I got the dreaded flytying kit for Christmas...now what?

[Bedlam]

My wife did some research, and as a result, knows more about flytying then I do. She bought me a griffen montana mongoose vise, bodkins, a bobbin, hackle plyers, fly glue, thread and a whip finish tool that I know is going to whip me good and a pair of scissors so expensive, I will have to open a barber shop to pay for them. Today I ordered an assortment of materials off of ebay. Now I need you good people.

Where should I start? What fly do you recommend I start with to learn the basics?

What number should I call when I snap trying to figure out what the heck a whip finish is?

Thanks for the help.

[scubatim]

Only one thing to do PACK THAT STUFF UP and ship it to me. You want nothing to do with such an addictive thing.

[ScottP]

You sir, have one great wife; congrats. Here's a good place to start:
http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/beginners/

What to tie depends on what kind of fishing you do. Wooly buggers are pretty universal, though and not a bad place to start. I'm sure you'll get lots more advise, soon.

Regards,
Scott

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Bedlam,

Welcome to the madness. Sounds like your wife really did her homework on what to get.

I suggest you start here http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/beginners/ Our friend Al Campbell did a remarkable job in designing a beginners section that builds tying skills on tying skills. Make sure you follow the tutorials in sequence and tie more than one of each fly. The flies will get better as you tie more copies and you'll build muscle memory, which is very important.

Your wife does know you won't be saving any money tying your own doesn't she?

Above all, have fun with fly tying. If it's more trouble than it's worth, your doing it wrong.

REE

[Cold]

Check out the excellent beginner fly tying guide here on FAOL, first off. It is truly excellent.

As far as first flies, a woolly bugger is hard to argue with as a first choice. It will catch pretty much any fish you'd want to catch, and it will be effective no matter how ugly it looks coming out of the vise.

[hungNtree]

Bedlam,

Good luck and welcome to the loony bin!!!

What ever you tie, keep the first one. I tied a wooly bugger for my first fly. I still have the ugly looking critter, its a big help to take it out and look at every once in a while and realize that while my flies aren't pretty, they are better than they use to be.

hNt

[Eric-WD]

The beginners section here got me started and as everyone else has said it is a great resource.

I am a visual learner, this site has helped me a lot

http://www.kwsu.org/Offers/FlyTying.aspx.

Eric

[jeffnles1]

I second (well third, fourth, fifth) the beginners fly tying section here. It seems as if your loving wife got you some good stuff.

I'm starting a fly tying series on my blog with photos, materials lists, etc and step by step how to tie the flies I'm picturing. I'm focusing mainly on flies for warm water fly fishing (bass, bluegill, crappie, and the like). The link is in my sig line.

I have about 6 or 8 more flies tied up and photographed. I just need to get them up. My goal is to have one every week through the winter months.

These are all very easy flies to tie (I don't like to tie flies that will cause me to cry when I loose them in a tree).

Also, check out the fly of the week archives on this website. There are some great flies and they have good instructions on how to tie them.

One thing I will say, fish don't really care how perfect the fly is tied or if it looks exactaly like the ones in the books.

Also, when you catch your first fish on a fly you tied, cut the fly off the tippet, put it back in your box and when you get home, put it someplace safe. There's nothing like the feeling you get when you catch the first fish on a fly you tied yourself.

Welcome to the addiction. You are now destined to a life of poverty. You will dissapear into your fly tying area and your wife may not see you for hours on end.

The fly tying part of this message board is the absolute best source for fly tying information and the best place on the internet to ask questions and get honest, accurate, no B.S. answers.

Jeff

[kbproctor]

The first flies I learned to tie were a San Juan Worm and Woolly Bugger. Later that day the guy showed me how to tie a Bead Head Partridge and Herl.

When I help with the fly tying at Scout Camp, I teach the San Juan Worm, Woolly Bugger or Woolly Worm, and a Foam Ant. All are simple to tie and all catch fish.

For great tutorials on a good selection of flies, there is this site and Charlie's Fly Box. Another site with really good tutorials is Eric Austin's traditionalflies.com Most of Eric's flies do not qualify as "simple" but Eric has a good tutorial on the whip finish and the techniques he shows apply to all kinds of flies.

The main thing is to have FUN.

[CharlaineC]

if you toss a message to bugman he does classes and one on ones via scype. he is ausem taught me alot. and great guy. look me up on scype as well i can help too.