Different Tying Styles

[Poke 'Em]

Recently my brother, who, like me, is an avid fly fisherman, joined the Army. While in the Army, he put the majority of his possessions in storage. Not wanting to expose his fly tying materials to bugs and the like while in storage, he gave all of his fly tying stuff to me - not to store it for him, but to make my own. (I'll give what I don't use back to him when he gets out, but for now I'm using what he gave me). Anyway... I finally got around to combining our materials and organizing everything. What struck me was how few things we had in common. I set aside a special box to store duplicates in (no sense in having two of everything). We had almost nothing in common! We each had about 10 bunches of marabou. The only colors we shared were black and white! We each had about 6 or 7 spools of floss. We only had two colors in common. Same for bucktail, deer hair, thread, you name it. Even among the less common materials, we still had very little in common. It surprised me how different our tying styles were. We were both basically self-taught, but I didn't expect us to have so little in common. How have you noticed that your tying style differs from that of your friends?

[narcodog]

I have noticed the difference. I tie mostly with natural materials and they tie with mostly synthetic. I buy necks they but 100 packs or saddles which I use very little of.

[flybugpa]

yeah, i am the only one who ties and fishes soft hackles , all the rest of my friends are into standard hackle, but come to me after the standard hackled flies no longer work /when the fish get tired of seeing them

[Cold]

I have noticed the difference. I tie mostly with natural materials and they tie with mostly synthetic. I buy necks they but 100 packs or saddles which I use very little of.

I agree with you, narcodog. If I'm buying feathers and its at all possible, I'm buying on the skin.

I have very few friends (outside of people I met specifically through fishing) that know much about tying, but even among tyers I've become good friends with and fish with, styles are very different. I've found that I have a strong tendency toward classic patterns, and, by extension, natural materials. I have a rough time incorporating synthetics (beyond, say, rayon floss), unless I'm tying warmwater or salt. Once I do set out to tie something with synthetics, it usually ends up 100% synthetic.

A few buddies work wonders with foam and spun hair, which I can't for the life of me figure out. Conversely, I have no issues with floss, slip wings, or full feather wings.

[WarrenP]

Very interesting observation and something worth checking into. I feel it is good that you have noticed the differences you both share in tying material colors because that tells me that you will probably become very good at tying flies because you are observant. One of the reasons for the differences may be the fishing styles you each have. For instance, one may fish subsurface mostly and the other may fish dry flies or midges mostly. If that is the case, your tying material will be different.

I really do find this thread interesting and will look forward to viewing the responses.

I have to know one thing though. When the two of you do go fishing together, who has the best "catch" ratio? If it is your brother, you may want to switch to the colors he uses! LOL

I honestly feel if you viewed 2 different fly tying benchs, you would probably see that each fly tyer has different tastes, but, that does not mean one is right and the other is wrong. Different strokes for different folks. I find fly tying to be a lot of fun and even more fun when teaching it to others.

Great thread and very good observation which I am sure will be a learning experience for you as you continue to research the differences. I would enjoy being in the same room or on the same river as you and your brother discuss this difference with each other.

[Poke 'Em]

That's a good question about who catches more... Usually, what happens is that I catch more fish, but he always seems to catch the big one (or three). Which I'm okay with. Unfortunately, it's a pretty small sample size as we haven't had many opportunities to fish together the last few years (since I became a serious tyer).

[WWKimba]

I tie mostly soft hackles and streamers and most for bluegill/crappie/bass/panfish and fish mostly stillwater. I'm sure my box is MUCH different than an avid trout or (especially) a salmon fisherman.

[MSD53X]

OH WOW What a thread !!

I'm gonna tell yah a story LOL LOL.

I was invited to a "tie and lie" (BYOB) with people I had never met in person (only on net). When time came close, I discovered that everyone other than me, were tying their "down home" patterns, Duh what's that, 'cause I had been gone for so long. Long story short, I had a lot of stuff that they didn't have, and naturally they also had stuff I didn't have. We had a BALL !!!! I learned a lot from all of them. Not sure if they got any info from me, but they were courteous lol lol

[Bass_Bug]

I think DaveMac had a good point with "material collecting". That certainly described me the first several years. At first it was quite broad. Acquiring a little of everything in common or basic colors at first, then expanding the colors and adding more obscure materials. I don't think I'm alone in saying I have packages of some materials that have never been used. Now I buy stuff that's new that 'might' be useful, or new items just to tie a specific pattern. For some of us, collection materials could be be considered hoarding. Glad I'm not one of those types!