Fly Tying materials

[afishinado]

Baron wrote:
[color=006666]Bam Wrote[/color]:"Save the nice fine tip scissors for cutting thread and a stray hackle fiber or two, get a half decent pair of larger scissors for cutting the course materials and use WIRE CUTTERS to cut wire!! I have a small 3” pair a diagonal pliers I’ve been using for ever and my scissors are just as old and going strong."

Amen!

Its tough to find the perfect scissors so why abuse them?
I was at two of the stores you recommended and was pleasantly surprised that they were as competitive as the internet with the added benefit that you can kick the tires before buying.

One of the shops sold even smaller packs that were half the internet price and he let me hold a Hardy Princess(lol, hope the wife doesn't find out). I am enamored with the P1492 and hope to upgrade in retirement to Hardy LWT or Princess.

[color=0000FF]Shakey[/color] my bobbin is the cheapo from Bass pro. It cost 2.99 and is made of SS. It is functional. I've dropped it several times and so I'm not sure ceramic is for me.

I hate dubbing and never knew until yesterday that there is wax. Are there any other choices?
This is supposed to be a Red Tag Fly for Gills and Perch but the dubbing was tough to keep on the dry thread:

 

[Bamboozle]

Baron wrote:
I hate dubbing and never knew until yesterday that there is wax. Are there any other choices?

First off, your efforts look damn good!!

Second, if you aren't using pre-waxed fly tying thread, you may want to consider it. Also, purpose made supplemental fly tying waxes are available in various degrees of "tackiness." They help a LOT with coarse materials as does learning split thread or dubbing loop methods of dubbing. In a pinch plain old beeswax is a satisfactory supplemental thread wax.

Third, dubbing big flies is a pain no matter how long you have been tying. For that reason if I can find a substitute material like a chenille or yarn that gives me the same look & color that I can wrap around the hook shank, I'll go that route on big flies.

 

[Baron]

Afish I knew you'd pull through. Turns out, per the above vid that I have the toughest dubbing to dub and on top of that I haven't any wax so as Bam said I sort got it okay for having allot against me. This is something I must beat and will give it some practice. Hopefully I could learn to like it in time.
Is properly applied dubbing durable enough to not need a winding material like I used above? These flies will see Panfish and Pickerel.
Bam, tonight a knitter is bringing me some wool and synthetic yarn which I'll play with since its free. And I'll order some wax.

 

[Bamboozle]

Baron wrote:
Is properly applied dubbing durable enough to not need a winding material like I used above?

If by a "winding material" you mean "ribbing" which is something like thread, wire or tinsel counter wound over it, the answer is NO you don't need ribbing, a dubbed body is durable enough IF the dubbing is applied properly.

BTW - The body on your "Red Tag Fly" is traditionally tied with peacock herl which is fragile to a degree, although I know you didn't use it on your version.

However, there are a bunch of flashy, sparkly materials like Estaz Chenille, Pearl Chenille, Ice Chenille and Ice Dub Chenille that come in colors VERY similar to your fly and also in a Peacock color.

Chenille is yarn-like and is a snap to wind on for a body versus dubbing.

 

[Bamboozle]

BTW - When I want something tackier than plain old beeswax, my favorite fly tying waxes are BT's Tacky & Super Tacky and the legendary, much coveted and now overpriced Overton's Wonder Wax which is back in production, although the verdict may still be out as to whether it is the same as the original.

I should mention that I have two tubes of Overton's, one which is an original tube 3/4 full that I bought probably 30 or more years ago and a tube of the new version I bought on a whim.

Bottom line, the new Overton's even at $15.00 it will last you the rest of your life.

 

[Baron]

I meant ribbing. I tied this red tag with the dubbing to gain the experience in dubbing and almost gave it up. I added the flash to support how poorly attached the dubbing seemed. It'll fish.
I like the loop dubbing method and will likely try it.
Although Ive not tried it the red tag looks like Gill and perch food. A little adjustment in color and the Crappy may like it as well.

 

[shakey]

[color=0000FF]Shakey[/color] my bobbin is the cheapo from Bass pro. It cost 2.99 and is made of SS. It is functional. I've dropped it several times and so I'm not sure ceramic is for me.

[/quote]

Just a little correction.
What you are referring to as your “bobbin “ is a “bobbin holder.”
Your bobbin is the spool upon which the thread is wound .


Your flies look good and will definitely catch fish.

Try to leave a little more space at the eye.

You will get better as you tie more.

Congratulations on being off to a good start!!

 

[Baron]

Ah, Shakey you're right. Bobbin holder. At any rate I'm famous for breaking things and I'll not go ceramic for a while. I may buy a couple more of these 2.99 Bobbin Holders so I can leave several colors spooled up.
Thanks for the comments. I'm learning allot.

 

[shakey]

Yes,having a few colors of thread ready to go is fantastic.

A lot of people tie many flies with white thread and switch to black just for the head .

Another neat thing is to form a head of black thread and add a stripe of white and/or red thread on top of the black.

Or,just add red or orange thread behind the head after it is formed.

A real easy fly is to take a red hook and whip a white head in it. Easy peasy.

 

[Baron]

Easy Peasy.

 

[coyoterahn]

Baron,
Another tip, FWIW.....an easy way to clean head cement out of the hook eye is to pass a small hackle feather through the hook eye.

 

[Baron]

Cool Trick Thanks.

 

[JeffK]

Been tying for 50+ years, so have been through plenty of phases. Craft store stuff is OK, but over the years I have probably bought 100times more stuff than I really needed.

For example, had a glass bead period where I tied all sorts of glass bead bodied nymphs. Fun for a while, but now I have a box of little glass beads and I don't really fish the glass bead flies. Still use bigger glass beads to slightly weight estaz egg flies for steelhead, and have another box.

Yarns. Once used all sorts of tapestry wool (smaller size on smaller packages) for wets and nymphs. Now only use the dark and black ones to rapidly build up larger nymphs. Have a box of wool yrans though.

A certain color yarn at Walmart is used for my golden stone pattern. One skein is a 200 year supply.

Had a chamois worm phase, which led to getting chamois pieces in the oil paint section. Tried other leather stuff that didn't work. Now I have a box of leather bits.

A buddy of mine makes nymph bodies with fabric paint. Got into that for a while and now have a box of all sorts of fabric paint.

You see the trend. I ended up with boxes of all sorts of stuff - threads and embroidery yarn for midges, all sorts of foam, etc. A few years ago I moved into my retirement home and most of it had to go - but I still have plenty.

As to threads. I started with black. My flies caught fish. Then I added tan as a neutral thread for lighter bodied flies. My flies caught fish. Then I got white as an underbody for wets so the body wouldn't change color when wet. Could easily change color of white with a marker pen, and some guys I know only used white and had a box of markers to color the thread. Now I have a box of threads in dozens of colors. Not sure I catch more fish.

We all love to try new tying materials all the time, so tying is almost never cheaper than buying or craft store materials cheaper than fly store materials. One can catch as much on a few guide style flies tied with a handful of readily available materials. But what is the fun in that?

 

[afishinado]

JeffK wrote:
Been tying for 50+ years, so have been through plenty of phases. Craft store stuff is OK, but over the years I have probably bought 100times more stuff than I really needed.

For example, had a glass bead period where I tied all sorts of glass bead bodied nymphs. Fun for a while, but now I have a box of little glass beads and I don't really fish the glass bead flies. Still use bigger glass beads to slightly weight estaz egg flies for steelhead, and have another box.

Yarns. Once used all sorts of tapestry wool (smaller size on smaller packages) for wets and nymphs. Now only use the dark and black ones to rapidly build up larger nymphs. Have a box of wool yrans though.

A certain color yarn at Walmart is used for my golden stone pattern. One skein is a 200 year supply.

Had a chamois worm phase, which led to getting chamois pieces in the oil paint section. Tried other leather stuff that didn't work. Now I have a box of leather bits.

A buddy of mine makes nymph bodies with fabric paint. Got into that for a while and now have a box of all sorts of fabric paint.

You see the trend. I ended up with boxes of all sorts of stuff - threads and embroidery yarn for midges, all sorts of foam, etc. A few years ago I moved into my retirement home and most of it had to go - but I still have plenty.

As to threads. I started with black. My flies caught fish. Then I added tan as a neutral thread for lighter bodied flies. My flies caught fish. Then I got white as an underbody for wets so the body wouldn't change color when wet. Could easily change color of white with a marker pen, and some guys I know only used white and had a box of markers to color the thread. Now I have a box of threads in dozens of colors. Not sure I catch more fish.

We all love to try new tying materials all the time, so tying is almost never cheaper than buying or craft store materials cheaper than fly store materials. One can catch as much on a few guide style flies tied with a handful of readily available materials. But what is the fun in that?

^ LOL....all so true!

I've been tying for a long time and I have a large tying desk filled, plus added drawers and cabinets and shelves next to the desk all filed with materials and stuff. 90% of it is never used. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Have fun!

 

[Baron]

So your message is don't feel guilty or that there is only one way. Rather, enjoy the journey and go fish........