I?ve got a question for this group but I would like preface it with a little introduction. All of the other boards have had discussions about high-end equipment verses low-end equipment. Some of these discussions have become down right heated as high-ender and low-ender have squared off on each other. Low-enders where particularly noticeable in the saltwater and warm-water group. There were a lot of people posting who were low-ender and militantly proud of that fact.
My question is this. Is there any such thing as a low-end fly tyer? Granted we all get our jollies by finding bargains or cheap, substitute material from Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby and Michaels but I mean a genuine, low-end tyer like the warm-water guy who has used the same $69 rod for years, uses Stren for a leader, wet wades once the water is over 50 degrees and has no desire for new or better equipment.
The equivalent low-end flytyer would have shoe box with just enough material to tie his or her favorites; maybe 4-5 dry flies, 5-6 nymphs and a streamer or two. He or she ties regularly and furnishes at least 90% of their flies. Material is replaced only as it runs out. He or she uses the equivalent of an old Thompson vise and has no more than one bobbin and one pair scissors. Capes are all ?no namers? and the small supply of hooks are all Mustads or bait hooks purchased Walmart. This person regularly walks into the local fly shop and walks out without a bag of new flytying ?goodies.?
Do such fly tyers exist? I have never known any. Are you one? What do you think? 8T
You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it’s a real short camping season.
I know one guy who owns hundreds and hundreds of cane rods, but fishes with bits and pieces of leader and tippet he finds on stream. Another ties fantastic show quality Atlantic Salmon flies on a very cheap 45 year old vise. I have not yet found the true person you describe.
I started tying flies to “save money”. After a couple of months, keeping my limited materials in a shoe box, tying only those flies I thought I actually needed, I saw another fly that was working very well. Bought a couple other materials. My old bobbin developed a groove that cut the thread, new bobbin.
After that it was a quick step onto the slippery slope of fly tying. Between VEE and I (Yes, my wife ties flies too) we have several thousand dollars worth of materials stored in what used to be our dinning room and is now our tying area. (You gotta love a wife that opts for a couple of sweet tying benches instead of a dinning room)
Because I don’t have a computerized, bar coded inventory system, I often come back from the fly shop with some things I knew I was running short of, only to find I already have three of each tucked away for emergencies.
I once taught a recenly married co-worker to tie flies when he said he could not afford to buy anything. He used an old vice I had and a bobbin from my origional starter kit that I hadn’t used in years. By using shredded yarn from his mother’s knittng bag for dubbing and tying mostly comparaduns and deer hair caddis for dries and soft hackles and squirrel hair nymphs using materials one of us had shot he used only a little money for thread and hooks. I haven’t seen him in ten years so I have no idea if he’s still tying at all or is still a low-end tyer but I know it can be done.
all leaders tangle; mine are just better at it than most. Jim
I think for a person to limit themselves to any particular segment of life is unfortunate whether it be the fly fisher who thinks they learned all the best techniques 30 years ago, and refuses to change, or the angler who thinks you need a 700.00 fly rod to be a good angler.
Jude
Late to bed,
Early to Rise,
Guide all day,
Tie more flies! www.customflys.com
My current vise is home-made from common hardware.
I helped a friend in his “rooster reduction program” and have enough low grade feathers for a lifetime.
I have never bought a cape that wasn’t low grade.
I tie with mohair and a lot of the new synthetic yarns.
I have more invested in plastic bins for my “finds” than I care to admit.
I have a “line” of foraged flies, that is using materials I find on walks. This ranges from nice wild turkey feathers to bits of broken tail-lights that I use for eyes.
While I use a $30 dollar rod, I have also used an antenna from a junk car as well as a simple cane pole as a lever to toss some fly line.
I have run a couple classes for youth where they build a vise for less than the cost of a movie. Before I teach them how to use a bobbin I teach them to tie starting with a length of sewing thread held by hand.
I make my own furled leaders.
It is how I enjoy fly tying and fishing.
Enjoy
Ed
I have a website for some of my creations at:
[url=http://www.EdEngelman.com:08a73]www.EdEngelman.com[/url:08a73]
Ed while I find it hard to refrain from spending every last expendable penny on flyfishing and tying equipment and materials I truly admire the minimalist attitude, great stuff.
Turk
Taking up the game of Golf, and joining a Private Country Club, and paying a PGA Pro for lessons, is cheaper than taking up Fly Angling…
Then again, a Golfer, has never found the happiness and peace, that a Fly Angler takes for granted.
~ Parnelli
Chartered Member of “Friends of FAOL”!
You can’t rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd.
You can’t rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd.
You can’t rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd.
But you can be happy if you want too!
All you have to do is put your mind to it.
Knuckle down buckle down do it do it do it!
I’ve always taken the approach of if you’re going to spend the money… spend the money… I’ve spent a lot on materials the past few years as I’ve just gotten back into tying. Yes, I’m in debt, but it’ll be paid off soon enough, and for me it was worth it. I enjoy tying lots of different patterns and needed to buy just about everything so I did.
But if you’re happy being a minimalist more power too you and that’s cool too. Everyone is different and sees life differently. As long as you enjoy what you’re doing that is what matters. I started out tying with a Thompson model A and no bobbin too and it was great fun…
Don’t forget that just the fact that someone is participating on this and other bulletin boards is a pretty good sign that they are a “fanatic”… Because of this self-selection process my guess is there is a higher percentage of high-enders on the bulletin boards than there are in the general fly fishing public.
As for me, I started with a shoebox and this lasted perhaps 2 years. For a few more years, all I needed was a big Plano model 701 tool box (tray on top with tools, all my supplies underneath). But since then things have exploded a bit. Now, like many others, simply obtaining materials is a hobby all into itself! Things are not out of control…yet. I think I remember everything that is in my “collection” and I am organized enough to know where everything is.
While I’m not quite as low budget as Ed, I am a low ender and proud of it
In the mid '70s I decided that if I was going to be able to afford to have all the flys I needed I was going to have to tie them all myself. 100% of my flys are homemade.
About 20 yeas ago I replaced my original Herters vice with a Thompson that I still use.My other tools are about the same age.
Most of my materals are from hunters, road kill, yard sales, craft stores, packing materals, etc.
I do have some lower grade necks, but mostly I use India necks and other stuff from the bargin barrel.
A lot of my other materials were collected as winnings in the monthly club raffles.
Over the years I’ve collected lots of stuff and paid very little for it. Nowadays I give away more than I buy.
Salt water flys use a lot of material so I do need to replace things like strung hackle and flash every couple of years, but I don’t run out and buy the “latest thing”. I use what I have. And when I need hooks, I have no problem with buying a dollar pack of mustads at the hardware store.
For me supplying my own flys is very economical.
For me…In my own situation…I’d discribe myself as a Budget Minded…Fly Tyer…Best I can boil it down to…in the 15??? years I’ve been a Collector of all things tying…I’ve gotten A LOT of stuff…Not always cheaply…or within my budget
Meaning Dyna King Vise…Overkill???
Prolly…But I Needed it!
Peter has a point when he describes acquiring materials as a hobby. How much time do I spend visiting Salvation Army Stores because I know I can get fur coat collars for three bucks? (In one store they keep the collars behind the counter in a box. One of the clerks is a vegan. The way she handed me the box was similar to the way I would handle it if it had live rattlesnakes inside!!!)How much time do I spend in dollar stores because once I got ten spools of name brand leader material for one thin dollar. Then there’s the roadkill I picked up which led me to discover what a great material woodchuck is!!!
By the way, Peter has an excellent web site including effective woodchuck flies.
We have certainly had some interesting responses and we may actually have located a ONE true low-end tyer—Low Budget Ed seems to fit the description rather well. Anyone who uses a home-made vise and has participated in a rooster reduction program certainly qualifies. I did notice that Ed lists himself as a student. I wonder if this frugal pattern will continue when disposable income increases. I had to be very fugal during my graduate school days but A regular pay check made possible some wonderful material purchases.
FrankB, your reponse needs some clarification. Do you use the spaghetti as tying thread or body material? If you use it as thread, do you use a bobbin? Also, have you tried different colored pasta and different shapes.
Ron, a fly tying room instead of a dining room----really? Could I send my wife for training?
I have to admire the low-enders like Ed but I don’t think I could ever be one. Some people collect art, cars, or Pez dispensers, I collect fly tying material (and love it). 8T
You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it’s a real short camping season.
