Cost of flies...

[Buddy Sanders]

I've not 'bought' a fly for many, many years. I made a commitment to myself long ago that I would only fish with flies that I tied. I'm not too anal about it, I have used flies tied by friends occasionally, but I've managed to stay away from 'purchasing flies' at fly shops or from catalogs for decades...

Nothing wrong with buying flies, mind you, and I know I'm not really 'saving money'..With all I've spent on materials and tools, I could have easily bought thousands of flies...

I just like to use my own flies.

I do get a lot of the catalogs that sell flies, though. I'm always browsing, looking for things to duplicate or modify to suit a need or just because I want to play with a new style or technique. Just hadn't really paid attention to the PRICES listed...didn't care, didn't look.

Somehow I guess I missed the explosion in fly prices....what I consider 'simple standard pattern trout flies' seem to have gone up into the over a dollar range...and bass flies? Some of the topwaters I've seen are selling for $4 to $6 EACH! Yikes!!

I know I'm getting old..but if I had to 'buy' the flies that I'd want for an afternoon on the lake it would cost me a couple of hundred bucks at retail...and I'd be tossing them to stumps, logs, flooded trees, grass, angry bass, and rocks..places you don't always get them back from..

I'm not so sure that a fledgeling fly fisherman, especially one who's targeting bass or panfish, couldn't actually 'save money' now by tying their own...even starting out with nothing....

Well, maybe not really, but WOW, flies have gotten expensive.

Buddy

[Martin McFly]

Hey Buddy, you're not the only one, I made the same commintment when I started tying flies. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I agree, but it's just a personal choice. I'm not sure if it's cheaper to tie your own but it sure is more fun.
I own a handfull of flies bought at a fly store many many years ago.

[maodiver]

It may not be cheaper to tie all of your own, but is definately cheaper to tie some of them. A lot of the saltwater and bass bugs have got to be cheaper to tie your own.

it gets somewhat cheaper when you get your own materials, or substitute materials from other realms.

[Lake Erie High Ball]

Thanks for the post Buddy.

I remember the first fly I tied after I bought a vise, bobbin, thread material, and hooks et al. I showed it to my wife and said this is a $150.00 dollar fly if I snag it I?m diving for it. Been tying for about 5 years now I am sure I have gotten it down to $40.00 dollar flies by now but don't tell my wife that.

I would do it again in a heart beat though.

Sean.

[herefishy]

Brings up a question - do the "latest and greatest" flies hot off the Umpqua or MFC vises catch more fish? Do fish get tired of the "old reliables"? Or do you just keep catching the same fish with the same flies?

[Sully]

Brings up a question - do the "latest and greatest" flies hot off the Umpqua or MFC vises catch more fish? Do fish get tired of the "old reliables"? Or do you just keep catching the same fish with the same flies?

Do mule deer drop quicker when hit with a slug from the latest "7mm/458 YBM" ( You Blast'em Magnum) or will the old reliable 30-06 still work...?

[dave potts]

Brings up a question - do the "latest and greatest" flies hot off the Umpqua or MFC vises catch more fish? Do fish get tired of the "old reliables"? Or do you just keep catching the same fish with the same flies?

The fish may get tired of seeing the old standbys, but I'm not leaving home without my pheasant tail nymphs and cracklebacks!

Dave

[jeffnles1]

Brings up a question - do the "latest and greatest" flies hot off the Umpqua or MFC vises catch more fish? Do fish get tired of the "old reliables"? Or do you just keep catching the same fish with the same flies?

Don't know about anyone else, but I've caught more trout on Adams dries, Pheasant Tail Nymphs and Elk Hair Caddis than any other flies. All of them are old designs and still catch fish.

For Warm Water bass, bluegill, crappie, poppers, white and black woolie buggers and various streamers. I do catch a lot on spun deer hair bugs but to me, those are essentially poppers.

I also catch a lot on foam bodied "gugle pops".

I reckon new flies catch fish but so do the old flies.

I know I like to experiment with different materials and make things up. Usually my "creations" ("Franken-flies") catch fish and sometimes they don't. I don't think the fish are as picky as the fly fishermen. It looks like something they could eat, they're going to eat it.

Jeff

[JohnScott]

...Do fish get tired of the "old reliables"? Or do you just keep catching the same fish with the same flies?

I don't think fishies get tired of trying to eat the things ( flies ) that will keep them alive, whether they fall in an "old reliables" category or are something new for this season. Evolution of the naturals fish prey on is a lot slower than the imaginations of people coming up with new flies to keep a market for their products alive, but if the new offerings look edible and are presented well, the fish will respond. I pretty much keep catching fish with the same flies, except for something new I come up with now and then, and if it works well it becomes one of the "same flies".

Haven't noticed a big price jump in trout flies, but may be I am missing something ??

However, whether you save money tying your own comes down to a matter of scale, and whether you only tie flies to go fishing. If you ties flies only for fishing and you fish a LOT, you will recover the cost of tools and materials rather quickly and get way ahead not much further down the road. Last time I tallied up my savings from tying my own vs buying, last spring some time, it was something over $2,000. ( Throw in the savings from furling my own leaders, and the number would be quite a bit higher. )

If you tie flies as a craft, for the fun of it, or to give away, or as art, or some other form of hobby or creative exercise and don't fish those flies, and you don't fish much, it may well be impossible to ever break even. But then you aren't really tying fishing flies - so your money is well spent, hopefully, on the enjoyable hours you spend pursuing some other goals.

John

[JohnScott]

Do mule deer drop quicker when hit with a slug from the latest "7mm/458 YBM" ( You Blast'em Magnum) or will the old reliable 30-06 still work...?

Mule deer don't have a choice .....