Fly tying

[carter]

Hello ...' I live in Tulsa so it may be a while to get to okc and the fly shop there ….. I went to bass pro today to look at the kits that they have. step one of getting into tying … thanks and good fisjh photos

 

[LBnM]

As I recall Tulsa has a Backwoods store and it used to have a fly shop. Probably get more expertise there than BPS. I recommend not getting a kit but get components as you need them. I bought a kit at General Tackle in Colo Springs in 1971, took lessons from a master tyer, but finally gave most of it away years later because I never used all of what came with it. You can get a decent vise relatively inexpensive and their are some tools that are absolutely necessary. I recommend you read "Production Fly Tying" by A.K. Best. In it he discusses necessary tools, how to use them, and gives great tips on every aspect of Fly Tying (with emphasis on trout.) He is about as good as it gets.

 

[dennishoddy]

I started tying flies and making spinner baits and my own buzz baits when I was 12 I even made my own buzz bait blades from coke cans and Budweiser cans I called them Bud baits.
4 blade ones even.
I even made wooden crank baits that actually worked but I was about 14 or15 when I made them.
There was a question in wood shop on a test in the 9th grade. the question was : Is sandpaper for finishing or shaping.
I answered shaping and finishing and teacher counted me wrong.

I asked him about it and he said finishing is the answer..I told him that I shape wood with coarse sanding paper and make fishing bass plugs.
He said prove it and I did bring him a plug i made the next day and he gave me credit on the answer and changed what the answer could be.

Now I am a tight wad and through the years I lost my tying vise.
I recently made one so the grand kids can see how it is done.
Round steel rod 1/4" diameter..not critical.
Attached to a wooden base that I can clamp to a table and the rod at the tying end has a bolt welded to it and I just slipped a couple washers onto the bolt and thread a nut on there ..stick a hook between the washers and tighten the nut.
Washers pinch together and hold the hook. Simple and cheap.
You could use wing nuts.
Or you could attach an exacto knife to the rod.. the kind that has the threaded collar.

Use your imagination.
I was grounded a lot as a kid and spent countless days in my room..I had to do something with my time.
On the way home from school I would walk the fence line (Barbed wire) The animals that crossed it or rubbed on it would leave hair and fluffy fur and I would use this and feathers I found to make my lures.

I would take the fur and roll it in my fingers to make long skinny strand about the diameter of a Qtip stem and then roll that onto some thread with my fingers.. kind of looked like yarn but with that one thread down the middle.
That was the body of many of my flies and jigs.

Fun stuff and on the cheap.

My Grandpa made everything he fished with. Used copper tubing to pound into spoons, tied his own flies and built his own rods. My wifes favorite spinning rod is a fiberglass blank he put the cork handle and guides on. I have all of his old fly rods and reels he built to include his split bamboo with 5 extra tips. He did the split shot for the jig head, and then painted and tied feathers to them. Made his own balsa wood lures, some of which I still have. I'm on the road now coming home from an extended trip to New Mexico and Colorado where I did some amazing fly fishing or I'd post pics of his hand made lures and flies. If I remember when getting home I will do that.

Now for the OP. I'm not a fly tyer, but I do know several that are. One thing all of them told me was do not scrimp or try to save a buck on the jig or related equipment. They all tried to do that, and when they upgraded, they found it was worth the money even if your just going to do it for a hobby.
Deer Slayers buddy at Backwoods is a great guy. I've met him at the fly fishing school that the ODW supports annually at Tenkiller Lake.
I'll third going down to talk to him and getting some good equipment to get started. He won't do you wrong.

 

[Deer Slayer]

No Tom Adams will not do you wrong!!!! If you want to know anything about fly fishing or tying then Tom is THE MAN to talk to. 405-751-7376.

 

[Master Carper]

If you ever watch youtube videos, look up "In The Riffle" and "Davie McPhail". 99% of the flies that I tie was learned from watching them.

Like others have said, don't scrimp on tools or supplies, and especially the vise! Get the best vise you can afford and it will make your fly tying much more enjoyable!

Since I like to tie big streamers for bass, I cut a groove in one of my jaws, and it keeps the hook in place so it doesn't slip when I'm putting more pressure on it and keeping everything really good and tight.