Keep Tying-Save Big!

[flybinder]

Since it's raining and since I can't go fishing, today, for numerous reasons and since I've always been curious about this................... I thought, "What the hey, why not??"

I've seen a lot of posts on here, and elsewhere, that make me chuckle when someone says "I began tying flies, to SAVE MONEY!". In a sense, they're right, in a sense, though, depending on how much you tie and how much you fish and loose flies, there's a difference.
Now, I know, there may be others that will "disprove my highly non-scientific approach to the following finds", but the next time you're as bored as I AM, today, then YOU can work out your OWN formula and let us know the results.

So, that said...................
Taking 4ea. of #14-16-18 size dry flies. (Quill Gordens, Red Quills, Renegades). I weighed out on my gun powder scales, 5grains to the dozen, for this assortment. (tied per original recipes and on Mustad #94840 hooks).
Taking the 5 grains, per dozen flies, multiplied by number of grains per pound, then taking an "average of materials costs", based at $1.75 per fly
that came to $1,837.50 per OUNCE, or $16,800.00 for ONE POUND of dry flies, if tied and sold by the pound, at $1.75 per fly.

After, doing this extremely sad of example of an afternoon's wasted time, I called and talked to Bill at The Fly Shop, in Redding Ca. he quickly ran the formula I'd used and came up with his own. His results were only off from mine, by $1.17 a pound.

There ya' have it. Only $16,800.00 per pound, we pay for dry flies, in those 3 sizes IF we tie our own. Imagine, at fly shop prices, what they cost us? Think, what a pound of Cone Head Wooly Buggers would cost?
I, think, now I need to eat a SPAM 3-layer toasted sandwich and forget the whole thing.

[rookie]

Shoot Flybinder, it costs me that to tye my own, and I haven't even added labor or overhead yet.

[flybinder]

Yeah, I KNOW Rookie!! THAT IS "the cost based on tying your own"! Imagine, buying pre-tied, from a shop at about $2.25 each!?!

[jcntheriver]

Like my grandma Rosanna Dana used to to say if it ain`t one thing it`s another, Good night my little rosanna dana

[ohiotuber]

Like my grandma Rosanna Dana used to to say if it ain`t one thing it`s another, Good night my little rosanna dana

I laugh just THINKING about her! I really miss Gilda Radner.
Mike

[JohnScott]

Paul -

This reminds me of the expression "fuzzy math."

John

[Skip48]

I know it's hard to stop buying materials and it will be a very long time before I could ever use the amount of stuff I have bought.

Save money, LOL! Not doing this.

Skip

[DShock]

I had good intentions in the beginning. My excuse was that most of my store bought flies were disappearing into bushes and trees. Then the accumulation of materials started and the frequent trips to the Fly Shop and ..........I became a FM Pack Rat.
Doug

[nb_ken]

Holy cow, math boy. Is Mustad making their hooks outa platinum now? Where'd you get the $1.75 per in materials?

Don't know much about tying quill-bodied flies, so let's go with a parachute BWO, which, I imagine, probably weighs about the same as a Quill Gordon.

Assuming we use high quality, expensive supplies, I figure:
TMC 100 = .19
Whiting Hackle from a 100 pack = .15
Thread + dubbing + calf hair + cement = .01

Taking off my socks so's I can count on my fingers AND toes, looks like $0.35 per fly

Now, let's assume we're starting with nothing and we want to buy all the stuff we need to tie 100 flies.

Hooks = 18.60 (4 packs of 25 TMC 100s @ 4.65)
Hackle = 15.00 (whiting 100 pack)
Dubbing = 1.60 (small package)
Thread = 1.60 (spool)
Calf Body = 1.80 (patch)
Head Cement = 3.00 (Bottle o' Dave's)

After tying 100, you'll end up with a bunch of extra stuff, but we're still at less than .42 per.

If you're buying enough supplies to tie up ounces or pounds of dry flies, your material price per fly should drop significantly.

Now I'll be the first to admit that fly tying is no bargin. You gotta account for the tools. Then there's all those materials you buy then waste or plain just don't use. And, of course, once you factor in your time, you're probably better off, money-wise, just buying them off the internet.

I would venture to say that very few of us tie flies to save money. If you are, you're probably fooling yourself.

But, damn, don't tell me your "average of materials costs" is $1.75. I think you blew a whole afternoon working off a faulty premise.

[flybinder]

Nawwwwwwwwwwwwww, not at all!! I just didn't lengthen the post to the extreme, to add in ALL the considerations of that "$1.75", because there's LOT MORE to fly tying than "what goes onto the hook", at $1.75 a fly and it's not labor.
I stopped "tying flies to save money, 30 years ago, after my second fly was tied.