how many of each

[flytyingfred]

If you have around 4 hrs at the vice on a sat. for example, Approximatly how many flies will you end up tying and how many different patterns will you tie?

 

[jayL]

Depends what I'm tying for.

For steelhead, I'll tie 150 or more, and about 10 patterns in infinite color variations.

For trout, I'll tie 75-150, depending on the difficulty of the pattern and my focus (tying staple dries and nymphs is boring). If I'm tying to fill the box and replace staples, I'll tie 7-10 patterns. If I'm tying for a hatch, I'll tie fewer flies, and fewer patterns, with more duplicates.

For bass/WW, I'll tie maybe 75 max. I like to tie intricate streamers.

This assumes I am sitting down for actual tying. Most of my tying is done over a flyers/phillies game, and slower paced.

 

[dryflyguy]

I tie at a leisurely pace, and usually crank out around 6 an hour., which would be 2 dozen in your time frame
If I need that amount of a certain pattern and size, I just do that.

It's a good idea to - once started - tie up all of the certain fly that you need. Instead of jumping around from pattern to pattern

 

[MKern]

I tie at about 8-10 per hour.

But it really depends on the patterns.
Plus I usually bounce around from pattern to pattern; which there is a lot of "non-tying" time in there them.

If I'm tying basic patterns for someone else, I can usually turn out more; probably because I have some direction and purpose.

In 1.5 hours yesterday I ties 4 flies = 2 7" pike flies with double hooks and two new ant patterns I am working on.

 

[afishinado]

I'm a pretty slow tyer and usually do it at a leisurely pace as DFG does. It really depends on the pattern though. Ever notice that after the 5th or 6th fly you tie, you have it down pat, you become proficient and the flies are perfect! Unfortunately that's when I am done and begin to tie another pattern...lol

 

[tomgamber]

jayL wrote:
Depends what I'm tying for.

For steelhead, I'll tie 150 or more, and about 10 patterns in infinite color variations.

For trout, I'll tie 75-150, depending on the difficulty of the pattern and my focus (tying staple dries and nymphs is boring). If I'm tying to fill the box and replace staples, I'll tie 7-10 patterns. If I'm tying for a hatch, I'll tie fewer flies, and fewer patterns, with more duplicates.

For bass/WW, I'll tie maybe 75 max. I like to tie intricate streamers.

This assumes I am sitting down for actual tying. Most of my tying is done over a flyers/phillies game, and slower paced.

Wow, that's flying Jay...Approx. 20 and hour?...at minimum? An easy fly takes my 5 minutes...that a dozen...Harder ones 10 minutes? Only 6/hr? You are a machine?


I could possibly improve that pace greatly by picking and arranging all the parts ahead of time but that would take much of the whole first hour.

 

[jayL]

tomgamber wrote:

jayL wrote:
Depends what I'm tying for.

For steelhead, I'll tie 150 or more, and about 10 patterns in infinite color variations.

For trout, I'll tie 75-150, depending on the difficulty of the pattern and my focus (tying staple dries and nymphs is boring). If I'm tying to fill the box and replace staples, I'll tie 7-10 patterns. If I'm tying for a hatch, I'll tie fewer flies, and fewer patterns, with more duplicates.

For bass/WW, I'll tie maybe 75 max. I like to tie intricate streamers.

This assumes I am sitting down for actual tying. Most of my tying is done over a flyers/phillies game, and slower paced.

Wow, that's flying Jay...Approx. 20 and hour?...at minimum? An easy fly takes my 5 minutes...that a dozen...Harder ones 10 minutes? Only 6/hr? You are a machine?

The majority of my flies are scuds, walt's worms, and PT nymphs. I can do each one in under a minute if I have to. Most of them are done in about 3 minutes easy.

I probably overestimated my max, because I didn't check the math to see how accurate it was... but I'm a fisherman.

(edit. I just checked my math. I am definitely overestimating the upper bounds.)

 

[dryflyguy]

I'm tying flies for myself - or friends - to use. And IMO, the idea is to make them as good as I possibly can. No need to make a race for time thing out of it - unless you're tying commercially I guess.

My 6 flies per hour would be for the average mayfly, consisting of 4 steps - tails, wings, body, 1 hackle.
Larger flies like green drakes will take a little longer. More materiel - 2 hackles and ribbing.

Caddis - 3 steps - body, wing, hackle - I'll whip out 8- 10 and
hour.

Crowe beetles are quite simple, and I'll easily crank out 12 or more an hour of them

 

[jayL]

I agree that there is no rush, but I enjoy figuring a systematic approach out. I'll design my flies so that I can tie them quickly, uniformly, and easily. Once I find a way to simply create a good looking pattern, I shouldn't have to slow down much for quality.

I'll give you that I worry about good looks and proportion much more on dries. With nymphs, I have systematic ways to keep my proportions right, and tie my own patterns nearly exclusively. I can move quickly, and sloppiness almost always just means more or less "bugginess". I can fix that with a bodkin, usually.

 

[shipnfish2006]

It all depends on how much goes into the pattern. Example would be yesterday I tied up about 9 Prince nymphs in about an hour, whereas a sow bug or green weenie, I can probably do about 20-25 an hour if that is all that I did for that hour. On average I tie at a very leisurely pace completing anywhere from 2 - 4 dozen per 4 hour sitting.

 

[jerseygeorge]

I will tell you one thing that will improve your tying and the quality of your flies. Never tie less than 6 of one fly at a time. I typically tie a minimum of a dozen. I might mix sizes, bead head or not, but I always layout my materials for a dozen at a time. The last one is always better than the first..

 

[flytyingfred]

JerseyGeorge,
thats the reason I asked the ?. I am fairly new to this tying and I cant make more than 4 at the most right now of one kind. I start to get antsy I guess and have to change to a different pattern. I hope this behavior soon goes away so I can maybe tie a dozen of one pattern without changing. I really love the tying part of fly fishing and also the getting of the fur and feathers through hunting and trapping. I know I waste a lot of time changing materials for each new fly so I dont tie many flies per hour. It would take me a week or more of 4 hour sessions to tie 150 flies.... thanks you guys for your input it is appreciated very much

 

[bam]

I'll crank out simple patterns like spawn, worms, eggs in a minute or two. PTs and HEs three to 4 minutes each. More materials=more time. Dries generally take me twice as long as nymphs.

 

[littlelehigh]

flytyingfred wrote:
JerseyGeorge,
thats the reason I asked the ?. I am fairly new to this tying and I cant make more than 4 at the most right now of one kind. I start to get antsy I guess and have to change to a different pattern. I hope this behavior soon goes away so I can maybe tie a dozen of one pattern without changing. I really love the tying part of fly fishing and also the getting of the fur and feathers through hunting and trapping. I know I waste a lot of time changing materials for each new fly so I dont tie many flies per hour. It would take me a week or more of 4 hour sessions to tie 150 flies.... thanks you guys for your input it is appreciated very much

I'm at it a year now and still do this Fred bouncing around. Sure tying 6 at a time improves the quality but how bad did the first one come out to begin with? If your a meticulous tyer probally not bad at all right?


For me it takes what it takes and that's all there is to it. The only ones that really test my patience are parachutes. Sometimes they look great and the hackle holds tight other times not so much. Oh well such is life if tying was always easy what fun would it be!

 

[afishinado]

littlelehigh wrote:

flytyingfred wrote:
JerseyGeorge,
thats the reason I asked the ?. I am fairly new to this tying and I cant make more than 4 at the most right now of one kind. I start to get antsy I guess and have to change to a different pattern. I hope this behavior soon goes away so I can maybe tie a dozen of one pattern without changing. I really love the tying part of fly fishing and also the getting of the fur and feathers through hunting and trapping. I know I waste a lot of time changing materials for each new fly so I dont tie many flies per hour. It would take me a week or more of 4 hour sessions to tie 150 flies.... thanks you guys for your input it is appreciated very much

I'm at it a year now and still do this Fred bouncing around. Sure tying 6 at a time improves the quality but how bad did the first one come out to begin with? If your a meticulous tyer probally not bad at all right?


For me it takes what it takes and that's all there is to it. [color=CC0000]The only ones that really test my patience are parachutes. Sometimes they look great and the hackle holds tight other times not so much.[/color] Oh well such is life if tying was always easy what fun would it be!

LL,

I finally broke down and bought some rotating hackle pliers a few years ago. They really helped making my parachutes easier to tie and better quality. HTH.

 

[osprey]

4-8 an hour and it depends on if i'm doin R&D or tying stuff i know well and need. One of the most relaxing and soothing/healing pastimes there is. There are times when i like to tie a half dozen or so "clones" usually when it's something i need or someone else needs. It's rewarding to be able to tie a pattern you know well and have all six of 'em look identical , n then there are the times when i like to "fiddle" around with it , you never know when you will come up with something , what a great pastime HUH?

 

[jerseygeorge]

FT-Fred-

I too was antsy, one of these, two of those. Then I took some classes with a professional fly tier (Don Bastain - great guy, great tyer). I noticed how efficiently he tied flies. He would count out six hooks, take out just enough crystal flash, just get the dubbing he needed. The rest of the bench was surprisingly clean. He would then turn out six flies so fast I could not believe it. So I started doing like him.

Making it easier I got a bunch of plastic boxes with small compartments and labeled them Caddis, Baetis, Sulpher, Ants, etc. Then I labeled the compartments for sizes. Now when I tie I fill up the compartments (figuratively) with enough flies, and then load my fly box from there. So when I sit to tie I am filling boxes and filling holes, and it makes it easier knock out 6-10 of one pattern.

I also know from experience that if I don't fill the holes in the boxes pre-season, it will not happen during the season. So that motivates me.

Right now my beetles and nymphs are in great shape. Next is Olives! Just pounding out some streamers in the meantime, some very large streamers!

 

[littlelehigh]

Afish
rotating hackle pliers is now on my list of things to look for at Somerset! Thanks

 

[ryguyfi]

I tie anywhere from 8-15 an hour. Simple ties like egg patterns I can turn out 15 an hour, but more complex, like stimulators, or even most of my dries are around 8-10. I usually start with some basic patterns, like HE's, and then progress to my more complex. Usually I tie for no longer than 2 hours. After that I get bored, unless I'm watching tv or something. Plus the wifie will have something for me to do sooner or later. I learned it's better for my tying to tie all the same pattern, one after another, but for my attention span, I usually tie what I feel like at that very moment. That may be why my box is mixed with a bunch of different patterns, rather than organized and uniform.

 

[sandfly]

i tie a dozen or more for each fly. got to fill the boxes at the shop. I just get all the materials together and tie then move on to the next one. As to time it can vary. A good tied fly takes the right amount of time. the more you tie one fly the better it will look.