# Fly Tying Kit Question



## meathelmet (Aug 4, 2008)

I am thinking about tying my own flies and was wondering if you guys and gals could recommend any fly tying kits out there? I know you get what you pay for but not sure if I want to drop a few hundred only to find out that I cannot cut it.

Maybe I should but a vice and the material to make one specific fly like the wooly bugger?

Thanks!


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## anglerNpurgatory (Jun 17, 2010)

I would skip the kit and piece together your own tools and setup. It seems like the kits I've seen include materials to tie a couple basic trout flies, and then they throw in a handful of odd materials in funky colors. The wooly bugger would be a great starting point, as you can tie them in a variety of colors and sizes to represent all sorts of critters, and you can vary the weight to cover the entire water column. Deceivers and clousers are also basic and effective ties. If you want some topwater options get yourself some sheet foam and you can tie all sorts of beetles and hoppers as well as gurglers, mice and froggies.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

$20 vice. (Vise? We'll see.) 

Hooks, thread, ceramic bobbin, good scissors. All a must.

Sky's the limit on the rest. Roadkill. Shed feathers. Your dog.

That's it.


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## ejsell (May 3, 2012)

Bass Pro Shop offers free tying classes. If it's anything like their casting class they will show you everything you will need. I got a tying kit from llbean this spring and wish I'd just invested in a nicer vise instead.


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## Flymaker (Jan 24, 2013)

skip the kit....buy a good vise , scissors , bodkin , at least 2 bobbins , whip finisher , half hitch tool..and get materals for the fly"s you want to ty.......look on U-tube many vid's .....start tying.....have fun.....I learned on my own...from looking at picyutres in a dan baileys cat. Its not hard man....do it and carry on...the kits are a waiste of cash and time.


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## meathelmet (Aug 4, 2008)

Fly,

Thanks for the tips......you state two bodkins? I know they are for holding the spool but why two?


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## TheJGRDispatch (Jun 15, 2012)

I don't know why he said two but I would suggest it. One for thread and one for lead. Makes adding weight so much easier.


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## whjr15 (Jun 16, 2005)

TheJGRDispatch said:


> I don't know why he said two but I would suggest it. One for thread and one for lead. Makes adding weight so much easier.


Wow, nice tip! That never even crossed my mind until you said it! When I weight a fly I'm tying, adding the lead takes longer than everything else combined!!


But to the OP, you answered your own question. Skip on the "kits". Buy a good vice, the tools already mentioned (maybe not the whip finisher, as for me it's easier and faster to do it by hand) and the materials for one fly pattern. Learn that fly like the back of your hand, and then you can move on to the next pattern. Quality vices hold their resale value well, so I wouldn't worry about the upfront cost... Plus, once you catch a fish on a fly you tied, I'm positive you'll be buying _more_ materials; not selling!!!

The main advantage, for me, to tying my own flies is that I don't have to wait for a fly shop to open if I need/want more flies. I've tied flies, well before any fly shop's hours, with different colors/weight the morning right before I left, that are better suited for the water conditions at that moment. Try being on the water at first light, when you have to stop first and buy flies you thought you already had!! Not happenin'!

_List of essential *tools*_:

-Vice

-Bobbin

-Scissors

That's all I use for the flies that I tie. (buggers, clousers, sucker spawn, globugs, and a few others.) I bought a whip finisher when I first started, but found that I am way quicker doing it by hand; not to mention you have more control over where it goes. Plus, it's one less tool that mysteriously vanishes 2 seconds after laying it down!  

I only fly fish for steelhead, and sometimes smallies, so depending on what you're planning to fish for, your essentials list might be a bit longer. But for the wooly bugger, a good fly to learn first, those 3 tools plus the materials is all you'll need.

Just youtube "how to tie ____" and you'll find all the info you'll ever need as far as materials/different techniques goes.


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## HipWader (Jun 25, 2013)

List of material needed for a beginner fly tier.....keep in mind most if not all your flies will be tied with a 6/0 thread....which is used for hook sizes 4 - 12...

Fly tying Vise
2 bobbin' - one for thread the other for wire or lead.
1 pair of small sissors
1 spool of tying thread in 6/0 color normally black unless called for otherwise.

You do not need a whip finisher tool...you can do that by hand...there are video's on youtube which demonstrates that...

You do not need any head fly tying cement...I use a $1 sally hanson's hard as nails for coating the thread at the head.

Here's a series of video's on youtube with 24 lessons on tying flies....






It's best to get the material your going to need to tie one specific fly ...then move on...


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## Flymaker (Jan 24, 2013)

I suggested 2 bobbins , I should have more specific...1 for thread(ceramic lined) 1 for wire etc...There are alot of tying tools to be had...But what you need will depend on the flys you tie. I have all kinds of tools ...rotary hackle pliers , bobbin threader , dubbing brush....etc . It just depends . as far as a whip finsher goes , yes you can do it by hand . I just have gotten used to useing the tool and I have it ..so I use it...If all you are tying are streamers and bluegill fly's you really dont need alot...I ty fly's for trout fishing as well so the more things you ty the more you " need" or at least find come in handy....Alot of tools can be made . I made a board for making dubbing brushes . I use the end of a ball point pen for half hitch tool...a comment on head cement....the only true head cement I use it the water based stuff....which I use on my nymphs and dry's for trout fishing....other than that its hard as nails or super glue....


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## meathelmet (Aug 4, 2008)

Thanks fellas for all the great tips and I am going to buy a vice first which I thought would be pretty cut and dry but there are so many different types out there......just to hold a hook? Hahaha.......


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