I wish there was a chart somewhere about densities of material

[tidewaterfly 0]

Eric, when many of us started tying, there wasn't the proliferation of materials available that are today. It can be overwhelming, and yes can get expensive if you allow it to be. It's highly probable that most of us don't have unlimited financial resources, but we all started at some point & built an inventory of supplies. It takes both time & money.

You can make this as simple or involved as you like!

 

As flytire has said (and many times to beginners) start basic, by picking a small number of patterns (as per his recommendation, 5 to 10) and purchase the necessary materials. IF, some of the materials are not readily available to you, it's a simple matter of asking about alternatives. Many materials listed in pattern recipes will have alternative materials that will work just as well.

 

This is a fly tying forum, so the folks here are always willing to help the beginners anyway we can. IMO, you appear to be complicating getting started, and shouldn't.

 

Hell man, we all would love to have the resources to tie every fly & create new ones, but as you already realize that's not possible for any of us.

 

Start Slow! PICK some patterns, obtain your supplies for those patterns and/or get advice on alternatives & get to tying! It's as easy as that!

 

Of course, the difficult part may be picking the patterns! We all have that problem sometimes!

[saltydancindave 0]

A chart of some tying material comparisons from years ago. Can't recall the source.

[epzamora 0]

LOL. see? i KNEW there was a chart somewhere of something! I think i'll finally get some sleep tonight..... (chuckling). i'll have to post some photos of my attempts at fly tying. you'll get a laugh. and i'm fine with that. they make me laugh too.

 

(my original post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek)

 

eric

fresno, ca.

[Guest]

We all had those first fly attempts!!!!LOL so you are not alone!! I'm really lucky that I have several fly shops nearby and one I've gotten to be good friends with the owner. I've got friends who hunt and dry the hides and gotten some nice pieces.

 

There is a seller on ebay by the name of bronze3 and he puts out some packs of 7 different fur pieces or if you get into a certain style of fly real big pieces of that material. http://www.ebay.com/sch/bronze3/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1 I've gotten some real nice pieces from him and never been disappointed. Not hunting season yet so he doesn't have as many as he usually does.

[Roland58 0]

I had some of your same questions, as I like dry/floating flies simply because I like to see the strike. Someone put me on to flytyersdungeon.com and they seem to have a lot of different materials at very reasonable prices. Also, look for materials you can use at places like Hobby Lobby in the crafts section. Lots of feathers, beads, tinsel,foam, etc. very cheap.