I tie pretty much everything with uni 6/0 grey thread. Blends in nice
Talk to hunters. IDK if you are still in school, but plenty of students will share, if you are. No fox squirrels in CA, but ground squirrels around, and many farmers and ranchers will have no problems with you shooting them with a .22. Their tails are nice.
as for the whole thread thing, i mainly use machine embroidery thread, it is a bit big for anything under 14, at least in my opinion. cant go wrong though, 69 cents for… oh… 3500 yards or so… (might have only been 2500)
the only downfall i have really run into, is having to spool the bobbin up after so many, the thread likes to twist sometimes coming off the main spool also…
i save the smaller threads for more critical flies, but if you are bustin’ out buggers…
-spoof
i get lots of free tying materials from folks i know that hunts but if i dont want the natural colours i have to dye the materials which can get a little messy but it aint too much troublefor free tying materials…
or you can just buy white thread (i go through a lot of white even though i have every colour under the sun ) and run a marker down it while your tying…
i have to second bugman… white it the best color for anything… its a lot cheaper to buy white materials and an array of sharpies…
Look at the Bass Pro Supreme and the Cabelas Super II vise in the link below. I tyed on the BPS version for several years until the jaws became worn or I wanted something that looked more like a rotary vise is supposd to look, I am not sure which. It has a rotary feature and will probably serve you well for a good number of years. I believe it comes with 3 sets of jaws to handle different size hooks.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Vise%20Review%201/so_many_vises_$50.htm
If you go to “features” then “bob boese” then look at 2008 for “easy” patterns you will see several you can make from materials available at craft stores.
I recommend taking a beginning fly tying class and attending a TU or FFF meeting where they may have fly tying demonstrations to learn tying techniques and use of various materials. If that isn’t possible there are a lot of fly tying DVD’s available; I’d recommend those by A.K. Best. You can also find lots of YouTube fly tying demos. Go to the FAOL ?Beginning Fly Tying by Al Campbell? and tie the flies presented in the lessons.
Don’t go out and buy a bunch of materials to tie some fly that you’ve seen on a DVD or YouTube; use what you have to learn the various techniques to tie in different materials for tails, body, wings, legs, etc. If the colors don’t match don’t worry about it until you figure out which flies you need to do the type of fishing you like to do the most (dry flies, nymphs, streamers) and the species you fish for the most.
If you like to fish for pan fish and bass get some foam (cheap in various colors from any craft store) and tie up some beetle, ants, and gurglers; have a ball.
Starting materials:
Black Thread, White thread; other colors such as tan, brown, rust, olive, etc. when you determine what you will be tying the most of.
Peacock Herl: good for bodies on foam flies, Griffith gnat, etc.
Hackle: Grizzle, Brown, White (split with a friend to economize)
Tail materials: hackle fibers, deer hair, moose hair, pheasant tail feather, soft hackle for streamers, deer tails in various colors for streamers (you can dye tails any color you want)
Body material: box of dubbing of various colors to start with. Pheasant tail feather. Foam
Legs: black and other color rubber (can get from some toys), moose hair (base after using tips for tails)
Ribbing: use copper wire from electrical wiring, Christmas tree lights, etc.
Wing Case: turkey tail feather coated with flexament
Wings: tips of hackle, guard hair (remove under hair) from just about any animal (bleached elk body works well for a lot of flies)
Head cement or Sally Hanson ?Hard as Nails? clear nail polish
Concur with comments recommending you contact hunters for tying materials.
Craft shops have lots of materials you can use for tying, buy a little to learn how to judge quality and if it works for you.
Best of Luck,
John
http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/beginners/
This start at the beginning and goes to advanced . It is a really nice series
ERIC-WD, The Washington State University (kwsu.org) is off the air with a server down and
when asked, they will not be bringing it back up. They want to sell their DVDs rather than
have people watch them on the web.
Johnathan, The late Al Campbell has left us a fantastic step-by-step toutorial on fly tying
from the, open the box basics, to as far as a person would want to go in the world of fly tying. Check out the home page under Fly tying and go to begining tying.
Crunchy
[QUOTE=Fisherman John;462343]I recommend taking a beginning fly tying class and attending a TU or FFF meeting where they may have fly tying demonstrations to learn tying techniques and use of various materials. If that isn’t possible there are a lot of fly tying DVD’s available; I’d recommend those by A.K. Best. You can also find lots of YouTube fly tying demos. Go to the FAOL ?Beginning Fly Tying by Al Campbell? and tie the flies presented in the lessons.
Yep, and i still teach flytying through skype every wednesday & sunday 8pm for free…
i will make a skype this weekend