Advice on starting to tie my own

[somersetian]

I live in somerset county with the nearest fly shop an hour away unless I want to go to gander, which you never really know if they will have what you want anyway. Can anyone suggest a good starter fly tying kit and book so i can just do my regular research and then tie them myself without having to plan everything out and order flies online, and hope they are here in time. Any help would be a great help.

 

[DJBerg]

I picked up the waspi deluxe kit when I started and its been great, decent selection of materials, and hooks. Worked really well for me, the vise isnt the greatest, but you will figuer it out I've had hooks 20- 2/0 in it and it worked.

Also I woild sugest picking up a whip finishing tool. I just hit one a few months back and after having it, I realized I sjould have had it a long time ago.

 

[jeremymcon]

I had a wapsi standard kit. Bought it off the swap forum. Unfortunately it was incomplete, so that kinda sucked. I agree that the vice is usable but not great. I often have trouble with hooks slipping. I think the wapsi deluxe kit would be a good starter kit. The standard kit was a little too basic (even if mine had been complete).

But honestly if I were going to do it again I think I would just get all the kit components separately. It will be a bit pricier, but you'll get better quality materials - some of the materials in my wapsi kit were kind of crappy. You can model what materials you buy on the materials in a kit, so you don't have to figure it all out yourself.

I haven't looked at other kits - it's possible that kits from Cabela's or someplace else would have better materials in them than the wapsi kit did.

Also I agree with the previous comment about the whip finishing tool. They're really handy. Also make sure you get some fine tipped tweezers. Also a bobbin threader is nice.

I like bearsden.com for materials, but any online fly shop will have the materials you need. Bearsden also has some introductory vices for cheap. Oh and also go to Allen fly fishing for cheap hooks.

 

[shortrod]

I recommend not going with a kit.

Get a good vice. (I was going to recommend the Dan Vice but the price has gone up on it and may no longer be your best bang for the buck).

Get a decent pair of scissors.
Get a ceramic bobbin.

Get a couple of spools of thread a light yellow, tan or cream and a dark brown of black.

Get some hooks.
Get a hares mask or shave the neighbors cat.
Get some pheasant tails.
Get some deer or elk hair.
Get some peacock herl.

Get a book this one would do.

Tie some flies.

 

[afishinado]

Good advice above by Shortrod.

Get a decent vise and some decent tools (listed above).

As far as materials and hooks, I would pick some patterns you wish to tie, like wooly buggers, hares ears, etc. and buy the hooks and materials needed to tie them. Look up recipes on the Internet with list of materials. Master those flies and buy more materials to tie other patterns. Good luck.

 

[Mountainbrookie]

The Wapsi kit is a good kit to start with, in fact I still tie on the vice that came with my kit. You get enough materials and tools to tie some fairly simple patterns to start out with and the book that comes with it is well illustrated and easy to understand. It's a good way to find out if tying is something you're really going to want to get into without spending a ton of money.

 

[DGC]

jeremymcon wrote:

But honestly if I were going to do it again I think I would just get all the kit components separately.

Quite likely the most often repeated statement in the history of fly tying.

For new anglers it probably seems strange because when it comes to fly rod, reel and line kits, some of those are really quite good and can provide years of good service and enjoyment. So it stands to reason the same should be true of a tying kit.

It isn't.

I have not used these but if price is an object, I would consider them seriously:

Terra Tool Kit

It is also available from FishUSA. I actually saw these in my local Gander Mountain about a year ago. But since Gander is probably the worst run retail operation you can imagine, they almost certainly no longer do.

Minimal expenditure vise is Griffin 1A. They run about $40.00 now. I actually suggest doing better than this but if low dollar is the goal, this is as low as I can go and still get acceptable quality. Once again, I have not used this, but the jaws seem to be the same as on one of my vises.

That's the issue with getting product advise. We can't buy and use everything and have to use guesswork.

Not having a good shop you can trust is a considerable disadvantage. This becomes even more apparent when it is time to buy hackle if you go that route, though in the age of CDC and graded deer hair, that is not as mandatory as it once was.

 

[Dcap240]

I just bought a cabelas advanced tiers kit and I'm pretty happy with it. It was about $120. The vise is the worst thing in it. It is a cabelas master series vise which is ok and holds a hook and all but that's about it. I would imagine I'm going to upgrade that first( tool wise) as all the other tools in it are tiemco and seem pretty well made.( scissors, bobbin, hackle pliers, and whip finisher) most of the materials are good. It came with one pack of Metz grizzly dry fly hackle, which is about 6 three inch long feathers. Which is not much but it's something. There lower grade kit comes only with strung saddle hackle. Tiemco hooks assorted, UTC thread and a bunch of other decent materials. And it also comes with an instructional book with a few patterns step by step in it. I mean if you can afford it buying everything separate is the way to go as these guys have said. But for $120 it will get you started. I also bought some CDC, and micro fibets with it and there is a lot you can do with what they give you. These guys have way more experience than me with tying so like I said if you can afford it listen to them.

 

[fishbaithohaha]

First stop, internet. Google fly tying club. Second stop, attend fly tying group meeting. Invite yourself, its a support group.

At the meeting you will get a chance try a variety of vises and tools. And you will be given invaluable advice.

Third stop, fly shop for purchases.

 

[Ebrant10]

I started with a kit from cabelas, it was ok but small ammounts of materials are provided to keep you coming back for more. My advice on a kit would be to call or go on line to fly fishers paradise or www.flyfishersparadiseonline.com steve is a great resource and is has a couple books worth of knowledge in his head. Their kit has materials you wil actually use and a healthy supply of them, not a 1" x 1" chunk of deer hair like the cabelas kits. Just my 2 cents.


Tight lines and be prepaired to blow a lot of money over time on materials.

Evan

 

[shakey]

keep in mind that many of us here would be happy to show you some tying technique. there a re forum members close to you,and tons in the burgh or philly if you visit either.

you can always tell us what flies you use ,and we can tell you what materials to get.

unlike others here,i do like kits,but all you really need are a vice,scissors,bobbin holder,thread and hooks.a pen barrel can do as a half hitch tool.

 

[shakey]

also see if you can raid the sewing box and trashpick about six inches of lamp cord for ribbing.

do you have a cat?

 

[somersetian]

Thanks for all the advice the main reason i want a kit is so i can order everything all at once and not have to wait for separate packages, and look up every tool you need because honestly i dont know. I do have 2 cats with about 6 colors between the two of them. The first fly i would want to tie would be a prince nymph because it always seems to catch fish for me. I probably wont have any spending money for a couple of weeks just trying to get ideas. Thanks for all the help.

 

[CathyG]

A good kit will give you a little bit of various flies and tying techniques. I think Ebrandt10's advise about calling Flyfishersparadise is spot on. Not all kits are created equal and a fly shop's own kit is probably assembled with better materials.

Just don't get into tying thinking you'll save money tying your own. Tying can easily become a money pit. But it is a very rewarding hobby.

 

[shakey]

somersetian wrote:
Thanks for all the advice the main reason i want a kit is so i can order everything all at once and not have to wait for separate packages, and look up every tool you need because honestly i dont know. I do have 2 cats with about 6 colors between the two of them. The first fly i would want to tie would be a prince nymph because it always seems to catch fish for me. I probably wont have any spending money for a couple of weeks just trying to get ideas. Thanks for all the help.

i believe gander has a wapsi kit for about fifty bucks.

for a prince you need brown and white goose biot,that might not come in a kit.sometimes kits do have biot though.

i should tell you,when i started tying,my catch rate went up too.

 

[shakey]

BTW,i started tying with hemostats C clamped to a table,sewing thread and found feathers for material.i think i kept tension on the thread with a wooden clothespin ,but don't remember exactly

 

[JackM]

Shaaaaaakeeeeeeey!

 

[shakey]

did i do something wrong dear moderator??

 

[Maurice]

Shakey, you could do no wrong even with a beer bottle and a vintage BMW. your methods are simplistic and practical.

 

[shakey]

haha! hope you are having fun at rickets glen!