how many flies do you tie in a year?

just wondering how many flies all you guys tie in a year?

i tie about 2,00 or more a year.

i’d say about the same here flyandtie. i’ve slowed waydown since winter
i only do like 2-5 a day now

I also tie 2000+ a year. About half of these are for swaps, then I also give away a lot of flies. John

Haha…I tie too many to count! That, and I don’t really try to count, but I will estimate 1,500-2,000 a year.

nen-bran :smiley:

I wouldn’t even begin to guess. I join almost every swap I can get in. I tie flies for a local shop. I tie flies for friends, strangers and family members. I tie flies to relive stress. I tie flies because I am relaxed…

Some days I may tie 50+ flies. I almost always tie 3 or 4 daily. I don’t think there are any days where I don’t tie at all unless I am away from home.

I have to watch myself in order to keep from becomming obsessive about tying flies.

Semper Fi!

i tie just enough to satisfy my needs!

What Norm said
I’d say less than 150

AAround 2, 000. I give alot away and if I don’t loose a fly or two a trip I have not been fishing near enough to cover.

Rick

Maybe 2000. Like some others I find it an interesting hobby and give away most of them. I plan on giving away some on FAOL this fall. Last year I sent over 500 flies to FAOL members. Half the fun of fly tying is sharing.

Tim

Lets see—Ive been tying for over 70 years and sometime I loose a couple to fish so lets say a dozen a month. Fishbum will say I dont tie at a show–just talk alot. How many do you tie now J D BILL

Bill

You do talk about tying rather than tie at shows. But then, your old fly collection is something to talk about. I must admit too that it is hard to tie when you have young people sitting at your table and at your vice getting a hands on leson about tying. You are to be commended for you work with the youth of the community. Your work with the Boy Scouts, Big Brother Big Sister orginization and other youth groups make you a number one ambassador to fly fishing in my book. We should all look up to you for the example you set.

Oh, by the way, I will probably tie in excess of 300 dozen flies this year. Remember, I lost two and a half months of tying time when I had surgery in February.

Your humble apprentice,
fishbum

Because I don’t fish as much as I would like and because I’m so slow it’s probably somewere under 500. I tie for myself, swaps and friends.

Sure would be nice to tie that much. How do you guys have the time? (excluding those of you who get paid for it or are retired). Almost all of my tying is done after the family has gone to bed. I’m lucky to tie 5 a week! Having a real job, a 1 yr old and a pregnant wife (plus civil and church responsibilities) and trying to fish as well as fit in all my other hobbies and interests…I’ll be lucky to tie 200 this year. Oh, well we all choose our own don’t we!

easy for me…im 14 :lol:
i go to high school, get home do my homework…and then its free time from there!
or if im on summer break like i am now ican tie whenever i feel like it i just have to retreat from the computer or dirtbike and go to my room and sit at the desk…
ahhhhh life is good.

Geez thats a very dificult question, but on average day I’ll tie about 4 dozen flies, but of course there are days when I have tied up to 10 dozen flies I don’t know how many flies I tie a year eactly but taking the average I’ll say about 17,000 flies a year of course most of them are for selling.

CC

No where near as many as I would like. :frowning: I say about 300 flies a year these days.

Hi All,

I am like some of the others with too many irons in the fire, and don’t get to fish much. I give away a lot more flies than I keep. Even so, it is probably a little less than 500 a year for me. The problem with not loosing many is that if you keep tying them you have to get more and more boxes to keep them in. I like to tie, just don’t do as much as I would like. Giving them away gives me reason to be able to tie.

Regards,

Gandolf

I am a full-time musician, minister, writer, and Dr. of Naturopathy, with a growing practice. Fortunately, all of my jobs are self-employment types, and I can adjust my schedules as I need them, to a certain extent. I tie in my ofice as well as at home. I have also learned many tricks that speed up the process.

  1. When you know you are tying a ‘run’ of flies, such as 25 or 30, etc…, get all of your supplies within easy reach, trim all the feathers, cut anything to length that needs to be cut, lay out the hooks, wrap lead wire on them if needed, make all the legs…before you start to tie.

  2. Don’t make unnecesary wraps. If 5 wraps of thread will hold it, don’t do 6.

  3. Have a place to set flies while the heads are drying, so you can start on another one immedeatly.

There are dozens of other tricks. To make any money tying flies, I figure you need to be able to tie at least 10 per hour, minimum. If I get $2.00 per fly, then that’s $20.00 per hour, less expenses. Depending on the fly pattern, I clear about $15.00 per hour tying. That’s a challenge on some of the more complicated flies, but nothing for wooley buggers. I can knock out a wooley bugger in less than 3 minutes. Most normal streamers take me 3 minutes or less. Hair bugs take me the longest because there is no way to speed up trimming. Nobody makes a tool for this. I use electric beard trimmers. I make them all, then go back and trim each one to shape after the heads are dry.

I don’t think you could make a very good living tying flies, but it’s great to keep gas in your vehicles with, or cover you between paydays.

Semper Fi!

Thousands!!! from filling the bins at the shop to tying for myself and tying for customers. i love evry minute of it :smiley:

Hay that is a good question

my guestamation would be between 200 - 1000 +/-
My wife and son ensure that there is not too many hanging in my fly boxes , and then there are friends? looking to stock up for trips… etc…

found a great pattern for the Oldman river… have some work todo and a couple of olive rabbit hair streamers for the Crow…