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Morgan64c

Beginner Materials and Patterns

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What are the first materials I should get? What are the first patterns I should learn? I'm willing to go out and buy whatever I need.

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Your first two materials should be hooks and thread. Many small nymphs consist of just one or two colours of thread wrapped on a hook.

 

Where you go from there sort of depends on your fishing style. Have you flyfished? What type of water will you most likely be fishing? What species of fish are you after? Let's assume you will be targeting fresh-water fish like trout, bluegills, bass, etc. So:

 

Next you will need to learn how to tye a decent fly body. Of the hundreds of materials used I would suggest you start with a couple of dubbings (ie: muskrat, red fox, hare's ear) and a bit of wool yarn. There are thousands of nymph patterns which use just dubbing or yarn and thread. Although thread makes an excellent rib (as does copper wire salvaged from defunct electrical cord) you may want to get a spool or two of tinsel to add a bit of flash to your flies.

 

Give us more info on how you fish and I am sure the members of this forum will have a wealth of valuable suggestions to help you get started.

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The simplest start:

 

DE 12 hooks medium guage

Black tying thread (sewing cotton is fine)

2nd or 3rd grade dark red/brown/furnace cock cape with plenty of black spadey hackles.

Beeswax (candle)

Clear nail varnish

 

First fly (black spider style): well waxed black thread body; soft black cock hackle

 

Add peacock herl and fine copper wire stripped from electric cord to list for the second fly: the Black and Peacock Spider http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/flyfishing/fly_tying/3026-black_and_peacock.html

 

 

Add Black marabou and true red wool to the list for the third fly: A red and black woolly bugger

 

You can now use the red wool and the furnace cock hackles to make Red Tags.

 

Add wools and furs to the list and tie basic mayfly nymphs.

 

And you are on your way....

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I would start of with a pheasant tail nymph. The materials are simple.

size 16 or 14 nymph hook

6/0 brown thread

pheasant tail

peacock

copper wire

optional gold bead

 

Very simple pattern to tye and its one of the best.

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I live in the south eastern united states. I fish mostly for bass and bluegill. There are a few trout streams and rivers around and I fish them 2 times a month.

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When I first started tying I just bought a beginner's fly-tying kit at my local sporting goods store. I think it cost under $50. It had everything I needed to get started (vise, misc tools, thread, hooks, materials, etc). There wasn't a ton of materials, but definitely enough to get started. Once you get a few flies under your belt you will know what else you need/want for materials. Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops both have a bunch of kits for a reasonable price.

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Starting out can be quite expensive. Considering hooks alone, you will want at least 2 styles: heavy wire (for wets and nymphs) and light wire (for dries). And you will want several sizes of each (say 8, 10 and 12 to start.) You only need one thread to start. 6/0 Uni is a good choice. Some would choose white, some black.

 

Google for pattern materials and tying details. These would be my choices for first flies:

 

NYMPHS: Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Matt's Fur, Tellico, Bird's Stone

 

WETS: March Brown Flymph, Partidge and Yellow, Starling and Herl, Stewart's Black Spider

 

DRIES: Elk Hair Caddis, Adams, Gray Wulff, Hendrickson (light &/or dark)

 

Don't aim to tye them all. Check out the recipes and see what you will need to buy. Cock capes and partridge skins are not cheap! And there are a lot of techniques to learn. Take your time and enjoy the experience.

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If you look on hook and hackle, they have sets of their different types of hooks. So they have nymph caddis dries and streamer sets and they have 25 hooks of three different sizes

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I'm a relative newbie myself, but I'd like to throw in my 2 cents. I suggest you consider first what kind of fish you plan to use your flies for. I life in a part of Florida where most people fish in salt water, and the local fly tiers tend to make lots of streamers and clousers, etc. I, like you, mostly fish for bluegills, so I tend to concentrate on popping bugs, rubber spiders, wooly buggers, and the like.

 

After deciding what you want to tie, you can look at lots of patterns on this, and other websites, and get a good idea what materials, hook style and size, etc., you would most likely use. Personally I like to play around with alternative materials For example, Jo Ann Fabrics has lots of Dacron embroidery flosses in many vibrant colors. I did spring for a couple of starter kits for rubber spiders and ants when I started. They supplied me with enough material for a good start. I sprung for a starter selection of hackles from Cabela's (I think), and bought a beginner kit (vise, bobbin, etc.) from Bass Pro Shop.

 

Take it slow. You don't need to rush out and buy a bunch of stuff you're not likely to ever use.

 

Good luck!

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Beginner fly tyers material list

 

This list of beginner tying materials is simply a list based on my 30+ years experience in fly tying. The list provided below is for a new tyer who wants to tie trout flies but can spill over to different genres of fly tying. It is a BASIC list. Could other items have appeared on the list? of course they could but that's somebody elses list. Other tyers will add or subtract materials to their liking. So be it. Remember its a BASIC list of materials. It contains materials the can tie hundreds or even thousands of fly patterns.

 

This list is in no order of preference. This list is provided for your convenience and in no way requires you to buy all tying materials all at once or any materials for that matter. It is also a generic list of materials as I really don't have any preferences as to what brand of materials you buy. I really don't what brands you buy.

Eventually you will need materials if you want to continue tying flies. The list may give you a head start as to what you might want to buy

 

1. Hooks (in different styles and sizes)

2. Thread (6/0 to start in black & white)

3. Pheasant Tail (center feathers when possible for the longest fibers)

4. Peacock Herl (eye feathers and strung herl)

5. Marabou (blood quills are better)

6. Deer hair

7. Elk hair

8. Buck tail (in different colors like red, yellow, or white)

9. Lead or non-lead wire (in different sizes)

10. Ribbing wire (silver, copper & gold)

11. Rooster Hackle (grizzly, brown, white & dun) A good option is an introduction pack as is grade 3 necks

12. Hen neck or saddle (grizzly, brown, dun etc) (great for soft hackle & wings)

13. Hungarian Partridge Skin (great for soft hackles)

14. Dubbing dispenser of hares ear (various colors) + a full hares mask

15. Gray duck or goose wing feathers (used for wing cases, tails, bodies etc)

16. Head cement

17. Tinsel and other flash materials (in assorted colors)

18. Calf tail (start with white, add colors when necessary)

19. Yarns & chenille (used for making bodies, both in assorted colors)

20. Floss (1 strand or 4 strand in assorted colors)

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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.

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I live in the south eastern united states. I fish mostly for bass and bluegill. There are a few trout streams and rivers around and I fish them 2 times a month.

 

I'm in Texas, and the bluegill around here will hit almost anything; wooly bugger, small popper, and even elk hair caddis. All of these are pretty easy to tie.

 

For bass, rabbit hair is a good all-purpose material. Try a Bouface - I've caught a lot of bass in stock ponds with that fly using chartreuse rabbit strips and marabou.

 

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Since you fish for bg. I would suggest chenille and 2mm craft foam sheets. A myriad of floating creations can be tied and oh rubber leg material.

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It's hard to go wrong with a couple of woolly buggers. Some size 14 hooks, chenille, marabou, thread, and some inexpensive webby hackle feathers. Tools needed are the bare minimum, a vise, scissors, bobbin, and hackle pliers.

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Just getting ready to start fly tying here in the Midwest. Fish smallmouth and steelhead both with spinning gear and fly fish gear. All flys have been purchased.

Are there any suggestions for books on fly tying here in the Midwest fish that will help me learn the various techniques of fly tying? Most of what I have seen

seems to cover trout lessons and how to progress to the more difficult patterns? Will appreciate any suggestions. Thanks

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