Best kit for a beginner

[Dave G. 0]

I never went for the kit idea personally. My Stepson and I took up tying together pushing on towards three dacades ago now. Then my son joined us ( he now is teaching his son to tie). We bought a Thompson Vise, a couple of bobbins of our choice, used razor blades for trimming. I went on to buy a whip finisher but we did that and half hitches by hand for maybe a year before that. I bought my own vice in due time because I wanted rotary features, he still uses that Thompson to this day. My son has two of teh Cabela style vises with the Gold head on them and is happy with them. I added scissors and a bodkin to my kit. All over time. I changed out my hackle priers to the sping clip type because I like the lite weight. Our first tying book I still have , it's the spiral bound Orvis book of basic tying with loads of patterns. All three of us learned from that book before all the youtube videos were available. That book gives all the steps to a basic Wooly Bugger, Hairs ear, the Adams I think or other dry, Muddler Minow, a basic streamer and wet fly. Then some salt water patterns. From there and especially today you have all sorts of videos online. We have caught many many fish between then and now. Some patterns are completely our own, others duplicate flies we found or someone elses pattern and spin off there of. Once you have the basics down you can tie most anything. Decent tools will last a lifetime. We buy just the materials for what we know we want to tie and still have way too much in our kits !!! No need to buy stuff you don't need besides that.

[Roland58 0]

I find very little of any good from Michaels, and don't shop HL

 

I find more good stuff at either Walmart or JoAnn Fabrics.

Haven't tried Michaels yet, but, I'm sure it would be a lot like Hobby Lobby. What do you find there, FlaFly? I go to Wally World pretty often and always look in the fishing stuff, never thought about the sewing section........good idea!

[flytire 0]

michaels and a.c. moore in my area has waaay more tying materials and a better selection than walmart

[FlaFly 0]

Roland

I won't say Michael's has nothing usable... just that whatever they have, I've found better choices and/or prices at places like Walmart. Go to Walmart's craft section and you can find a big block of assorted colors of foam sheets for about $5. All I can find at Mike's are foam popsicle stick-like things. I did find one good find at Mike's... in the beading section there was a kit of epoxy and hardener in two jars about 2 inches high and 3 inches wide, with wide lids... real easy to dip out exactly equal quantities of each for mixing. I use a tiny plastic disposable spoon for the dipping. When I went back, and to other Mike's stores, they don't seem to carry it any more. Nobody there even knows what it is, and their web site is next to useless.

Others here have recommended some nice things from JoAnn's that I haven't bought because I'm not ready for them, but will do so when and if.

[Dave G. 0]

JoAnn's is all about fabrics and threads, tinsels, trim threads etc., they have a lot of stuff and my wife being into sewing for decades has collected quite a lot herself. I've been known to raid her stash. I have not frequented JoAnns to any great extent as yet but will visit there eventually. The last flyrod I built I used silver thread from JoAnnes for the contrast banding on the wraps, my wife had it in her extensive inventory of threads.

[FlaFly 0]

Our JoAnn stores are big, and full of all kinds of craft materials.... beading, felt, foam, you name it.