i tie 99% of the flys i use. My question is how many of you use items you find around the house for tieing? And what are they?
Some things i use are… Easter Basket grass= good scud back and good for flash back nymphs,
Clear nail polish= good as a head cement.
Old dog tag chains= for double bead headed flys, I’ll share that pattern later.
that’s a few i use pretty offten, I’m interested to hear what you guys use.
I have a Border collie whose tail hair is a translucent white that I use for wings on a few ties. Also have a newfie whose fur is basically water proof and I will use it for dubbing on a couple of ties. Other than that nothing.
I spend almost as much time in the dollar stores and craft stores and hardware stores as I do in the fly shops. Also I’ve found cat fur dubs really well and I have a few flies in the box that I have to shave to get the materials for.
I use the green wing and tail feathers from my Quaker parrot. One year I ran a swap here that required all swappers to use one of his feathers. It was a tough one!
I also use my Airedale’s hair as dubbing for nymphs, clear nail polish as head cement, some wool that my partner uses in her knitting as leeches, flip-flops as popper bodies.
There’s a few frayed spots now in out of the way corners of our antron carpet:rolleyes:
here is a link to a similer post from a two and a half years ago, this should give you some Ideas. 
Eric
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?t=13833&highlight=inexpensive
Like Blugill, dollar stores, craft store and hardware/homecenters are cased regularly for material sources.
I have a quaker parrot as well. I save all the molted feathers from cage cleaning. Some of the irredesent blue under feathers rival some feathers from the male ring-neck pheasant. I had a indoor rabbitt for several years that was a ‘renewable dubbing source’.
Now if only I could keep a pet deer in the back yard???
LMAO
I can just see you, Scissors in hand, stalking the deer in the back yard. The deer puts it’s head down, looking between you and the scissors, snorting and pawing the ground. You move closer, eying that spot, just behind her whithers. The deer tenses, and her head drops a little lower. Game on!
The reason I say her, I don’t think any of us would want to tangle with a deer with antlers!
Kirk
I have used dog hair before, but only once. It was back when I was new to tying and the fly was a catastrophe (as were most flies back then).
Oh, and to answer the question.
I tried some of the dogs hair. It’s too coarse without a generous helping of rabbit to soften it up.
I swiped a mylar balloon from one of my kids (it wasn’t floating anymore) I have tried it for over wrap on a few bodies. It’s OK.
A few Koosh Balls, my wife’s clear nail polish (I buy my own now:shock:), A bunch of embroidery floss when I first started. A few paint brushes and a make-up brush. (It is a fantastic shade amber beaver. I HAD to swipe it. She gets one every time she gets the make-up. I swear she wasn’t too mad) A glue stick left over from some school supplies. The heavy aluminum seal from a 3 lb coffee bucket. It makes a pretty good weight for under bodies on nymphs. I could go on, but my brain hurts.
Kirk
Old electrical cords and other things with copper wire in them. I cut them into 3-4 inch strips. Peel back about half an inch of the cover and pull out the copper wire one piece at a time as I need it. I don’t have spools of the stuff uncoiling anymore.
that clearish thin plastic produce bags make for nice spinner wings on tricos and BWO. They work very well drowned, too.
Not necessarily “found” around the house. But they end up at my house none-the-less. The wild turkey from this spring, the deer from last season, the squirrel tails, rabbits feet, grouse, duck & pheasant tail from past hunts.
Recently cleaned up on a lot of beads in different sizes and colors from Hobby Lobby on clearance. Also got a pile of 2mm foam sheets in lots of colors. Pennies on the dollar compared to the fly shop.
I keep all of the fur I get from brushing Minnie (our cat). Her fur dubs better than anything I have ever used and Minnie Midges are great flies at the LMF river in Oklahoma.
JR
if i ever catch the f*&^%$G dog that keeps pooping in my yard, i’ll be using some of its fur for something! :evil: