How long does it take you to tie a fly?

[jrock 0]

It all depends on what type of fly it is it could take me 20-35 minutes on a fly ive never tied!!! i could tie a basic adams and wooly bugger in 5-10 min or less!!

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

standard catskill style I tie about 15 to 20 an hour

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi group,

 

Our tying speed varies a lot. If we are "cranking" out a comercial order then 3 to 5 minutes each is an average. On the other hand, when we are doing a magazine article or book chapter then 3 to 5 hours each is more realistic. As an example, two weeks ago we tied a short order for a customer which was 20 dozen assorted dry flies. Last week, we did 3 flies along with 1500 words and 12 photos each. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

[Ribs1 0]

I can tie a dozen Gartside Gurglers in a half hour.

Buggers, faster than that.

Any fly with spun deer hair takes about twice as long. A dozen per hour.

 

[ratfacedmcdougal 0]

I used to tie commercially. Never on a full time basis but it still amounted to roughly a thousand dozen a year. If there is a standard for such a thing it's basically 5 minutes per fly or a dozen an hour for a standard trout fly or nymph. Some take a little longer or less depending on pattern or materials used. Remember though, that's TYING the fly. That means hackles plucked from capes and sized, materials all laid out and everything at the ready. I once took an order from the Orvis shop in Atlanta Ga. for some fly called a Sheep fly. 146 dozen in different sizes of one fly for one customer. I've never seen that pattern in any book since and have no clue what that man did with all of those flies. But by the time I finished that order I could tie that fly while watching TV and never even look down. By the way, since finishing that order I haven't tied that fly since :hyst:

But some patterns take longer than others. I may spend six or eight hours on a salmon fly. Or two minutes on a wooly booger or hares ear nymph.

I wouldn't worry with time though. Hopefully your not trying to work your way through school and add an extra package of ramen noodles to your pantry doing this and are doing it for the fun of it instead. I think the more important outcome isn't the time but the end result being the best quality fly you can produce and the satisfaction that comes with that.

[Isonychia 0]

I used to be in the sub-5 minute category with dries, but now that I've started tying "art flies" such as salmon flies and classic wets, I tend to take my time a little more -- even with standard dries and nymphs.

 

John

[The_Carp_Hunter 0]

Now that is very variable, I'll give you my fastest tie and the longest tie

 

Wooly Bugger 1.2 minutes

 

Art Stone about 60 hours

 

Average fly 2-3 mins

 

Xavier

[Moosie 0]

Just keep at it, man, you'll get faster. I would recommend you get a book that details the many different techniques you'll need to learn, then keep tying flies using techniques that are new to you. There are probably many, but the one I used/use is 'A Benchside Introduction to Flytying' , I think by Leeson and Schollmeyer. It has a decent, though not exhaustive, assortment of patterns and a separate section of techniques which you can reference at the same time you are looking at the 'recipe' for a particular pattern. The most important thing, though, is to strive to keep learning not, necessarily, to tie faster, but better. As you get more into it, you'll run into problems or come up with questions, so just go look for answers. Whether in books, the internet, shows, other tyers, they're out there. Some will work for you and some won't. And try not to go more than a few days without tying, if you can, so you develop a 'muscle memory' of sorts. Before you know it, you'll realize you're not so slow anymore.

 

Good luck. And welcome to the addiction.

[zip 0]

I clocked myself with a basic wooly bugger at 57 seconds.

But I tend to take my time a little more since I started tying salmon flies(which takes a helluva long time).

[WYKnot 0]

Let me see....find the right color of thread, find a bobbin, start the thread, it breaks, tie in again, get a cup of coffee, clear the bench to find scissors, go to the bathroom, get more coffee...I voted the >61 minutes. No wonder it takes so long to fill my fly box.

[Bud Guidry 0]

man i must be real slow at tying flies. takes me between three hours and as long as three days on some flies. you guys tie up a dozen flies in the same time it take me to find the right hook, by the time i tie on the gut loop your fly boxes are full and your half way to the river.

 

Bud

[ratfacedmcdougal 0]

man i must be real slow at tying flies. takes me between three hours and as long as three days on some flies. you guys tie up a dozen flies in the same time it take me to find the right hook, by the time i tie on the gut loop your fly boxes are full and your half way to the river.

 

Bud

 

Yeah, and after all of that your flies look like poo.... you bait fisherman :j_k: :hyst:

[Bud Guidry 0]

there you go rat , pickin on the newbie huh?

 

it's not my fault, i've only been trying to learn how to tie flies for three years but i think i figured out how to tie the string on the hook. i just used a bunch of half hinches.

 

Bud

[Batman 0]

I've never timed myself, I guess it really does'nt matter, hell somedays I cant tie my shoes let alone tie a fly, cheers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,B,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[bent2cork 0]

Greetings,

 

Just wanted to weigh in on the time question. Depending on the patern I can tie as many as six dozen an hour or as few as sixteen flies an hour. For my personal box I try to keep my patterns a simplistic as possible, most of those I can tie under three minutes.