This is copied from my blog. If it is not OK to post links, let me know and I will make sure I take them out and refrain from posting them in the future. I did some searching, but couldn't find anything that said link were OK or not OK.
http://www.brookfieldangler.com/2012/02/bfa-ties-flies.html
A while back, I was given a practically brand new Dan-Vice by a great guy named Brandon. My initial plan for this vice was to tie up some gar lures - they weren't going to be pretty and the term fly would have been an outright lie - but that never really happened, and the vice just sat there collecting dust.
Fast forward a few months to when I decided to start fly fishing...it wasn't long before I was becoming addicted! Once I caught my first fish on the fly, and took a few solo fly trips, I was officially hooked. Following my trip with my buddy Sam where I caught my first coho on the fly, I developed an overwhelming urge to attempt tying my own flies! With that, I hit the great information highway we call the internet in search of a few patterns that I wanted to tie for different species like pike, steelhead, bass, and carp. Once finding these patterns, I made a materials list in Excel and then I went shopping on Ebay! For no more than $40, I ordered a bunch of materials to get me on my way.
The first tie that I decided to tackle was a pattern that I saw on the blog Illinois-Wisconsin Fishing called the Estaz Egg. I ended up tying a few of these last night and by the last one, I was starting to get the hang of this!
If you are a friend on the BrookFieldAngler Facebook page, you may have already seen these - if not here they are!!
Attempt 1
Attempt 2
Attempt 3
Overall, I am quite happy with the results! I still need to get used the whole whip finishing thing as this seems to be the biggest challenge right now. I am currently trying to do it by hand and may buy a whip finisher to make things easier and to be a bit more precise with the thread placement.
My next fly will be an awesome pike fly from a guy named Simon who lives on Replot Island in Finland called the Replot Stinger. This will be done in time for the upcoming pike spawn!
As someone who just went/is going through the same thing, I recommend finding two or three flies that you want to tie. Once you identify those, make a list of materials needed to tie those and then go shopping. Many of those materials will transfer to other patterns - especially tools and threads. As you complete the first couple of patterns, pick a couple more that you want to tie and repeat the whole process. By the tiem you tie a dozen or so patterns, you will have a nice little selection of materials to tie a bunch of different things