Fly tiying

[Sewinmad]

Hi guys, thinking of starting fly tiying to keep me occupied through the winter months, any info on a good starter kit or anything would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[laffingravy]

The best advice I can give you on a starter kit is do not buy one. Starter kits are usually filled with low quality materials that will put you onto a very bad start. They have an annoying tendency to have excess amounts of products that you are fairly unlikely to use. In my opinion it is far better to put your own kit together. This may seem more expensive initially but in the mid to long term it us far more economical and infinitely more practical. What you buy should be determined by what you intend to tie. This is usually dictated by what you normally catch the majority of your fish on. It doesn't need to be stupidly expensive but please do not be mistaken into thinking that tying your own flies will save you money. It rarely if ever does. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. The rewards however are very much worth it. Catching fish on your own creations is excellent. Being able to dress patterns to your own exacting standards is even better.

Rather than asking what to buy consider what you want to tie post the patterns on here and I will provide you with a list of tools and materials. I will also offer recommendations about where to buy the stuff.

[mepps4me]

sewinmad
excellent information from laffingravy, it is very easy to end up buying materials that you think that you might need but never use. I have accumulated far too much myself, most of which never sees daylight. As LG says, think of the basic patterns you intend tying and only buy the materials needed for those flies. You can add to your stock as needed but beware of falling into the trap of thinking that you need every material being advertised, or you will end up like me and thousands of others - collectors of feathers and animal fur.

[grey duster]

There are plenty of free materials out there,feathers,wool,road kill,etc.

[mintylad]

If you want to write a list of say six patterns you want to tie I can send you any surpluss material I may have. I have also got a few tools that are surplus to requirements that I can let you have. Just send me a pm of the list with your address and I'll see what I can do to help.

Mintylad.

[Teifi-Terrorist]

road kill

Ah, the look one gets when seen chopping the tail off a road-kill squirrel! :>

Agree with the above, SM, very easy to end up with lots of stuff you don't need. Far better to identify some simple patterns you want to start with then base your collection around that, expanding accordingly. Trust me, it 'expands accordingly' all too easily!

TT.

[steelheadnut]

[QUOTE=Teifi-Terrorist;12021]Ah, the look one gets when seen chopping the tail off a road-kill squirrel! :>

Sod the road kill, just put some nuts down and when he's not looking go for it.
Seeing we're talking road kill, if any of you come across one or two "Gallus Sonneratti" just remember I have first dibs, OK. :>:>:>:>:>:>:>

Cap

[grey duster]

There be one or two junglefowl hiding in the balsam.