Post What Materials You Find Where

[SwampHunter 0]

I was in Wal-mart craft department tonight and found huge roll after roll of chenille in all sorts of colors. Is this stuff any good for tying?

They also had some other stuff called lion suede or something close to that name. There was also some stuff that looked like dubbing on a huge rolls sewn onto fabric. There was some plastic lace used for necklaces that looked kinda like larva lace.

 

Any leads on what to find at what stores that you can buy in bulk that aren't at fly tying stores?

[Redleg 0]

Watch for different kinds of tinsel, strand and tube style. After seeing some of Bud's concoctions, I've picked up a few things I'm experimenting with from Jo-Ann fabrics.

[Guest]

I have used the lion seude chenille it is really thick . Makes a fat bodied woolly bugger.

 

John

[mb82 0]

I use the crafting foam for some of my larger foam flies. The stuff is cheap; $.79 for a 1.5ft by 2ft piece and they have a ton of colors.

[Guest]

I'm STONED!

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi SwampHunter,

 

Tyvek is a great wing material for caddis and stoneflies. It accept color from a felt tip marker well and is easy to cut to shape. It is readily available at construction sights or in Priority Mail envelopes. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

[Joe Hard 0]

All kinds of beads, mono threads, craft fur, glues, doll eyes, embrody flosses, wool, containers for materials, craft feathers, sometimes peacock herl, thread racks, cork for poppers and paint, alot of stuff. Most times its cheap and weather you use it or not you will have it. I find you always have to keep an eye out because Wallmart and "dollar type" stores are always brinning in new stock. If you think you could use it on a fly chances are you can and alot of us here have tried it or cant wait to get there to look for stuff.

[JoeFish 0]

look at craft stores for feathers and stuff like that. usually they have an assortment of marabou that is good enough for buggers. I have also been able to easily find black, brown, and white biots that are great for nymph tails. much cheaper and more quantity than fly shop materials.

 

Joe

[sharpster68 0]

I have found peacock feathers reasonably cheap compared to fly shop prices at craft stores like Michaels. and sometimes you get the whole feather and not just a small piece of it. I also use some of the smaller jewelery wire in gold and silver, as well as foam and materials to build my own custom fly boxes at craft stores. when it comes to thread though i prefer to use a good quality thread from a fly supply manufacturer.

[SullyTM 0]

...electronic equipment is sometimes packed with THIN styrofoam sheeting. I've used it for emerger patterns etc. If you go to your local Best Buys, computer store they might have a bunch to give you instead of throwing it the trash.

 

Home Depot, Lowes etc.. You'd be surprised want you'll find there

 

Another great source is burlap. Here in Northern California a few local communities provide sand and burlap bage during the rainy winter months... One bag, washed out after a long winter and you're set with burlap for a looooooooooong time.

 

Bwup! SullyTM

[Guest]

in the last year i've been starting to use tulle for wings on caddis, and will probably start using them for spent wings on mayflies. this is the mat'l that they make veils out of. can get it in large quantities at some art and craft stores, as well as fabric stores.

[appalachian angler (tn.) 0]

I do the "craft store thing" too being as generally cheap as I am...but, for chennile esp. I will say that the fly shop stuff is supeior. Much of the other chenille may have a cotton core (weaker and can rot) and seems to lack the luster of that which you find in fly shops. The fly shop chennile also has stiffer fibers, so when you wrap it on the hook, you can actually get a sort-of palmered effect. If you want a material that will sink better though, then the craft store variety is your best bet.

 

Probably the item I go for most at the craft store is beads. The only thing they lack is the counter drilled hole. I have bought feathers too, but the quality can be pretty marginnal. Always worth the look though!

 

AA

[Kyle Hand 0]

I am a serious alternative tying source junky. I hang out at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Cross Stitch and Fabric stores. Jo-Anne's has something new every time I walk in there.

 

That being said I will warn you that some of the foam I have been buying at the craft stores does not float nearly as well as the stuff I can buy at the fly shop. You are probably not going to find many counter drilled beads at these places either.

 

Now that I have put my foot in my mouth, one cannot argue with the results obtained by Ronn Lucas, Al Beaty, Fishy Fullum, Dave Whitlock, et al, who have produced very nice patterns from the stuff they get at these places.

 

The ladies at the cross-stitch store love having me come in. They have a little bin they put some new stuff in just to show me when I come in. They also like to look at the salmon flies (bodies) and see other uses for their product.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Kyle

[Catalpa_Joe 0]

I bought a womans old feather hat that had to be at least 50 years old at an antique shop for $3.50. Lots of great feathers on it for the crawdad pattern I'm trying this year. My wife looked at me like I had gone over the edge when she saw me taking it to the register! The shop also several mink & fox things that I didn't buy but I'll be back soon to see what else I can find.

[Gregg A 0]

It's not just the craft isle, but also the health and beauty section. Foam for putting make up on with works real well. Just have to cut it to the shape you want. The other morning I was in Wally World with my wife. I dissapeared in the make up isle, and came out with a bottle of red finger nail polish, with the thin fine brush. And a brush used to rub make up all over you face. Tails for drys. Hey, I liked the color. But my wife still thinks I have a dark side. She says no normal man would go shopping in the beauty section. I told her she aint met too many fly tyers then.

 

Hmmmmm. This post gives me another idea for another post.