Fly tying with found materials

[Jacktown 0]

Does anyone use materials they find to tie in their flies and what are they?

[add147 0]

I am not sure I exactly understand you question. Please explain what you yare wondering about.

[cheech 0]

Does anyone use materials they find to tie in their flies and what are they?

I find everything I need at fly shops...

[Dave G. 0]

Years ago when my daughter was still living at home she had a grey rabbit. Brush that sucker, it produced great dubbing for caddis nymphs. It was a nice smoky looking grey dubbing. I still have a little left.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Do you have pets Jacktown? If you do have pets (of the hairy variety) their hair can be used in a variety of ways to substitute other more common hairs at the fly shop. Personally, i have a cat, a golden retriever and two guinea pigs, loads of hair for all the flies i could possibly dream of.

[Jacktown 0]

I am not sure I exactly understand you question. Please explain what you yare wondering about.

I am asking if anyone uses any thing like found materials like found feathers or foam. I am trying to find supplies to use

[Jacktown 0]

I am not sure I exactly understand you question. Please explain what you yare wondering about.

I am asking if anyone uses any thing like found materials like found feathers or foam. I am trying to find supplies to use

[fshrmanms 0]

I use goose and turkey feathers, deer, rabbit, and squirrel hair. I find these and more in the woods usually suffering from acute lead poisoning there are several threads on this site describing what to do next. I find foam at the walmart. I turn cedar wood I found to make popper bodies by shaping it in my lathe. Oh also there is road kill to consider. be careful not to pick up any illegal feathers such as the ones from songbirds etc. .

[Bryon Anderson 0]

There is a very innovative fly tier named Jay "Fishy" Fullum who writes a column on fly tying with common household items as materials in every issue of Fly Tyer magazine. He has written two books on the subject:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fishys-Flies-Jay-Fullum/dp/0811726169/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436393030&sr=8-1&keywords=fishy%27s+flies

 

http://www.amazon.com/Tying-Common-Household-Materials-Tyer-ebook/dp/B006MCG0CM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436393077&sr=8-2&keywords=fishy%27s+flies

[mikechell 0]

Flip flops for 97 cents and Walmart.

Sewing thread for those flies that don't need really fine threads, various prices at various stores.

Foam sheets and blocks for a $1.00 per pack at Dollar Tree.

Feather boas for short marabou type feather barbs ... $1.00 per boa at Dollar Tree.

Super Glues and fingernail polishes for $1.00 a bottle/tube at Dollar Tree.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Oh here's another material use, elastic bands. Perfect for fly bodies, adding weight and come in just the right brown and tan colour. They are also great for san juan worms, tie them on top, segment it with the thread, and the band twitches and sways like crazy, make sure to use thinner bands though, relatively the same width all the way around are what i use.

[mikechell 0]

Take the wire from that old toaster you're throwing out. Strip the insulation, and use the wire to weight small flies and to use for ribbing on larger flies.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Take the wire from that old toaster you're throwing out. Strip the insulation, and use the wire to weight small flies and to use for ribbing on larger flies.

Hmm never thought of that mike, i have a few old devices laying around....free wire!!! Thanks mike

[Stevester 0]

People forget that the original pheasant tail nymph was tied with a hook, pheasant tail and fine wire from an old radio transformer that Frank Sawyer scavenged from somewhere. No peacock, no hackle, no thread, no bead no problem. Z-lon was originally found as the core of a boot lace that John Betts was playing with. Most of the stuff we think of as special for fly tying was originally a "found" material that someone had the bright idea of using for a fly.

 

Steve

[utyer 0]

In the beginning, and for a very long time all fly tying was done with "found" materials. The tying of flies has been around for about 2000 years (that we know of,) and fly shops for only about 200. So for 90% of its history, fly tying has been done entirely with materials collected by the tier. Most of the first flies recorded were made with common materials found around the house and barn yards of the tiers. Yarns, thread, furs hairs and feathers were all common elements of rural life.

 

Today, these materials are everywhere. Yarns of every descriptions will shred up into very nice dubbing. These yarns can be blended with pieces of fur to create many more blends of dubbing. Yarn scraps, can often be had simply by asking someone who knits or does other crafts with yarn. Yard sales are another source. Threads for common sewing can be used to make files, but they are often too thick and bulky. There are many modern synthetic sewing threads that are very fine, and can be used to tie even the smallest patterns. I use Gutermann Skala and Bulky Nylon threads. I would not recommend cotton threads.

 

Wire can be salvaged from electrical cords, and various electronics. Both copper and silvered wire are available.

 

Trapping and hunting can be an excellent source of furs, hairs, and feathers. If you don't hunt, you might try a taxidermy shop and see what scraps you can round up.

 

Many feathers from birds that are farm raised, or have legal hunting seasons are very commonly used. Almost all song birds, shore birds, wading birds, and raptors are protected in the US and other countries. Simple possession of these feathers can land one in a heap of trouble. Learn which feathers you can have, and which ones you should NOT collect.

 

There is no reason NOT to tie with "found" materials, and there is NO real reason any one HAS to tie listed patterns with the listed materials. You are trying to fool a fish, and they are easily fooled with many different patterns there is NO secret magic in the expensive "fly shop" materials.

 

I have mixed and blended my own dubbing for about 30 years, and I have been able to make any kind of dubbing I need. To me fly tying is about creativity NOT the rote duplication of some listed fly pattern. Study the natural fish food, and then try and find materials that will let you "invent" a successful representation of that food item. Any material that works (and is legal,) is fair. The brand name on a package should NOT be important. If you can find a less expensive alternative, use it. If it work, fine, if it doesn't find something else.

 

Don't think that a list of "found" materials will solve all your tying problems. There are techniques that you will need to learn, and the tying of patterns that work should be a life long learning experience.