Materials - Do you keep track of cost ?

[Hellgrammite 0]

I actually do tie flies to save money, as well as to make some; I tie flies for a circle of friends and family, all of whom happily pay me my 1.50 per fly for the few patterns i tie; winged dries, variants, and a few nymphs (and once i get this cursed deer hair figured out, EHC).

 

I do not keep absolute track, but the few times I have added them up, I am in the green; for a winged dry, hook, 8-10 cents (mustad, boxes of 100) dubbing; negligible, perhaps 2 cents? thread, also negligible... how many flies does 1 3 dollar spool tie? A few hundred? Ok, ill call thread 2-3 cents, hackle, most expensive bit; I get 200-300 feathers per Keough neck for 20-30 dollars; so, 20-40 cents, if i use 2 feathers, and dyed mallard flank for a wing (if i use it) perhaps 5 cents. So lets say 10 + 2 + 3 + 40 + 5 (and this is a very, very liberal price estimate) 60 cents in materials per fly. Keep in mind, both nymphs and EHC are cheaper.

 

Now, I can make 8-10 winged dries an hour, maybe 15 nymphs on a good day. If my "profit" is then 80 cents per fly, I am making about 8 dollars an hour tying dries, perhaps 12 dollars an hour (if i am uninterrupted and in a *groove*) doing nymphs.

 

I will never understand how people actually earn their entire living doing this.

 

I can understand that people who tie a lot more patterns than me, and who do so for varied types of fishing, can spend a whole lot more. For me, its pretty economical. I also understand I tie cheap flies for use only on trout and panfish. My vise is an old Thompson Model A, my materials stock is relatively modest, though I have had mixed success with Keough hackles, and will need to find a better source for gingers, as Keough ginger necks have stems that make me want to cry, they twist so much.

 

Obviously, everyone's mileage varies!

 

Amanda