How many of you that do tie flies in multiples of more than say two or three take the time to prepare and/or lay out all or any of your materials BEFORE you begin tying…
AND, if you do, how much of it do you do ‘ahead’…
Do you pre-prep your hackles, prestack your tailing, etc…
Do you lay out hooks, or just pick them from the box?
Also, how many of you have flies that you tie that require you to do it in ‘steps’ i.e; you do one or more operations on each hook for however many of that pattern you intend to tie, for whatever reason, then go back and do another operations on each fly, etc…?
Just curious about ‘how’ we all go about this addiction…
Buddy;
Good question. I sort of lay out all the materials I intend to use but then in goes down hill!! Oh I want to add this and why not some of that!! When I over come the urge to be creative and just tie what I want I put the box of hooks out and sort of assemble fly’s from the pile! Aint it fun?
I wish I was organized enough to prep everything, and if speed were more important, I probably would. All I do is clear off the stuff from the last pattern, get out the stuff I will need, then begin to tie pulling out materials from the packages as I need them.
I probably tie for a little different reason than most so my preparation and methods are just as differernt. First let me say, I don’t tie in anticipation of fishing my flies, although I do. I don’t tie for swaps or to sell any. I tie because it puts me out of touch with the rest of the world for just a little while. It puts me in my place of solitude. I have taken hours to tie up a PTN or some other simple pattern. I remove a hook from the box and then close the box. I might look at a bird skin for a feather and then put it down for awhile and then go back and pick my feather. I won’t prep anything in advance other than the recipe. I guess you are starting to get the picture. I think what I am doing is being able to drag my solitude out a little longer. I sure hope this answer wasn’t too far off the beaten path.
i do lay out all of the materials require to tie the specific pattern
hooks, thread, tinsel, dubbing etc
i do not pluck out 12 feathers from whatever bird skin to tie 12 flies. i pluck as i tie each pattern
i do tie in steps for streamer patterns. i’ll tie the bodies all at one sitting and then continue with the wing later.
i do put everything away after that particular pattern has been tied. clutter sucks
i do not tie for commercial/production purposes. i take my time and try to get my flies right. i also have enough materials to support a small fly shop so material substitution is not required.
I tye pretty much the way rookie does. I have all the stuff I need laying out, what I find is my mind wandering. I see the trips Ive made, picture the situation the fly Im tying is going to be used for etc… In short once Im in the “zone” the world just melts away. I think thats why my foster boys struggle. Theyre to used to gotta have it now!!!
I’ll put out three or four hooks for the pattern I want to tie, assemble the materials but not prep them, and begin tying. When I finish the three or four flies, I might tie another one or two if it is a pattern that I know I will use a lot on the short term and I have some materials in a small quantity, e.g. a hackle that will tie only one or two more flies or a couple biots that I put out in case one of the first three or four was bad, that I might as well use up.
Then I put away all the materials, unless there is one that I need to tie the next fly I have in mind. I don’t normally tie more than one or two patterns at a sitting, but it does happen occasionally.
when everything is laid out and prepped, i can retreat into my head, listen to a baseball game, or just feel happy and satisfied. a “mindless occupation” requires planning so that no overt choice is involved in its actual execution. it also makes the whole process look easy!
The only prep I do is to pile up what materials I think I’ll need for the patterns that will be tied. Usually I will have forgotten a few items needed and then will have to search for them or I’ll decide to change the colors or patterns. I rarely end up tying the same fly patterns that I started with.
I try and lay everything out before I start. However since I always have “help” when I am tying I have to limit that to only having the things I am going to use nearby. My cat likes to sleep in my lap while I tie and she thinks that the hackles are for her. So, to make a long story short my prep consists of just having what I need within my reach but out of hers.
I’ll grab all the materials I think I’ll need and sometimes I’ll lay out all enough hooks to tie as many flies of the pattern but I try to avoid it doing that most of the time because I end up losing a hook in the mix sometimes.
The only operation I do on multiple hooks before finishing the fly has been to tie all the dumbell or beadchain eyes for clousers. Doing this lets the glue dry as I finish the rest of the batch so I can tie the fly without the eyes moving and without wet glue causing problems.
Preplanning has made me a better tyer. Besides, I drink and watch cartoons while I tie so I need all the help I can get!
[ul]I take out the requisite number of hooks in the size I plan to tie.[/ul]
[ul]I take out the requisite number of beads, cones, etc.[/ul]
[ul]I pre-cut foam, pre-assemble wings if they are married or something with multiple parts, and pre-strip quills if required. [/ul]
[ul]I pre-assemble anything that requires steps like Carrie Stevens streamer wings.[/ul]
[ul]I pre-pluck hackles, IF I’m using neck hackle or saddles on a skin.[/ul]
After that I take out the requisite materials along with the pre-loaded bobbin with the thread I need and get on with business. I NEVER switch patterns until I have tied the number of flies I planned to tie. Even though it can get boring sticking to the same pattern for 6 dozen flies, that and pre-prep has really helped me with consistency and speed.
Oh yea, when I am done with a particular pattern everything gets put away so my desktop stays clear and clean!
I always start with good intentions after a clear up but it always returns to looking like the aftermath of a tornado on my desk. Tying materials everywhere, bobbins, tools, tinsels all in a pile, eventually I get P’d off and clean up but still falls apart after a few flies.
Count me in the No-Prep camp. I sit down to tie, find the right hook, load it in the vise and then find the materials. So the first fly takes a while, after that it is smooth sailing. Since most of my materials are withing an arm’s length of my vise, I don’t worry about the 30 seconds or so I lose in pre-prep.
Rex
I will bring the materials out and put them near to hand, but I do not lay them out in neat rows in front of me. Hooks, beads, etc are still in boxes or on the magnets, feathers are in a pile… Occasionally I even clear off the piles of materials from the last fly I tied.