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

[chewydog]

For comparing catch ratios, it has to be apples to apples. Two, or more, different tying styles, material, etc. fishing the same waters for the same species.

[Boyscout]

I agree, this is an excellent thread!

I spent 16+ years as a trout fanatic wading south eastern streams. I now do warmwater in a solo canoe or yak. I do fly only and so does my pal mentioned later. We are both about 99.999% C&R but not Nazis about it.

It still amazes me to this day how people who fish the same water the same day have totally different taste in flies, rods, boats, etc.

I got this one pal I've fished with for over 12 years and on a given day we almost always fish different areas of the river/pond, fish with different weight rods, cover water at a vastly different speed (almost leads to arguments at times), and our flies are totally different in size, color, bulk...well nothing jibes at all. I fish more bushy (one pal calls my Decievers a Half Chicken), bright, natural materials, and more topwater. He fishes darker, synthetic, sparse, and usually wet. When we both are fishing topwater, he has the storebought Sneaky Pete and I do not fish a fly that I didn't tie and 99.999% of the time it is spun deer hair. No foam but I do see the practicality of it and in the next decade may start using it.

In that past 12 years I have bought maybe 3 fly rods and my main bass rod is 17 years old. I only own one 4 pc rod and it is the cheapest Cabela's and it stays tied under the gunnel of my canoe and it is a backup I pray I never have to cast. That rod totally sucks. Anyway, my pal has bought well over a dozen 4 pc latest and greatest rods in that same time period.

Fishing platform preference? I float in a solo boat, in rivers (some small ponds), and almost never wade. I get out to take care of bodily functions. My buddy? He loves wading and really wants a flats boat and hit the big lakes for stripers and salt for reds.

Number of flies on a given trip? I carry 3 boxes and maybe 5 dozen flies. My pal has at least 300 and fly boxes all over the place.

So, who catches more fish? Good question. With trout, I usually win but every now and then he will kick my rear into next week. When it comes to bass, he usually has the numbers and manytimes the size too. Dang it, he is a better bass guy than I am. However, I many times pull the biggest bass of the day out but I wouldn't bet money on it. Pound and satisfaction wise, we are about even. We can fish all day on a favorite smallie river and he will double my numbers but I usually average bigger fish...usually. And those days when one of us gets skunked and the otherslays'em, we are always happy for the other with no hard feelings.

Sorry for the long post but this just made me realize how diverse the FF crowd is. It also reminds me that even people with different views and techniques can have a lot of fun.

Boyscout