I just got into tying and I was woundering where I could find any cheap but good materials, as I’m only 13 funds are really short. Thanks in advance for iny input.
If people concentrated on the really important things of life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles.
~ Doug Larson
[This message has been edited by FlyTyer819 (edited 08 April 2006).]
Hi FlyTyer,
I have a lot of found materials: feathers in the park, foam packing material, craft stores, etc. I bought a marabou feather boa at a thrift store for $5. That should last me a year or more. An extremely kind gentleman sent me some elk hide. I have even tied something using feathers from our pet finch. I recently got a tail from a slow squirrel that didn’t run across the road fast enough.
At our local sports store, there are three grades of feathers. I’m on a very tight budget, too, so I buy the cheapest. With careful selection, I’m hoping that the fish won’t care half the time.
If you hunt or have friends that do you can get turkey tails and wings at this time of year. Shoot one of those pesky starlings in the front yard for soft hackles. Check out hobby lobby for foam, beads, raffia, pheasant tails, goose biots, tinsel, dyed hackle for wet flies etc. Road kills (only with some adult supervision) can provide dubbing and feathers also. Make sure they are fresh and handle with care.
A source for especially goose feathers…usually wings… is a golf course…most have geese on them…at least where I come from…
I second the craft stores idea. Also dollar stores, odd lots stores, Salvation Army stores,fabric stores, etc. You can find a lot if you scrounge and improvise.
Old electric wires are a cheap source of wires in various sizes and colors.
Send me your snail mail address and I will send you a package of feathers, fur, chenille, punch yarn and maybe some other odds and ends.
Tim Anderson
I see that Mr. Anderson has beaten me to it…But heres a link to a site for Punch Yarn…Great material…Cheap and very versitile…
[url=http://www.punchneedlemarketplace.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_list&c=8:c655b]http://www.punchneedlemarketplace.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_list&c=8[/url:c655b]
Initially just tie a few patterns that work in the waters you fish…
Stick to those until you have mastered them. Don’t be tempted to spend money you cannot afford on material you may never use. However never look a gift horse in the mouth and if you find stuff offered or cheap in craft shops or second hand stores, grab it quick.
Never be afraid to tie with what you have. If a pattern calls for one material or other you do not have or cannot afford, don’t be scared of substituting. You will find fish won’t mind. You may also invent yourself a special killing fly!!
You do not need to spend a fortune to tie nice flies. Lots of materials are lying around for free. Lots of us on here spend fortunes on collecting feather and fur we will never use!! It does become somewhat of a disease!!! Get your wife to sew up your wallet, and only allow you to leave the house with a little money!!! (Just noticed you are only 13, so probably won’t have a wife yet!! Lucky person…)
[This message has been edited by mickporter (edited 08 April 2006).]
You can also try any local hunters clubs (check in the sports sections of your newspaper for meeting times and places), Ebay is a god source for lots of cheap material (be careful who you buy from), I have also gotten cheap furs at hunting/fishing shows.
Fish more, work less!
Good advice mickporter
This kind of thing can’t be stressed enough
Many people claim that tying your own flys is more expensive than buying them.
Follow Mick’s advise and you’ll find this is not true.
Foam is really cheap at craft stores, and floats. I tie alot of foam flies and they seem to work great.
FlyTyer819;
If you’ve checked the Punch Yarn thread’s you’ll see I have a bunch. Just sent out 5 packages of 5 yard’s each of 11 color’s! Check out Al Campbell’s “Too Easy Fly’s”, many are tied with punch yarn.
Clear it with your dad to send me your snail mail address or, better yet have your dad send me the email and I’ll send the material’s to him. I also have some Turkey and Pheasant feathers I will part with.
For copper wire strip the insulation off an old lead cord. Bead chain eyes from a sink stopper or light switch chain!!
A 100 pack of Mustad hooks cost’s only a couple of buck more than a 25 pack! Big mistake I made (several time’s!!).
Good luck and welcome to a great pastime/hobby!!
Don’t forget the Michigan Fish-In August 14th to the 20th. The Holy Water’s of the Au Sable await you!!
Cactus
Hi Doug,
I’m assuming you already have a vice and the equipment.
As for materials, if you are really on a tight budget, and just learning, here’s what I would recommend.
First, start off tying soft hackled wet flies. They are easy patterns to tie, they require very few materials (so cheap), and they catch a lot of fish.
For example, buy yourself a box of size 14 wet fly hooks (although I know some people suggest dry fly hooks for soft hackles).
Get a spool of 8/0 black thread, some spools of floss in yellow, orange, olive, and purple. Some people would suggest you get thread in the same colours as the floss, but then that’s more stuff to buy. (On the other hand, you could forget the floss, and just buy thread in these colours and use the thread to tie your bodies).
Get a bag of partridge or grouse feathers, or whatever fits your budget and is suitable for soft hackle flies (ask the salesperson at the fly shop for some advice; if they cannot help, find another fly shop! or ask someone you know who ties flies to help you pick out some feathers).
So really, hoooks, some thread, and one bag of feathers and that’s all you need to buy to get into tying some really effective flies.
Your flies are just
You now have a “partrige and orange” (if you used, um, partrige feather and orange floss/thread).
Later you can start buying things like wire, and dubbing furs, etc (or getting them as others have suggested) to expand the types of flies you can tie. But when you are just starting, just get enought to get started.
Have fun!
P.S. The nice thing about this style of fly is that they will teach you some of the most important skills; neat thread wraps; proportions; that “less is more”; how to attach material (floss & hackle)); how to dub (if you add a throax) and how a large variety of patterns are really just changes in colours/materials rather than change in what you “do”. After awhile, you can learn about how to add wings, tails, ribbing, and you get even more patterns that all build on what these patterns will teach you (you’ll end up with various wet flys and streamers depending upon what you add and what materials you change). Each of these additions might require some new materials though; but slowly you’ll build up your supply.
[This message has been edited by JeffHamm (edited 11 April 2006).]
A lot of the big name fly fishing companies now sell affordable “grab bags” of materials. They’re available online or in catalogs, but I like to look at them in the store to make sure it’s stuff I’ll actually use and don’t already have.
Hey Mike,
My favorite and perhaps most productive
stores are the Goodwill and Thrift shops.
I’ve picked up numerous fur collars, several
feathered hats, various packages of acrylic
yarns, large foam puzzles in various colors,
and the list goes on. Also, you can find
desks and furniture that works well for
tying benches and storage. All for pennies
on the dollar. Check them out. Warm
regards, Jim
You and my son FIsherKid93 should write each other. He will be 13 in August.
I’ll suggest he write you.
Send me your snail-mail address and I’ll put a package of flytying stuff(free) in the mail to you. Welcome!!
Kahuna
empty your vacuum bag, 90% is usable.
Nubby…you gotta be kidding…I hate to think what gets sucked into our vacuum.
a lot of dog hair, cat hair, pubic hair carpet fibers, lint all sorts of goodies for delicious flies.
Speaking of delicious flies I think some of those go into the bag too…[G].