Material List

[thebone54 0]

Hello All

 

I am new to all of this and I need your help and advice. does anyone have a recommended list of beginning tying material that I should buy? I could spend a butt load of money if I am let loose in a fly shop but then I would have to face the wrath of my wife when I got home...LOL. I have all my tools and vice but at a loss as to what material to buy and start stocking up on. I am looking for a good basic list to get me started so I am able to tie the most popular flies.

 

Thanks

Dave

[Redwings1 0]

Here is the best advice I can give you Dave...don't go over the top to begin with. The way I recommend the people in my classes to get supplies is to acquire them over time. Start with two or three patterns that you want to learn to tie and buy the materials for those patterns. Once you have thiose down (a week, two?) then head back with a list of materials for the next two or three patterns yuo want to learn. Pretty soon you will realize that you have the materials for some patterns without having to go pick them up and have quite a stock of useful materials.

[flykid 0]

Redwings1 advice is probably the best. The list of basic materials varies depending on what species you are tying for. I've pretty much done what Redwings1 suggested (okay I did go crazy a few times) and it has worked well. When I do get carried away I end up with materials I don't use or I find out I'm missing something for the pattern I intended to tie so I forget about it. I can give some help on materials commonly used for a couple species.

 

Trout (specifically dries and nymphs)

 

dubbing superfine and nymph(I like the assortments they have the common colors for a good price you can always add on later)

 

hackle (start with brown and grizzly)

 

elk hair

 

turkey quill

 

oval or round gold tinsel or wire

 

Pheasant tail

 

coastal deer hair (useful for comparaduns which work great)

 

peacock herl

 

natural deer hair

 

Bass and Streamers (warm and cold water)

 

Natural and dyed deer hair (bass bugs)

 

Buck tail various colors (streamers)

 

Marabou various colors

 

strung saddle hackle various colors (cheaper than a full saddle and works for most applications unless you find yourself using it alot)

 

chenelle various colors

 

floss various colors

 

flat & oval tinsel (gold and silver)

 

krystal flash (there are different colors but you can use pearl for everything if you want)

 

peacock herl

 

 

 

 

I did list some things twice but you don't need two of each. What I just listed are some things you might wnt to look out for since they are used quite commonly. You will eventually aquire more and more until you can tie more flies than you can remember. But like Redwings1 said make up a shopping list of materials once you find a new fly you want to tie. Also it is a great idea to take a class. I took one at my fly shop and I learned a lot of tricks and tecniques I otherwise never would have learned. Just remember to have fun!

 

flykid

 

 

[Twofingerz 0]

ditto redwings1

that is exactly how i am doing it. and as i continue to add patterns i have fewer 'mandatory' materials i have to buy........which leaves room to buy materials 'i dont need' :yahoo:

[ratfacedmcdougal 0]

Everyone gave good advice, as already mentioned the first thing is to figure out what type of flies you want to tie. Over the years i've managed to own a zoo of animals .... everything from colobus monkey fur to taragopan and ocelot plus hundreds of others. Stuff gained over the years to tie some off the wall fly or the other. Pick any material you can think of and at some point some fool has tried to tie a fly with it.

I would suggest a good pattern book to start, it will give you ideas as well as teach tying techniques,then pick about a dozen good flies you know you'll definitely use and want and get the materials for those to start. Most likely, you pick any one dozen and there are dozens of others that can be tied using those same materials. And once you learn some basic techniques don't think you cant venture out on your own and invent your own flies. Most of my fun comes from whipping something up in my imagination then tying it and catching fish with it. Sometimes fish are very selective and you have to match the hatch exactly....then again i've caught them on orange peels and beer tabs :hyst:

Also, your local shop may offer a deal on a "material kit", it never hurts to ask, let them know if they help you now by giving a deal on a starter batch you'll be a long time returning customer. And often you can purchase scrap materials like from taxidermists or furriers, hunters are also a good source for cheap stuff. Ahem.... I bet youll even find yourself looking twice at fresh road kill as a possibility. I have known some un named people to actually back up for a second look followed by a quick look around a fast opening car door and a quick swoop followed by a huge smile.... not that I would ever do such a thing... i'm just saying.....

You will be eyeing the pet cat or dog, your neighbors animals won't be safe nor will relatives hair clippings :hyst:

Stick around long enough..... you'll find yourself in the sewing section of walmart looking over the latest yarns and beads with the other old women, you'll be haunting the silks and rayons, floss and sewing threads in your bid to find new stuff.. .. welcome to the :devil: of fly tying

 

[Guest]

Bucktail. You can never have too much Bucktail. There are hundreds of different patterns that use only Bucktail and a few other materials, and they catch fish, which is the point of all this madness.

 

You can go crazy with materials later, and don't think for a moment that you won't.

[Twofingerz 0]

so true. I have been only tying for six months now and am in the midst of my first season fishing with flies I have tied. I am a warmwater fisher and have caught all the major species of my home waters on the same fly. lately I have been asking myself if I really need to have 30 different patterns. I know I will continue to tie many different patterns, because I enjoy it. I just won't fish them all

[thebone54 0]

I want to thank everyone who replied to my request on what material to buy. I apologize for making this a duplicate post to other ones that have been posted on the same type of question. I know in most forums most every question has been asked at one time or another. It just a matter of searching and finding it. I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to help me. You gave me some good guide lines for getting started. I hope that in the future I will be able to share and give to this forum.

 

Thanks Dave

[longears 0]

I would have to agree with most of the comments here. find out what your target species is. Go find a pattern book and buy the materials to tye 6 patterns as this is probably all you'll need to catch fish. Get proficiant at tying those 6 patterns. Then go on from there.

If you want to really get proficiant in your tying start joining Fly swaps ( there are several good ones always going on right here), in no time you'll see your materials stash growing as you attempt new patterns.

I think that swaps increases your tying abilities 10 fold because here's the deal. You tye flys for yourself and make a mistake ; no big deal. now tye a dozen fly's for your peers... Everyone of them has to be near perfect because you have no idea which of your fly's will be photographed and displayed on the www.

Swaps are fun too in that you get to meet more tyers ,see more patterns live and get to learn the one's that intrique you, and see different ways to use new materials to you. There, I knew if I waited long enough it come come back full circle to materials...

Sorry, for getting off tract.

Randy

[thebone54 0]

Thank you Longears, this is some good advice. I have heard the term Fly Swap before but know nothing about it. I will see if I can find more information on this forum about it.

 

Thanks Dave

[DancesWithHeadCement 0]

Don't forget the silly and simple stuff, like combing out your cat or dog for another dubbing color...

 

When you're first starting out the temptation is to melt your plastic at every visit to the fly shop, simply because you have nothing and need everything.

 

Yarn shops and craft stores, your aunt's sewing basket, the neighbor's Medium Blue Dun tabby cat ...go for it!

 

This will give you something to play with that's inexpensive. Skills come with repetition, sometimes it's easier on the pocketbook to practice with things you may have lots of for other reasons - like a duck hunter has access to duck feathers, etc.

[mozes 0]

Don't get everything at once. Smaller batches of material are much easier to sneak in the house past the WIFE :devil:. Be ready to spend a few thousand dollars in a next year or two.

 

Good luck.