About the evolution of YOUR fly tying.

[Bimini15 0]

I keep mulling around this idea for a standing tying desk and I keep trying to design the perfect benchtop space with a space for everything... And I realize that I have some stuff that should not have a space at all, not anymore. For example, I have lots of colored nail polish that I used to use in heads but were replaced by superglue and UV resins.

 

So, what other things have you observed that have become obsolete?

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Interesting question...there are lots of things that used to be kind of a pain in the rear for which there are now "quick-and-easy" solutions. We now have all the synthetic wing cases, crayfish bodies, etc. that you can just lash on the hook, where once upon a time we used things like feathers or Swiss Straw coated in flexament and folded and/or cut to shape; the proliferation of ultra-lifelike stick-on eyes for streamers (I used to painstakingly paint them on, using the heads of nails dipped in paint to make the iris and pupil separately). One of the only things that really strikes me as obsolete now is epoxy for streamer heads or nymph wing cases. I know some people still use it, but the UV cure stuff is so much quicker and easier, I think epoxy is likely to become the fly tying equivalent of the pay telephone.

I would also say that some of the harder-to-obtain natural materials--Jungle Cock, seal fur, polar bear hair--could be called obsolete now because there are such good synthetic substitutes that are readily available.

[SBPatt 0]

I bought a tube of Wonderwax years ago and found I really had no use for it. Then about 2 years ago, I got on a Davie McPhail kick and found how useful the wax was for securing materials with a minimum of thread wraps; it's also great for holding stuff like deer, elk and moose body hair in dubbing loops until they can be spun up.

Went back to the box I'd kept the wax in to see what other tools I'd abandoned - when was the last time I used hackle guards? Can't bring myself to pitch them, though; they might make a comeback.

 

Regards,

Scott

[Bugsy 0]

Nymo thread and Kevlar, too, though I've spooled up both in the last year or two to remember what I haven't been missing.

 

Bullet-head tool set. I happily used them way back when I was on a kick tying that style salmon fly dries and hoppers. Yeah, it was a silly $2 purchase, but at least I never bought into hackle guards.

 

Sculpin wool. The big hanks that were probably just wool roving repackaged. It does work, as does wool on the skin, but there are other choices today that are easier to work with and take creativity to another level.

 

Ultra hair. Too stiff and lifeless for flies other than big offshore streamers.

 

Diamond braid. While I'll still use my stock, it's taken a backseat to flat braid.

 

Mylar tubing, particularly gold and silver. I just can't find much use for it anymore.

[Rocco 0]

This is not a tale of evolving use of materials/tools over decades of tying so much as an admission of "why the hell did I ever buy it" syndrome -- almost instant buyer's remorse if you will.. I get seized on whiz bang cool things I see in videos, at symposia, etc. and NEED to try out but in fact never -- or very rarely -- use them once owned.

 

The DeJean clear plastic clip set for making dubbing l;oops for example. Maybe use it once a year when I stumble onto it in the recesses of my bins, Otherwise, I do a lot of dubbing loops including compound loops but regular thread loops do the job nicely most of the time.

 

My wire dubbing brush gets periodic use when I bring home some new synthetics or flash materials but not frequently enough to justify even the space it takes up.

 

Wing burners!

 

Wiggle lips!

 

Yeah I'm a gadgetaholic.

 

Rocco

[spiralspey 0]

Chenille. I know it's useful for specific patterns like worms and for legs on crabs, but aside from that I haven't used it in 20 years. I always wonder why I see so much of it in fly shops because very few modern patterns call for it.

[Bimini15 0]

Right with you on most everything that has been mentioned.

 

Specially in the synthetics field, I feel that so many new materials have come out, including many with high sheen or flash mixed right it. I can't think of the last time I used flashabou and krystal flash. Most of the flash in my flies these days comes from estaz, ice dubbings, etc.

[mikechell 0]

This is not a list I can add to. I rarely buy stuff just to buy stuff.

I can say that I bought a brass tool for pressing deer hair that I used once. It failed to do what I wanted and I got rid of it. I might buy a Fugly ... but probably not.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Mike, if the brass tool you had for packing hair was a "Brassie" (as popularized by Chris Helm), I can tell you from experience that the Fugly is an exponentially better tool and was well worth the money for me. I say this as a guy whose two most frequently-muttered comments when browsing fly tying catalogs are "What the hell...?" and "Oh, gimme a break..." The Fugly is one of the few fly tying tools I've ever purchased that I can say without hesitation improved the quality of my flies and the enjoyment I derived from tying them. Bang-for-the-buck-wise, I would place it alongside my vise and good, sharp, quality scissors.

[flytire 0]

what i dont need i try to sell or give away. when that doesnt work....

 

 

but i have materials like swanunndaze (google it) i bought years ago that i never use but cant see getting rid of it. i just might use one day

[JSzymczyk 0]

Chenille. I know it's useful for specific patterns like worms and for legs on crabs, but aside from that I haven't used it in 20 years. I always wonder why I see so much of it in fly shops because very few modern patterns call for it.

 

because only "modern" patterns catch fish....

 

with the availability of GSP, kevlar thread has become almost useless.

 

But it can be said that many things are obsolete compared to current offerings... silk thread for example- but many people still use it. Today's "Tyer's Grade" genetic hackle would make a Theodore Gordon, or a Dette or a Wulff crap their pants. A silver grade or higher skin would probably give them a stroke.

 

There will always be a place for ancient materials and methods, just as there will always be a place for the newest cutting edge adaptation of a "new" material.

 

ALL of the stuff we wrap around a hook with thread could be considered obsolete. We really could be all using molded synthetic ("soft plastic") bugs and baitfish and lures which are hundreds of times better at suggesting food to fish, and cheaper too, but that wouldn't be much fun.

[JSzymczyk 0]

 

 

but i have materials like swanunndaze (google it)

 

dont' need to google it... I have several packages left over from the 80's which I still use for nymphs now and then.... good stuff.

[Piker20 0]

Chenille for me too. A few cards lying in a box and never seeing daylight. Also everything purple. Always think it'll bring something different to a fly in place of black or red and then realise why black and red have endured in patterns for so long.

[vicrider 0]

 

I would also say that some of the harder-to-obtain natural materials--Jungle Cock, seal fur, polar bear hair--could be called obsolete now because there are such good synthetic substitutes that are readily available.

Byron, where can you get a sub for JC that doesn't look like a cheap piece of painted plastic on there. I've ordered it from a couple of places in the past that claimed how good there's was and it is still nothing but airbrushed art transferred to plastic punchouts. I still have a lot of god JC in a skin and loose but might someday want a sub if one is not ugly to the eye.

 

Piker, quit hiding the purple. In motorcycling we used to say black is the new chrome. In flies purple is the new black/red. I'm just going through everything right now after completing my classic hair flies and they create a huge mess of everything. As I go through a lot of things I think...I haven't used this in a long time, maybe I don't need it...but then I think of the one fly I might have bought it for and that I might use it again so it goes in the back of drawer probably never to see daylight again.

[cphubert 0]

Good topic- if I ever get the nerve to open the closet, last time I tried to sort old tools and material (other than old thread and floss, easy to throw away) I ended up needing bigger boxes. I came to the conclusion that the next guy can sort it out.