to tie a fly. i havent seen too many videos on you tube that really explains fly tying, how to pick out quality materials, explaining what tying tool does what etc.

 

just my revised opinion :lol:

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Here is my advise. This is one of those things that you will constantly be paying for, but most of it will last a long time. To get started there are some bare minimums tool wise.

 

1. Vise- There are two schools of thought here. A. Buy a cheap vise, for anywhere from $10-35 dollars and decide if you really want to continue. Pro- It is a small investment up front. Con- In most cases it makes fly tying more difficult than it should be and you may get frustrated.

 

B- Buy a vise that will last you many years, and most quality vises will. If you treat it right, aside maybe from additional jaws, they should last you near a lifetime.

 

2. Bobbin or more accurately, bobbin holder. These come in brass or ceramic, and to start with brass is fine. They will cost you $3-10 dollars depending where you get them.

 

3. Whip Finish Tool- There are multiple styles, and while you don't necessarily need this tool because you can learn to hand whip finish, your flies will come out cleaner and more durable with the tool in the beginning. Price, $4-15 dollars.

 

4. Scissors- You need a decent pair of sharp scissors, and try and get an arrow point to really get as close as you can. $5-10 dollars. Don't cut wire or lead with these. Find an old pair from around the house.

 

 

Bare neceesities, that is all you need tool wise to get started, but it also depends which flies you want to tie.

 

My advise, is don't buy a materials kit. Pick out 5 flies that you want to tie, and write out a materials list. Most kit materials are of poorer quality, and you often get stuck with useless material for flies you don't want to tie. Buying the materials for the flies you want ensures any leftovers can be applied to those same flies later on down the line.

 

 

I wouldn't even say you need a good book to get started. With so many websites with tutorials, to get started thats it.

 

This would be my advise as well. The only thing I would add, if you decide you want to go with better tools, rather than cheaper, then buy the bobbin holder with the ceramic insert. It will outlast one that only has a brass tube, and reduce a bit of frustration.

 

Getting help from local fly shops or clubs is always a good idea. Depending on where you are, this time of year there are usually shows around that feature fly tying demonstrations. Even many shops & clubs have such events. Take the time to go & watch the tiers, and ask questions. Most will be more than happy to explain the techniques they're demonstrating. You can learn much more face to face than you can by asking questions over the internet. This may also provide you with contacts of folks in your area that are already proficient at tying, (or other beginners that you can share information with) where you may get further help as you progress. Take a pencil & paper & write down information if need be, don't rely on your memory. (Sorry, I'm old, most everyone uses electronics these days I guess!) You'll be amazed at how much folks are willing to share!

 

Asking questions here will also help, ask as many as you need, the folks here are glad to provide assistance, but face to face help will go much further in aiding you as you learn.

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The best way to start is to go to a fly shop (if you have one in your area) or a tackle shop and explain your situation. In most cases, they'll be happy to help. After all, it's like a dope pusher selling somebody his first bag of smack - they know you'll be coming back for the rest of your life. You don't need a whole lot to get started - a bobbin, a vise, scissors, thread, cement, plus a few materials. If at all possible, try to find someone to show you the basics. Videos are OK, but they won't answer questions or correct you if you do something wrong. Just start tying the really simple patterns and don't get in over your head at first. I caught fish on the very first fly I tied, and it was about as simple as a fly can be. Good luck and welcome to the highly addictive passion of fly tying.

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This question gets asked so much, maybe we should make a thread that discusses the "How do I get started?" question in detail and pin it in the beginners forum.

I'll get started on one and if the mods like it maybe they will pin it.

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My advise is contact local clubs that are fly tying charters of FFF. They are most often open to sharing the hobby and I know our club has all the tools and vises to use so you can see if its for you before you waste your money on either cheap crap which you will replace or real expensive and turn out its not for you. The clubs well be very helpful and members may even donate you materials to get started. They can also assist you in tying and nothing is better then learning with the veterans of the sport rather then solely through books. Many of the members maybe even have an old vise and extra tools around their tying table they will either let you have or sell for a cheap price. This is my .02 thinking about when I started out on a cheap budget.

 

Below is the link to the FFF charter clubs.

 

http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4357

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flytire,

I meant more of an article type thread that people can add to. I'll post it up in a little bit.

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Why? Isnt that the title of this thread? How many threads do we need on the same subject?

 

I believe what markbob is talking about is to create a "sticky" to be posted at the top of the beginners section so other new members will be able to see the postings of others instead of all of us answering the same question weekly on how to start.

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This question gets asked so much, maybe we should make a thread that discusses the "How do I get started?" question in detail and pin it in the beginners forum.

I'll get started on one and if the mods like it maybe they will pin it.

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