Kit - trout fly tying materials only!

[maddog48 0]

Jeff... you've known me for awhile now. I bought a kit for my grandson at the Friends raffle. It's nothing I would want him to start with and I shouldn't have bought it except I was trying to get some bidding started and had it dumped on me. Some parts of the kit are okay and I would say some are marginal at best. You know the stuff I have. I'll probably trash most of the materials in the kit and just give my grandson some of mine. As far as making any recommendations on kits... I won't say yes or no. But... I have had one in the past and the one I have for my grandson... there are better ways to go in my opinion.

 

 

Mike

[Steeldrifter 0]

I dont believe anyone is trying to be an expert Jeff, I think everyone is just trying to do exactly what you just made reference to, and that is to save this new tyer the headache of spending money on things he will be unhappy with.

 

In the past kits were an absolutly terriable thing to buy, the materials you got were Exteremely sub par, and more than half of the materials were things that you really couldnt even use. The tools were no better that you got in kits, they were useless junk in 99% of the kits.

 

Kits have become a bit better than they were 10 years ago, but I would still advice anyone against getting a kit IMO. Mainly because the tools are still very low quality, and although some of the brands are a bit better brand of materials they are still basicly what I would consider somewhat low grade/quality materials. Now you may say a new tier doesnt need top notch materials, but also consider that tying with low quality materials will do nothing but put a new tier off of tying because they are going to be harder to work with and wont come out looking very good even if the person tying has some skill.

 

Having enough materials to tie 10 flies of 12 patterns sounds good to a new tyer, but when you consider that fact that the person will most likely mess up the first half dozen flies he attempts of each pattern it just makes more sence to suggest that the new tyer spend his money a bit more wisely and buy some decent materials to tie one or two patterns to start. Rather then only having enough to mess up 12 different patterns.

 

 

And lastly....when members are trying to give honest help to someone based on their personal experiances I will ask you to please refrain from insulting those members with unprovoked insults towards them, that was a bit uncalled for.

[Jayhawk Jeff 0]

Steelie, I was not trying to be insulting, but just frustrated at seeing the same thread for the hundreth time with always has multiple suggestions that lead to a $100 vise, $50 worth of tools and a bunch more materials as a base starting point. I just think that kind of dough should not have to be entry level for tying and it's not. I was suggesting that some looking around be done. The Wapsi project was done very deliberately and intentionally and has very good materials. As far as messing up a the first half dozen of each fly, that's a given no matter what method of procurement is used. I'm sorry if I offended anybody. I'm just very passionate about not intimidating newcomers to fly fishing and tying with big dollar signs. Back to your regular programming.

[Steve P. 0]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the pros and cons on kits and the tips on materials.

 

You've convinced to build on what I have and not get a kit but here

are a few more thoughts, and some findings, on kits...

 

It seems to me, as a newbie to trout flies, that it would be very useful to

design a "kit" around a minimal number of flies that clearly demonstrate

the most important tying techniques needed for tying trout flies. The aim

would be to teach as much as possible while minimizing the number of

materials required. Then the kit could contain high quality materials without

breaking the bank!

 

Yesterday, I located a materials-only kit for the 15 Morris flies on the web that sells

for approx $150 - this presumably contains high quality materials but $150

is a pretty stiff price for a beginner just dipping a toe in the water!

 

Another alternative out there in "kit" form, is the "Tie A Fly" series by Henley-

each kit contains info and enough materials, presumably high quality, for

a dozen copies of 1 fly, all for

about $16. Perhaps 5 of these kits would give a newbie a good start in

fly tying techniques - for about $80. This is getting into the "reasonable"

ballpark for someone just starting out but it seems like someone could

make an even more affordable high quality kit than this if they kept

tight focus on the goal of teaching the important techniques - dubbing,

hackling, thread control, head finishing, wing types...

 

Thanks again,

Steve P.

[Guest]

Steve,

 

I didn't read through the whole thread but I will give you my suggestion. Buy yourself a pack of hooks, chenille, marabou and some cheap strung hackle. You can get all of this for about $10. Start by tying wooly buggers, they are the best learning fly and they are also one of the most productive flies you will ever tie so you can catch fish on them right away. The other thing is you can tie them in any size and any color combination you desire. The materials for buggers are very cheap and you can tie probably a hundred flies with just one package of each of those materials. Once you have those down and see another fly you want to do, buy those materials. That way you are spending $10 at a time for material that you know you are gonna use.

 

You can never have too many wooly buggers!

[skunkaroo 0]

Steve,

 

Keep in mind that opinions are like arseholes... everyone's got one . That's one of the reasons that you'll get such a wide range of answers when you post any open question on an internet forum. No one has a monopoly on the truth, so everything is best taken with a grain of salt (please note that this is directed at my comments as well as everyone else's).

 

If you truly want to learn about "dubbing, hackling, thread control, head finishing, wing types," then perhaps you should set your sights on learning to tye one or two basic flies that you will actually use before tackling the list in Skip's book. Not only will you save yourself a whole lot of coin, but you will be able to master a set range of techniques that can be applied to any number of other flies.

 

Buying one of the all-in-one kits is probably not where you want to go in order to achieve this end: first, because there's no guarantee that you'll end up with a useful fly for your waters (though these kits do cover classic patterns); and secondly, because it sounds as though you already have almost enough materials to get started.

 

Before I/we offer any more pearls of wisdom , perhaps you should answer a few questions that might help guide any answers, like: what materials and tools do you already have, where and under what conditions do you plan to fish, and what species you think you might target? (For example, I wouldn't have suggested buying a dubbing cube if I'd known that you already had one )

 

Aaron