Id love to start tying my own flies. What does a mid grade step up cost as far as the tools needed go? and typically what is the best sized hook for a saltwater fly?
quote:One option. Some very good fly tiers recommend this kit. Make sure you read the reviews. This is just one option. :wink: [url]http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_27767_175004000_175000000_175004000_175-4-0[/url]
Originally posted by hitwiththeuglystickId love to start tying my own flies. What does a mid grade step up cost as far as the tools needed go? and typically what is the best sized hook for a saltwater fly?
the answer to this is far above the charecter limit for a post 
but… You can pick up soem decent materials very cheap but the vise is where the money is really spent. You can buy a el cheapo and spend $20 and you can go real big and spend well over $800 on one… The Charleston Angler has a pretty good selection of stuff to get ya started…You really should stop by the shop… we can point out some stuff and get ya goin.
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
SC Chapter Coordinator- Heroes on the Water
http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
Charleston Director- SCKayakfishing.com
Tarpon 160os
Have you ever done any tying, or will this be the first attempt?
If this is your first tying, I would suggest getting a lesson or two. It will speed up the learning curve and give you some very useful tips and techniques to help you.
Many fly shops around me, Metro Atlanta, will put together kits or packs for you.
As was stated earlier you do need a good vise, but youu dont have to spend a fortune. Check around the net for used ones, mainly on fishing sites.
Good luck, it is fun and addicting.
Far better it is to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs even though checkered with failure, than to take ranks with those poor spirits who never enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
My advice is Don’t buy a kit, they usually contain cheap parts. If you think you will continue to tie some you will want better equipment. Start with a good vise and a good pair of scissors and upgrade everything else as you progress. Look at Renzetti Traveler, Dyna-king, and there are plenty of other good ones that are not quite as expensive.
Enjoy it, put sometimes I realize that I may have $100 of materials to tie $10 worth of flies. It’s just part of the affliction known as fly fishing.
18.5 Baycraft Flats Edition
Johnson 150 Oceanrunner
Wood Driftboat
I’d recommend going to see Nikon at the CA in Summerville. I just met him in person recently and he has transformed the fly area and has a really good tying setup. If you ask him nice he would probably give you a little 1:1 class…Thats what I’m gonna do when I am ready. You’d probably get the same treatment at any of the local shops, BTW.
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
For a vise, I recommend the Danvise. You can get them all day long on Ebay for $60-$80. Full rotary vise, ability to hold a large variety of hook sizes, and will last a long time.
I got one a few years ago and have yet to find a reason to upgrade to a Renzetti, HHA, or any of the other higher end vises.
I second the Danvise. I have others but find myself using the Danvise most often. If I wanted to drop a bunch of money on a great lifetime vise, I would go with the Dyna-king.
I would have to agree that a vice is key. Also, a good bobbin and sharp @** scissors are paramount. I have 2 cheap vises and recently baught a new vice for around $80 and it made a world of difference.
Austin “Cake” Pritchard
HOW SC Assistant Coodinator
Come by any of the shops we will get you started… A decent vise and good tools (mainly sissors, and bobbin) will make life better to get going…
Oh… and nothing against the interweb shopping… BUT… if you’re gonna come in and talk with a shop rat (me or anyone else anywhere in the world that runs a shop) buy from the shop rat… please, it helps make sure we’re there when you have more questions… we have less expensive vices too I promise…
have a good un’…
Mad Mike
"to hell with insane… I’m OUTsane!!! "
since the vise has been covered. As far as hooks go mustad 34007 #1 #2 #3 will do just fine.
Every one of these flies was tied on a pair of vise grips. They ALL have caught local fish. Also, it looks like that kit talked about above has all this same kind (and color) of material: white and yellow saddle hackle, deer hair, assorted buck tail, black, white,chartreuse and pink thread, head cement, etc…
Don’t let anyone try to convince you that the quality of your work has to suffer with cheaper or improvised tools and materials.
That being said, if you have the money to spend then I would recommend getting a Dyna-King vise. Nothing holds a hook (IMHO) like a Dyna-King. That is what I have (along with my trusty vise grips).
My favorite hooks are #2, then 1/0 and I prefer Umpqua TMC811S, then Tiemco, then Daiichi. Best of luck.
Thanks everyone I got a economy standard bobbin (wishing i had spent the extra 10 on the orvis) some Gamakatsu 1/0 hooks and tied my first fly with no vise, just my left hand holding the hook. I finished it off with a whip finish and put some orvis high gloss head cement to round everything off. Haha i made the fly out of a blue feather i found in my yard and some of my yellow lab’s hair. Just messing around to see how it looked
Oh Btw where do you guys get most of your fly fishing materials like fur and feathers and what not. I went to the Summerville C.A. today and there was only one guy in there and i didn’t feel like bothering him so i just kind of looked over what i thought i needed. And Mad Mike and Nikon which shops do you guys work at?
quote:My deer hair is road kill. Same with the buck tail. The white feathers come from a friends dead chickens. I'm all natural. :smiley:
Originally posted by hitwiththeuglystickThanks everyone I got a economy standard bobbin (wishing i had spent the extra 10 on the orvis) some Gamakatsu 1/0 hooks and tied my first fly with no vise, just my left hand holding the hook. I finished it off with a whip finish and put some orvis high gloss head cement to round everything off. Haha i made the fly out of a blue feather i found in my yard and some of my yellow lab’s hair. Just messing around to see how it looked
Dog hair doesn’t work well. The blue feathers are probably illegal. Song birds are protected. That usually means that not only can you not kill them but, having the feathers is prohibited. They are usually not feathers from the right part of the bird either.
Sounds to me like a starter kit might help you out. That one from BassPro has a video from one of the top fly tiers. You can look at the YouTube videos but, you have to know what flies to look at. The video has the basic ones all spelled out.
I don’t sell any of this stuff. Just trying to get you heading in the right direction. I wish the local shops were better supplied. The last few times I stopped at one of the shops mentioned above, they didn’t have white feathers (saddle hackle) and had no plan to get any to replace the empty hook on the wall. I have given up stopping by. Wish it was different.
quote:
Originally posted by OptikerI’d recommend going to see Nikon at the CA in Summerville. I just met him in person recently and he has transformed the fly area and has a really good tying setup. If you ask him nice he would probably give you a little 1:1 class…Thats what I’m gonna do when I am ready. You’d probably get the same treatment at any of the local shops, BTW.
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
I am always doing 1:1 classes for people… Tyoneon is right you can get by with a pair of vise grips, I did it in Iraq, but having a real vise makes it easier and more comfortable. Stop by and see me, Josh or Colt or even Mad Mike, we’ve all been known to sit down and show a few skills to a new tyer
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
SC Chapter Coordinator- Heroes on the Water
http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
Charleston Director- SCKayakfishing.com
Tarpon 160os
Here’s a tip- don’t ever buy head cement. Same thing as clear nail polish and the polish is much cheaper. I use a Regal vise that I have tied thousands of flies on over the last 13 years, anywhere from size 4/0 down to 24 for Rocky Mountain trout. Its an incredible tool, I think I’ve had to lightly oil it once in that time. It is not true rotary, but i have never found the need for it
There is no normal life, there’s just life.
Tarpon 140
Knot the Reel World Fly Fishing LLC
And in terms of tying materials, besides hooks, I only buy stuff that’s on sale. it simply gets too expensive when you start collecting tons of stuff/materials like me. oh and by the way, tying is more addicting than fishing IMHO
There is no normal life, there’s just life.
Tarpon 140
Knot the Reel World Fly Fishing LLC
Get yourself a top drawer rotary vise. Learn how to whip finish your flies and buy all of your materials from craft shops. Get bucktails and duck feathers from your hunter friends. I believe that your saltwater flies only have to resemble a possible food source, whereas your trout flies have to resemble the actual fly that is hatching or present on the stream… My.02
OC
so what do you use then to seal your knots after a whip finish. Some kind of sealer right?