Tying kits?

[Dwhitt1981 0]

Where did you see a class in huntsville? It's only about a 30 or 40 min drive. As for fly type I'm up for any and all. I'll fish just about anything that I thing might get a bait or two. I'm just realy tight on money and the trout kit at bass pro has some fly mat. that I would like to try(hare's ear is the main one). Thanks for the help guys.

[peregrines 0]

Dwhitt-

 

Here's a link to a fly fishing club in Huntsville:

 

http://www.tennesseevalleyflyfishers.com/

 

The club is affiliated with the Federation of Fly Fishers, and they offer free tying and casting lessons with materials tools provided for tying, and rods etc for casting.

 

Getting with a group like that will really help you get started, and you'll learn a ton. They can coach you along, and you'll meet some new fishing buddies, and they can steer you to local shops in the area.

 

Check your mailbox (in the upper left), I sent you a PM with some info.

 

Good luck,

 

peregrines

 

 

 

 

[Dwhitt1981 0]

Thanks for the link and I'll check the PM now. Man everyone here has been a great help.

[guppergoo 0]

I just got the cabella's tool kit for christmas from my best bud. It gave me a better quality set of tools than most starter kits as the money was spent on quality tools and not the tying materials that came w/ it. I then spent a few bucks at BPS and got a variety pack of feathers, chenille, hooks, black white and olive thread, and marabou. This choice has now put me in a position where I can buy exactly the materials I need for the type of fishing I am going to be doing.

 

I took the approach of just trying to learn to use the tools and some basic materials. I wasn't adhering to any recipes other than a basic wooly bugger and my own variations that looked "fishy". I kept EVERY fly I tied in a chronology on a scrap of cardboard. I have tied about 40 now and and am amazed out how quickly I was able to progress.

 

I am a teacher by training and I think the value in teaching oneself something is learning the basics before you have to apply them to a specific trout formula etc. I am now going back and tearing down the first several dozen flies as they are so bad and I will use the hooks to start to accurately replicate REPEATEDLY some of the great recipes people have posted here.

 

As far as general info check out every book your library offers. I have bought many that my local library had after reading them and wanting to keep them. I buy my books off of half.com and most are used - but its cheaper and allows me to buy more of em. I have bought some dud books - but I donate them to my library in hopes someone else may find value in them that I didn't.

 

This advice may be worth exactly what you paid for it - but I hope it helps.

 

~Todd

[mlwebb 0]

I'll second the library plug, I search the library catalog online, place a hold, and they send me an email when its ready to pick up.

When I wanted to get started tying I put a "fly tying kit wanted" ad (free) in my local Craigslist. A local college student who had gotten two vices for Christmas replied, and made up a kit of materials for me for a reasonable price.

Michael

[super_fly 0]

I started with a BPS saltwater kit about 6 1/2 years ago. I'll always know when because I got into fly fishing/fly tying right before my first child was born.

 

I was interested but had no idea if I'd like fly tying. Also I had limited budget with the impending birth and basically no free time. I did take a few lessons at Bass Pro (Charlie Richter taught them) and talked with the guys there about tools & such. They suggested that if I really liked tying then go for upgraded tools & materials. But in my situation the kit worked well.

 

I went into it with the following expectations:

 

The tools would have to be upgraded if I liked it

The materials wouldn't be great

It was a fairly low impact cost if I didn't like it

 

I loved the kit. The best part was the video. Lefty Kreh did the entire video for the saltwater kit. I learned quite a bit just from that video (they also sell it in the store for $10 or so). Being housebound with a new baby it was a big help. My wife and I dealt with the baby in shifts and on my shift the baby watched the tying video with me.

 

The video taught useful patterns and focused on tying techniques as much as learning the patterns. I ended up enjoying the kit so much that when they went on sale at thanksgiving I used my BPS points (from the visa card) and picked up the other kits. I've learned quite a bit from them as well.

 

Regarding the materials - I found that the cost of the basic materials & video evened out the price of the kit. For instance lead eyes, head cement, craft fur, thread, mustad hooks (if you use them), plastic eyes, krystal flash, flashabou, & the like are commodities that are the same no matter where you buy them. Deer hair, hackle, marabou, bucktail & such ideally need to be inspected before purchase. But if I added up the cost of the commodities that came with the kit it came pretty close to the cost of the kit. That being said, the bucktail ranged from okay to bad. But it still worked to tie with. I even caught fish on those flies.

 

The tools were functional. I quickly upgraded the bobbin (kept cutting my thread) and tied on the vise until I wore it out. By that time I had a better idea of what I wanted in a vise and it made purchasing a new one easier.

 

So I had a positive experience with the BPS kits. I still watch the videos from time to time and I've taken the techniques and used them to create some flies that are my "go to" flies in many situations. I didn't find any of the materials so bad that they frustrated me with learning the patterns. And many of the materials worked just fine and produced some nice flies. Also a fair amount of people in my club used the BPS kit to get started and they had similar experiences. I haven't tried kits from other companies so I can't really speak to those.

 

I did supplement the videos & kit with a lot of reading (yay for books), forum/mailing list participation, swap participation, and local fly tying club meetings. I think if you approach the kit with the correct expectations & attitude it can be a positive. Especially if you catch them on sale for $40 which they run from time to time. Also, joining swaps was great because it really reinforced the repetition of tying a particular pattern. I just let everybody know I was a beginner tyer.

 

Of course, if you already know you'll like tying, and have some good local advice/shops/clubs & such then I'd skip the kit and go for a more targeted approach. For me we have a couple of great local shops but they're mostly open when I'm working. BPS was my most viable option. Fortunately a lot of well known (local & not so local) people worked/shopped there so it was like a local fly shop.

 

Good luck

 

PS - nope, I don't work for Bass Pro.

 

[R.Morring 0]

Dwhitt1981,

I see your from Albertville. I'm in Ardmore, about 10 min.'s from the TN line. All good advise here. I started with a kit about 25 yr.s ago and ended up buying everything all over again to get a good vise and good tools. If you ever want to fish for trout, there is a great little place south of Cullman off Hwy.69 south called Sipsey Creek. They stock Rainbow about every two months. There is also a fly shop at the bridge of Sipsey Creek and is a full service fly shop and guide service. Another good shop in Huntsville is Alabama Outdoors. Check out the Dyna-King Kiingfisher Kit. It comes with a great starter vise and a basic tool set from Doctor Slick, a few materials to start tying some caddis flies, a good tying book, and CD-Rom. It's about $225.00. I wish this kit was available when I started tying.

 

Randy

 

Dyna-King Kingfisher Kit

Flytiers.com

Sipsey TU

Riverside Fly Shop