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Horsefly, What you’re asking is a tough question. There are so many types of flies and so many materials that trying to buy – what you might need – so you can tie a spur of the moment inspiration is at best a money pit. Certainly there are basic materials like peacock herl and Bucktail (pick a color) but another approach you might consider is this. Make a list of flies you’d like to tie and fish. If you don’t already have a list get a pattern book and pick from that to make a list. Once you have a list get the recipes or lacking a book search the patterns online. Once you have the pattern recipes you can make a list of materials you need and spend your money on materials you’ll actually have a use for. As for what are the common materials I’d recommend beyond Bucktail and Peacock Herl you probably want tinsel and … the list just goes on and on. What you’ll find if you make a list of flies you want to tie is that the common materials will jump right out at you. Hope that helps.

Great tip on the half-hitch. So easy to offset the knots 90-degrees. This might be the answer to something I've wondered about for a long time - why do some half-hitches hold and some not hold. Like SilverCreek I normally use a Whip-Finish but certainly half-hitches are still a knot I often tie. SilverCreek - great shot of the threads. Are the "bumps" of thread all the same number of wraps and the same finish knot?

Fisherboy0301, Moose Mane works pretty well but normally found only in black and the hair is fairly thick. Deer, moose, elk and other body hairs are OK for tails but they flare a lot because they are hollow. Being hollow makes them buoyant but the flaring makes for unnatural looking tailing. However, flies like the Stimulator or Humpy that flare is incorporated into the pattern design and becomes a plus. Not so if you use body hair for tailing on a Catskill type dry.

The Microfibetts are a great tailing material and the paintbrush fibers work well but if you use paintbrush fibers try to find a paintbrush that come to a pointed tip. Many paintbrushes have "exploded" tips because the frayed tips hold paint better. Another thing you might try is to use guard hairs from furs like Muskrat, Beaver, Woodchuck, Badger and such. Guard hairs make great tailing and if you can find the actual "tail" from a Mink or Otter you'll have tailing for a long time.

You can pick it up at most any hardware store or K-Mart, Walmart and such. Just be sure and spray it outside. If you have a scrap 2X4 piece you can drill some 1/4" holes in it and stand a feather in each hole. That way you can spray a pair or a half-dozen pair all at the same time. You just leave them in the holder for a few minutes and they'll dry without sticking to each other or anything else. Doesn't have to be Krylon - any clear acrylic spray will work.

I saw the gap and went with wrapping the hackle lower but I think Piker nailed it. Building the thorax up would close the gap. If you’re having trouble with the knot on the post you could try the Super Glue Gel at the base of the post trick. If you use or don’t mind using Super Glue try this – do everything to finish the fly except wrapping the hackle. I mean everything – dub the head – do a whip finish and cut the thread. Then put a bit of Super Glue Gel at the base of the post and wrap the hackle down into the Super Glue Gel. Hold it for a bit and cut the tip off. Done. You can use regular Super Glue but you have to be real careful it doesn’t just wick into your dubbing.

You keep tying like that and you can spell Browm any way you want. If someone wanted to be picky they might suggest you bring the parachute hackle closer to the body and eliminate what appears to be a slight gap. Fine fly in my opinion.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

Thanks, I don't think you'll have as much trouble getting the highlighter off your screen if you start using the Dry Erase kind like I used. Those regular highlighters are hard to get off :-)

Follow the Yellow Brick Road or said another way click on the links I highlighted in Yellow - there are four steps and a result posted below. Please note in step 3 I had to type Hendrickson into the box - try typing Cahill into the box - you should get a list of cahill patterns when you try it. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 - Type in the name of the pattern you're looking for Step 4 - Click Search Archives Step 5 - If all went right you should get a result

It's been a few years since I ordered from Danville but unless things have changed there is a $500.00 minimum OR you pay a handling fee for a small order. I don't remember how much it was for the handling fee but it wasn't much. I paid it when I didn't have a $500.00 order and don't remember it being especially painful.

Most craft shops will have a size chart on hand like the one below. You wouldn't want to go larger than a size 2 and that you'd probably only use on big Woolly Buggers. Ask and I'm sure they'll have a chart on hand. You can see the colors available in Rayon and Nylon core chenille at the Danville site here's the link. http://www.danvillechenille.com/rayonchenille.htm

If there is more web than you want for a dry fly and if the tips of the feathers are a bit rounded you might find you have one of those Chinese capes that ties nice feather-wing streamers like a Black Ghost or Red Ghost. Often people buy capes to tie streamers with if they can find the right feather shape and web. The full cape allows you to tie all the sizes from small size 8 & 10 streamers up through to trolling streamers. The real small feathers down bottom (actually on top guess) on the white cape can be used for wings on mayflies and ants - maybe spinners and the real small ones on the red cape can be used for the Light and Dark Edson Tigers (streamers).

Wow, I'd love to see a picture of those flies. Any chance you have a picture you could post? The American Museum of Fly Fishing would love to add those to the collections they have. I like to browse the ones they show on their website under flies: http://www.amff.com/flies.html Love the Gartside Gurgler with the rainbow colors tied and donated by Gartiside. Love that guys flies. They have a lot of Lee Wulff's also.

Renzetti Vise just put a video up on YouTube which highlights their R-Evolution line of Hair Stackers. If bigger is better they have come up with two that meet that requirement.

You're on the right track and you already know what's wrong with them. Just start packing tighter and trimming with more care and you'll be cranking poppers out. The more you spin and trim the easier it is to do.

You're welcome - now we just need to get you started tying :-)

I don't know about rubber legs but if my strung streamer hackle gets pushed into the corner of drawer and the quills set in a curve I can get rid of the curve by putting them in hot water for a soak. It's a process with strung hackle to get it to lay out straight to dry but it works. With rubber legs you might get the desired result with a similar soak. If you try it please post back.

Give Uni-Mohair a try. I fish the Little Brook Trout and wrap my bodies with the Cream. You can also get Angora in yarn form (wrapped on a card usually) and that works well.

McGnat, Ginger is a strong contender to knock Cream down a notch on my list. I really like Ginger for my Elk Hair Caddis (even if the pattern does call out Brown) and the patterns you mentioned Ginger works well. One thing that keeps the Cream in its fourth place slot on my list is I really like Bivisivibles and White Wulffs and so I sub with Cream instead of White for them and if I want light legs on my Elk Hair Caddis the cream doesn't look that odd :-) However, I though Ginger colored White Wulffs and Bivisibles did look strange to me. If it wan't for those two patterns I'd go with Ginger.

My guess - grizzly, coachman brown, dun, cream in that order

Here's some fairly recent reading for you. http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=76808&hl=%2Brenzetti+%2Bvise&do=findComment&comment=577154 http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=76694&hl=%2Brenzetti+%2Bvise

Love the deer hair head on this Muddler. Not enough hair to make the fly float all day yet enough hair to cause a disturbance when stripped through the water. Nice to see what I call a "fishing Muddler" instead of a "show Muddler" with enough packed deer hair into the head to float a small ship. I like the whole color combo also. In fact I'm going to tie a few of these right now :-)

sbr, If you're hurting for room the tip of the stem doesn't require much. The tip of the stem breaks easy and if you're tying small flies the tip technique requires an easy touch. If you want a sparse hackle wrap and plan to remove the fibers off one side of the stem and you peel the fibers off you weaken the stem and since the tip is weak already people often then tie in the butt. If you want to remove the fibers and still want to tie in by the tip cut the fibers off one side instead of peeling them off.

I'll go a fourth for Tear Mender - quick to dry, holds well.