new tyer

[Robert73 0]

I'm just getting into tying my own flies. Where is the best place to buy tying supplies and cheapest? Thanks

[flytire 0]

read this

 

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=82164

 

even more if you try the search function

[Goose77 0]

Hey Robert, welcome to the forum. I don't believe I can help you find inexpensive materials...it looks like flytire has a good source for you to check out. What I can say is that the forum is a really good place to learn. Good luck and cheers, Ed

[flytire 0]

for cheap try fly tyers dungeon. they dont carry a lot of materials but the prices are good

 

there is no 'mother of all online fly shops' that carry every single fly tying material.

 

prices are going to be roughly the same from shop to shop

 

the link i provided has a bunch of shops listed. do some searching on your own at some of the shops

 

also support your local fly shop. they'll appreciate your business and are a wealth of information

 

if you find a shop sign up for their newsletter if they have one. they will email you specials

[mikechell 0]

Depends on what you're tying for. I tie to fish. Other's tie for the art and challenge of ever more difficult patterns.

If you're like me ... go to Dollar Tree ... Walmart ... Halloween stores ... hobby shops ... etc.

 

 

 

 

 

[tidewaterfly 0]

Or, have flytire adopt you! I hear he has plenty & may need an heir!

[Bryon Anderson 0]

http://www.flytyersdungeon.com/ for flash materials, dubbing, synthetic hair, rubber legs, stick-on eyes and things like that. Their quality is on par with the name-brand stuff in fly shops, and they sell it for a fraction of the price.

 

try your local fabric/craft store like JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels, Hobby Lobby or similar -- they don't sell stuff specifically made for fly tying, but they sell tons of stuff that can be used for fly tying, and it's usually pretty cheap. Sheets of craft foam, assorted feathers, beads and beading wire, all kinds of yarn--just walk around and use your imagination.

 

If you're going to tie dry flies, you don't want to go too cheap on dry fly hackle. Collins Hackle Farm (http://www.collinshacklefarm.com) has very good quality hackle at very reasonable prices, and a wide range of standard colors and variants to choose from.

 

I would also recommend the book Fly Tying With Common Household Materials by Jay Fullum. Lots of ideas on how to make flies out of stuff you probably have lying around the house, or that you can get very inexpensively at your local household goods store. http://www.amazon.com/Tying-Common-Household-Materials-Tyer/dp/0762770848/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=514msGba0gL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR113%2C160_&refRID=0CNWS8JKZPM0Z6N78GS8

 

Good luck and welcome to the forum and the fly tying addiction.

[Gene L 0]

You would be doing yourself a favor if you bought an introductory book on fly tying (not a kit) and determined what you want to buy. Most books for introductory tying will offer several beginning flies with instructions and materials needed.

 

The temptation is to buy a kit, but it's false economy.

 

This isn't the cheapest hobby you could take up, BTW. If I live to be 200 and never buy another thing, I might make my investment back.

[Meeshka 0]

Isn't that the truth Gene. I just can't walk past a place that sells fly tying stuff without spending some cash. Oh well, could be worse

[Bryon Anderson 0]

+1 on Gene L's recommendation to get a good book on beginning fly tying. My own personal choice on that would be Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple by Skip Morris (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=fly+tying+made+clear+and+simple) but there are many other good ones out there and I'm sure some other folks here will recommend some of those, too.

 

It is a good idea to focus on one simple pattern at a time when you're first starting out--pick your pattern, get just the materials to tie that pattern and work on it until you've got it down. Then pick another pattern and repeat, and so on. After a while you'll see that the vast majority of fly patterns out there call for just a few basic skills. Master those skills at the beginning and you'll suddenly find you have hundreds if not thousands of patterns that you can tie with no additional instruction needed.

 

Oh, and my two cents' worth on the expense of this hobby--first, I wouldn't think of it as an "investment"--money you spend that you'll somehow recoup later on. That's not what this is about. It's about doing something you enjoy and find rewarding. Secondly, there are other hobbies that are WAY more expensive than fly tying--I can personally attest that fly tying is a drop in the bucket compared to something like photography or woodworking.

[FlaFly 0]

Or golf.... balls, clubs and green fees. Or sailing.

 

BTW Bryon... how would you compare the tutorials on flyanglersonline.com to the book you mentioned? I personally learned a lot of technique there.

[rstaight 0]

If you have a fly shop in the area check into some classes. Even with classes a book on tying is a reference source you will always check into.

 

At our club meeting we have a new member you is also getting into fly tying. I told him welcome to the most expensive hobby you will ever try with the excuse of saving money.

 

Check out hobby stores such as Hobby Lobby. Even the craft section at Wal-Mart.

[mikechell 0]

Depends on what you're tying for. I tie to fish.

 

 

I told him welcome to the most expensive hobby you will ever try with the excuse of saving money.

 

Differences in purposes, I guess. As I've said before, you CAN save money tying your own flies, if you just tie what you NEED to fish with. I never tie more than 6 flies of any type, because I know I won't use more than that in one day. When I get low, I tie another 6.

I also only have about a dozen patterns I regularly use, so none of those masses of material some people have all over the place.

 

If you're a fly angler who wants to tie flies to fish with ... you'll make up your expenses and be saving money in a short amount of time.

If you're a fly tier who, once in a while uses the flies you tie ... then you'll spend more on materials than you'll use.

[Cold 0]

Mike, to be fair, in order to keep your tying economical, you're limiting yourself fairly significantly in the scope of your tying. That is not to say you're not adequately prepared for the fishing you do, but rather that the fishing you do gives you the luxury of keeping your tying very focused on a small handful of patterns, methods, etc.

 

Even just adding some decent-to-good trout fishing to your neck of the woods would (in order to be adequately prepared for average trout fishing conditions) require a significantly greater expansion of material inventory and tying...there's very few ways of getting around buying good genetic (expensive) dry fly hackle, for example, that doesn't involve simply not fishing dry flies in a lot of situations. Sure you can focus on hairwings and spent patterns, but genetic hackle is, for the most part, a necessary expense for most fly tyers that fish for trout. You can't cheap out and get strung hackle and expect it to do the job.

 

Flies can certainly be tied on a budget, but it comes with significant limitations, and even the most austere tyer is only likely breaking even vs. buying flies online. I hope I never know how much money I have in my hoard!

[FlaFly 0]

Robert73 looks like your post has been hijacked. Sorry for that. Sometimes we just can't help ourselves.

 

Like Mike said way back up at the top of this string, it depends on what you want to use the flies for. If you've lurked this forum any at all, you'll have noticed that there are lots of ways to tie, and lots of reasons to. Some people professionally tie flies for commercial sale. Some tie realistic flies for display only. Some try to "match the hatch" to tie whatever the trout are feeding on at a given time and place. Some of us in the south don't fish for trout, but either fish for freshwater panfish (including LM bass), or in saltwater for a variety of fish. Even guys in the north may prefer fishing for smallies, or striped bass. Everyone has a different goal, and/or a different target.

 

What's the cheapest place to buy material. If you don't specify, then the guys that recommend craft stores and Walmart are right. If you're a "hatch matcher", the answer will be different.