New Hobbie

[Norm]

In my ever ongoing quest to be like "Ed" and jason, junge, crosby, and the countless other great flytying gurus on this site, I've been inspired to take up this hobbie "I've got to have something while I wait for my rods to dry" I have some questions that I will pose to you folks.

#1. Do any of you have a book on flytying that you would consider "essential"?

# 2. If you had to buy a good vise in the framework of a "reasonable" budget what would it be? $35- $75

#3. Whats your top 20, or 10 most used essential tying items?
(be it tools, hackle, dubing,)

Thanks in advance for the info.

Norm

[DWESTON]

Randall Kaufmann's Tying Dryflies, and Tying Nymphs were the two books I bought right off the bat. They got me going in the right direction. Scissors and bobbins. I have 5 bobbins and 3 pairs of scissors. I like the superfine dubbing. Hoffman's necks are worth the money. I believe that you can get them on sale from Sportsmans, but they have been pretty picked over. I buy 98% of my materials from Fish Tech, just have had good knowledgable service from them. People sometimes complain about prices, but I will never buy materials from Sportsmans again. Just my .02.

[Larry S.]

http://www.killroys.com/articles/newtyer.htm

Although the article is a few short years old it still has merit.

I would find a tying class somewhere although they are scarce this time of year (Bob just started his last one till fall here).

[Crosby]

Norm- again you have mistaken me with someone that know his a from a hole in the ground. I know about wrestling, beer, purchasing paper and wine- I finding out each day on the water how little I know about fly fishing- each day of my life I learn how little I know about women- though I think I found one that doesn't care that I don't-
For years I have tied on a Regal vise= wish I hadn't bought it- great vise- very poor for small flies- but spent the bucks and just deal with it. My best advise is buy good quality on what ever you buy- be it bobbins, scissors, hackle or whatever - poor quality will just tick you off and you have wasted money- I have literally taken a hammer to a few bobbins. I have found some cheap sissors from Jim Lake that are great for deer hair and the likes- but otherwise quailty is a very good thing. I would be a very poor person to give you
pointers on books- I learned to tie years ago thru a brother who was a guide and those of you that visit the VFS site have certainly read the ornery SOB (0:. I do have a few books I like but they were really for very specific patterns and tying styles. Now I stick with what I know and tinker with what I don't- but I would certainly be willing to sit and talk with you about the finer qualities of beer.

[Fred]

I would go over to Crosby's, drink his beer, and watch him tie. Keeping doing that until you get the hang of it or he runs out of beer.

Also, I like the CD Rom "The Art of Fly Tying" for good basic step by step instructions. If you're in slc, let me know and I'll let you borrow it.

Also, if you just tie one fly at a time, you can get started without spending too much money. For example, what do you need for a black wooly bugger--vice, scissors, bodkin, blakc thread, black chenille, black hackle, black marabou? Simple. Then, you can try other colors. You can probably go to the library or surf the net to find the instructions. Print or copy them off and get started.

[Crosby]

Norm; awhile back I went up to IF to watch a tier from Ogden- I think- he used a Danvise- $80.00 to $85.00- can be a rotary also.
He said he had tied over 2000 dozen on it. It will be my next vise.
The guy was incredible but can't think of his name- I know he promoted a lot of Gary LaFontaine stuff.

[Larry S.]

That was Paul Stimpson but I would talk to Teewinot before I bought that vise.

But then maybe he is just hard on vises.............

[ElkHair]

Norm,

I think the hare's mask, pheasant tail, and grizzly hackle (spend the money) that I started out with caught me more fish than anything I've bought since.

Crosby sure is a humble guy. But be careful, he guards his fishing spots like a grizzly with cubs.

I read a lot when I started. No tying books, I sorta just copied patterns I bought till I got'em right. But, I think the old-school lit by Schweibert (sp), Wulf, and the like, give a true picture of what fly fishing can be, rather than should be, and deeper knowledge about exactly what a tied fly needs to accomplish. Lenox Dick's "The Art & Science of Fly Fishing" is an excellent read also.

[MOKE]

Great step by step manuals for fly tying. He shows the basics, and you can modify to meet your needs from there.

I can't say that I would recommend the Regal vise either, as I've broken too many in my day.

Peace
MOKE

[carpman]

I strongly recommend a Renzetti vise. A bit more expensive, but worth the wait.

I tied on a Danvise for about 10 minutes. Then it broke, so naturally I don't have good things to say about them.

Buy a book with a pattern index in it. I can't tell you how many tiers never learn to break down a fly by looking at it. Study the materials available, and study each fly in the book. Look at the picture, read through the materials, and "walk" through the tying steps in your head. If you learn to do this, you can tie anything. I have to match lots of strange, random patterns that are the "only thing that works". With no intructions, it is only possible by learning to break down each pattern mentally. Also remember there is no "wrong" way to tie a fly. There are often faster, or better ways, but no way is "wrong". Practice, tinker, have fun...............

[Trouty]

I've tied on a Danvise for several years and love it. Have not had any problems at all. I tie from large streamers down to #26. I've not tried to tie anything smaller than that but I think the vice could handle it - not so sure about me. I highly recommend it. I certainly don't tie near as many flies as Carpman but I think he just got a bum vise. I certainly won't argue Renzetti makes an excellent vice but I know a number of people who love the Danvise and it is certainly a lot more economical.

Top 20 tying items - I couldn't even begin to limit it to that few. Obviously hare's ear dubbing, pheasant tails, ostrich and peacock, maribou in various colors, grizzly hackly (both for wets and for dries) and of course - lots of hooks. If you are only going to tie a few flies stick with necks because you can get a lot of different size feathers in one purchase. But once you've tied with a good saddle hackle you might find it difficult to use necks for hackling again. Good pair of scissors, dubbing loop tool, bobbins, velcro, beads, clear antron, super fine dubbing, some chenilles for buggers, deer hair, elk hair, sparkle yarn. The list goes on and on. Maybe you ought to decide what your top 20 flies are for the waters you fish and then buy the materials you need to tie them rather than trying to buy the top 20 materials and then find you need something else to tie that "special" pattern.

Be friendly with the guys at the local fly shop - they generally have great skills and are willing to impart a lot of knowledge. They usually won't give you their favorite pattern but then again, neither would I and the ones they will point you to will catch plenty of fish. They will give you a lot of good info as well as educate you on the pros and cons of various types of materials. There are lots of good books out there too. The two Randall Kauffman books are great places to start because he also gives pretty good information on most of the materials you will ever use. I too recommend a class if you are just starting.

[flyty]

Norm,

You might be able to get a used Renzetti Traveler on ebay for $75--the newer models have cam operated jaws while older models have thumb screw jaws, so try and get the cam operated jaws if you can, but they will cost more. The Danvise sort of has a mixed reputation. It's plastic and clunky looking but apparently if you're careful with it, and it doesn't break, it's supposed to be more than adequate. Also, consider a DynaKing Kingfisher which is $99 new, and I would think you could get a used one in your price range. In the sub $100 price range, the Kingfisher sets the standard for quality. The old standard are the inexpensive Thompson vises, which will serve a person on a budget just fine.

I think it's very hard to list the 20 most important tying materials. The way tying goes is you buy material for a fly, tie a few, and then find another fly you want to tie, and tie some of those, and on and on. You accumulate materials fast, and they aren't necessarily useful for other patterns. Stay away from hackled dry flies if you want to save money because dry fly hackle is expensive(as opposed to cheap chinese neck hackle for wooly buggers). Comparaduns work just as well in my experience, and all they require is an antron tail, some dubbing, and an elk or deer hair wing--all materials that only cost .99 per package.

I would suggest not getting one of those dubbing dispensers with 12 colors of dubbing. That's what I did, and I regret it. I hate trying to pick dubbing out of the little hole, and I found the dubbing packages for .99/ each are much easier to deal with, and you get about 10 times the amount of dubbing--truly a lifetime supply.

Did you get to fish your bamboo rod on the Green River trip? Someday, I hope you'll let me cast one of your rods.

[LBM]

I bought a Renzetti Traveller a few years ago when they first came out with their Cam Jaws. Seems like I paid $175. About a year ago, I bought a Dan Vise for $80. In my opinion, you don't always get what you pay for. The Dan Vise is twice the vice at half the price.



Larry

[carpman]

Yikes........

You paid too much for a Traveler. They retail around $140-155 in most shops....... As for "twice the vise", I strongly disagree, but that is what makes this site great, everyone has an opinion.......