Most of the purchased flies I have had in the last 15 years were used by my daughter as decoration on a gift package or so a fly box would not be empty when I opened it. Although I am not the student of entomology many tyers are, I am more so than before I started tying. Therefore I am probably a more knowledgeable and better fisherman than I would be otherwise. Most of the flyfisherman and women I know are there for the experience not the meal they will receive. Tying extends the experience to the times we cannot be on the water.
I tend to do both. Especially on patterns I haven’t mastered yet, like spinning hair.
I also like to purchase store patterns for examples of my own future ties!
Paul
this debate will never end! and tying will never lose the debate either! just sayin… There will always be someone in a moment of frustration when yet again they find they don’t have that next one tiny item to tye what they sat down to tye that comes up with this thought…and he’ll come here and we’ll remind em of whats important in life and he’ll move on to more important things like what he should have substituted for it in the first place n avoided this whole debate altogether!
thanks for the tip! I will try and find some smaller turkey.
thanks wyfish
I don’t think I have ever bought a fly, in over 40 years of fly fishing. I learned to tie many years before I actually ever fished, when I was about 5 years old. I think maybe when I bought my first fly rod outfit (a South Bend, which I still have) in the early 1970s, it came with some really cheesy-tied flies, like a Silver Doctor, and some ugly cheap wets. I never used them and have no idea where they wound up.
How could anyone hate tying flies??? That is beyond my comprehension. Not only do I tie my own flies, but I am also a commercial tyer for several local outfitters, and do custom ties for people. I like tying flies almost as much as fishing with them (which is good, since I don’t get to go fishing near as much as I’d like).
Spinning deer hair isn’t all that tough. It just takes a little practice. Usually, when people have trouble spinning hair, it’s because they have the wrong materials. Try using Kevlar thread. That’s what I use, so I can really put some pressure on the wraps. Also, don’t use summer deer-body hair for spinning. It is thinner and doesn’t spin as well. Use that for Comparaduns. Make sure you have winter deer-body hair. It is thicker, slicker and spins waaay better.
Another trick is to take one of those cheap, clear Bic pens apart, and use the small end of the barrel as a hair-packer. It works great. Another time-saver is that instead of trimming the hair with scissors, I use a cheap, battery-powered beard and moustache-trimmer. It’s fast, and makes a really neat, even head. It has a little nose-hair trimmer that is perfect for trimming the hair around the hook-eye, for a neat, professional-looking finish. I bought it at Walmart for around $12.00.
What trouble are you having with the turkey feathers? If they are falling apart on you when you try to trim them, there is an easy fix. Another one of my tricks…before you remove the sections of feather you want to use, brush both sides with head cement and let it dry. Then you can trim the sections, and they will stay together and keep their shape.
Don’t give up on tying, yet. Give it a little more time, and I think you’ll be glad you did. Buying flies can never give you the sense of accomplishment of a well finished fly. And everytime you fish with it, there is a little bit of you in the fly, and that makes it better.
Semper Fi.
You are absolutely right bill and I do substitute materials[ grizzly mariboo is probably my favorite] but sometimes I like to fish the original just out of respect for this great old pattern.
bent rods, charlie
I try to tie most of my flies, but will usually stop by the fly shop before heading up to the river. If the guys in there have any suggestions that I do not have in my box, I will pick up a couple. I like the feeling of catching a fish on a fly that I tied myself, but most of all I just like being on the river and wetting a line.