Evolving fly materials

[Linesides 0]

I have found that when I started it was all 14-8 freshwater material sizes but as of the last 9 months it has evolved to damn near all large fresh and saltwater. Does it happen to you folks also that you find a style you like and stick with it trying to perfect it ? Or do you tie everything ?

The Squirrel

[Redwings1 0]

I like to tie all sorts of different flies. It is not that I get bored with any style, but I just get so excited seeing other things and wondering if 'I could do that'. To that end this site has been bot a blessing and a curse; I think it has helped me with my tying that had started to get stagnant (as I don't know anyone here who ties) but also has cost me countless money on materials for flies I never would have thought to tie before.

[steelie 0]

Good Day,

 

I am in the same Camp as Redwings. I like to play and experiment. Even if a fly works like a charm, it is rare that it will be in next years fly box as I continue to play and innovate at the vise. From size 32 all the way up to 14/0! Plus you add 16 years of tying and the materials have really stacked up! Ha ha... bottom line, I just like to experiment.

 

Steelie

[Linesides 0]

Settling into saltwater in the beginning saved me cash but I discovered other "things" I needed and could tie with and it continues.

It may evolve into other types of flies later but for the time being saltwater seems to work well with me.

 

BUT I would like to tying a realistic for saltwater but not right now.

 

[Streamside 0]

For the most part for the last three or four years I have been into catching trophy browns using ultralight equiptment. Micro flies 18- 32 using ultralight tackle 1-3wt hand made short 6-7 foot cane rods and ultralight 7x 8x 9x tippits. It's a hell of a lot of fun and extreemely challenging. So 18-32 is the majority of the sizes I tie, but with that said, I also tie realistic fishable flies, streamers in all sizes , {speys and Classic salmon flies without vise} up to size 0/7

[Moushka 0]

For me fly tying is both an art form and a way to catch fish. By nature I have to be busy to be happy. Sit me in front of a TV set every night and I get depressed and bored. I still cook by scratch, can food and make my own sausage. I love anything to do with the outdoors although I am not very competitive; the joy for me is not how big the fish or fast I can go, but just in the being there if that makes sense.

 

20 years ago I moved to Alaska and fell in love with the land and fishing. About 10 years ago my partner gave me fly fishing lessons for Christmas and the following year gave me fly tying lessons. I took to fly tying immediately and started tying regularly, at first only salmon streamers and basic drys. But the more I tied the more facinated I became with the art and history of fly tying. I now tie anything that catches my eye! I even tie bass flies and to my knowledge Alaska is a long way from any bass stream! I tie more flies than my family and friends can ever use. I donate boxes full of flies to charity auctions and give them as gifts, I even tie flies with my friends children and pet hair or feathers and give them as gifts. I have boxes full of fly tying materials and am always looking to try something new.

 

P.S.

I am a lousy fly fisher and would go back to a spinning rod were it not for my love of fly tying!

[ted patlen 0]

i've been bending feathers for about 45 years...it's absolutely amazing what you ...eehhhh...save

 

i have pounds of feathers (think of that...pounds) that i've gathered by thinking...yeah i could use that for...something

 

want some?

[Nick N 0]

Ted, Id be happy to take yor pounds of feathers! I have found that the best way for me to learn was to start out with streamers, some big saltwater minnows, then work my way down. I have not yet tried realistics, but will some time soon. I am also currently experimenting with salmon flies and spey patterns. I have accumulated a comparatively small stock of fur and feathers in my tying. I only need 2 file boxes and some drawer units. Some of you guy go a little overboard but its awesome to look at your huge mess of a bench :headbang: :hyst: :j_k:

[Streamside 0]

i've been bending feathers for about 45 years...it's absolutely amazing what you ...eehhhh...save

 

i have pounds of feathers (think of that...pounds) that i've gathered by thinking...yeah i could use that for...something

 

want some?

 

If you are serious about getting rid of some, PM me, let me know what you have and we can put a deal together.

 

[deeky 0]

I find that I am somewhat streaky in my tying. While it's all for freshwater (there isn't much salt near Minnesota), I vary in size from panfish to pike. I'll spend anywhere from a couple weeks to a month stuck in one area, from specific species, to style, to nymph vs. dry, to specific materials. I think it's basically finding what I can do with it, improving it, and then moving on to something else before I get bored.