gadabout

My flies got mailed today.

Yes, he was a huge hero of mine too.

I’m in. I’ll do “Northern Lights” by Joni aka Fly Goddess.

Stunning!

I also have that FishPond Road Trip bag. Very well designed. It's amazing how much stuff you can get in there.

Given a choice I would much rather fish for wild fish than stocked fish. As the previous poster suggested, I would rather see the money spent on habitat improvement than on raising fish to be stocked. Sometimes it seems that Fish & Game departments are catering to the guys that come out once a year and chase the exhaust fumes on hatchery trucks.

That's what I do and have always done.

I have several dozen dubbing packages. The purpose of this dispenser is to store a small amount of my dubbing to keep in my portable fly tying kit. I already have some of my most commonly used dubbings in one of these dispenser boxes and have used it for years. I haven't had any problems with it. I use natural dubbing mostly. The one J. Stockard sells looks like the best configuration for my needs.

Thanks guys. All good ideas.

I decided I'm in need of another dubbing dispenser. The kind that is a multi-compartment box with little holes to pull the dubbing out of. I spot-checked a few catalogs and all I see are dispensers that are already loaded with dubbing. I found one in a E Hille catalog, but unless I'm mistaken they no longer seem to exist. Any suggestions?

Congratulations on a good choice. I've never used the Standard but have been tying on a Spartan for the last several years. I'm not sure what the differences are, but I suspect they are mainly cosmetic. The regular jaws are fine. I just bought a pair of Magnum jaws so I can tie saltwater flies, but I see no need to use anything other than the standard jaws for most tying.

I've had the Fishpond Road Trip bag for a couple of years. Although I admit I haven't had a chance to use it much, so far I am very happy with it. It has plenty of storage for it's size and is very well made.

I agree. The HMH Spartan is a great vise. I don't expect to be needing another vise for the rest of my tying career.

I'm a Matarelli guy - have three or four of them. I've used them throughout my entire fly tying career, which is about 32 years now.

I don't think I've ever tied more than a dozen at one sitting. Most of the time about a half dozen.

Glad you made the right choice ( :yahoo: ), but I'll add my own self-biased opinion as well. I tied on a Renzetti Traveler for quite a few years. It served me well, but when I got into tying winged wet flies I found that the configuration of a true-rotary style vise was a big hinderence. It is too tough to access the wings with your left hand when you use that style of vise. I don't do true rotary tying. I just wanted a rotary vise so that I can examine or access the fly from different angles. So at the time I chose to get an HMH Spartan. It was perfect. I had admired the HMH vises ever since I saw Poul Jorgensen tie salmon flies on one way back in my rookie days of fly tying. You will love your HMH vise. The Renzetti Traveler is a great vise, but the design has its limitations, plus Renzetti's customer service/attitude leaves something to be desired.

I Have to go along with this fellow Mary Dette Clark She can Tye fly's for hrs upon Hrs day after day without tiring and she is a fine lady she has been doing this for a very long time and her fly's almost always catch fish especially if you know how to Use them......I salute you Mary you are a wonderful person.. Frank W Zervos Add another vote for Mary. I'll also add Poul Jorgensen and Don Bastian to the list.

I just came home with the 7.2 volt Dirt Devil. Seems to work fine. I was hoping for a "stand up" charging base but none of them seem to have that anymore. I was looking for the popular Black & Decker 9.6 volt model, but none of the stores had it in stock. Thanks for the suggestions.

LOL. Yeah, I had already seen that. More elaborate than what I had in mind.

The dust buster type vacuum that I keep near my fly tying desk has given up the ghost and I'm looking for recommendations for a replacement. Any favorites? The one I have now is a Dust Devil and I have no complaints (other than that it's dead). Would like one where the charger base can stand on the floor, as opposed to being wall-mounted.

I like the Fishpond "Road Trip" fly tying bag. You can store your vise, tools, and a fair amount of material. Link

Welcome Pastor Ron! Glad to hear that your Thompson Model A has held up for so many years.

All good advice so far. My own opinion, if your budget is fixed at what you say it is, is to spend maybe $30-$40 on a simple but reputable vise. Then spend the rest on reasobably priced tools as required. You don't need every type of tool that is out there. You'll need these to start with: Scissors Bobbin Bodkin Half-hitch tool or whip finisher Hackle pliers I started out with Sunrise scissors. They were relatively inexpensive and held up well for quite a few years. They're available straight or curved. I recommend the straight ones. I don't think you need to spend more than $15 for starter scissors, and possibly half that amount. Even if you buy a high quality scissor down the road, you can always use your starter scissors for cutting heavier materials. Most people recommend ceramic bobbins. You will probably need to spend $10 or $12. You can use almost anything that's like a needle for a bodkin. Stick a sewing needle in a wine cork if you have to, but ready made bodkins can be had for $2 or $3 so you may as well buy one. A half hitch tool shouldn't cost you much and is easier to learn on when you're starting out. You can actually buy a combination half-hitch tool and bodkin for just a few bucks. You'll probably want a whip finisher later on. Hackle pliers are needed to wind hackle. There are several different types out there. I like the Herb Howard style. I deliberately didn't mention a specific brand of vise. In years past, everybody started out on a Thompson Model A vise, an inexpensive vise that worked very well. I don't think they're made any more although you might find a used one without too much trouble. I will leave it to others to recommend a comparable vise since I'm not too familiar with current offerings in this price range. The Hook and Hackle catalog is a good place to start. If you have a local fly shop, look there first. Your budget does not leave much for materials as most or all of it will be spent on tools. You can tie flies like a Woolly Bugger and some bucktails with a minimal investment in materials. These are what you should be starting with anyway, so all is not lost. Good luck. Hope this helps.

I think materials organization is one of the most valuable skills you can have as a fly tyer. As I'm sure you'll agree, having all your stuff in a big pile makes every tying session a big chore to the point where you always think twice about even starting to tie. It took me too long to learn this lesson.

I also recommend the H & H half necks from Hook & Hackle. At $15 apiece they are a really good deal. I've purchased a few of these over the last couple of years and am very happy with them. I refuse to pay megabucks for hackle.