Fly Fishing Materials Box
What are some beginners fly tying essentials?
I’m looking for some idea of tools, materials, and what flys I should have in my box. I live in northern Illinois and plan to fish nearby Wisconsin and maybe Nevada.
Well, to tie flies, you’re going to need a basic setup, which typically includes a vise, a thread bobbin or two, fly tying scissors, and perhaps a bodkin (a sharp thing like a very big sewing pin or a very small leather awl). To go along with these, hackle pliers are really handy, as a some hemostats and a small wire nipper.
If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably want to start with some basic flies, like the Woolly Bugger, Hare’s Ear Nymph, and the Elk Hair Caddis. You can look around online for very good step-by-step instructions on tying these and even videos. I guess I hadn’t heard that there was open water in Nevada, but if there is some, those three flies will catch fish everywhere in between there at northern Illinois and Wisconsin. As you learn more techniques, you’ll learn more flies and once you learn enough you can just tie whatever you want. Kinda like cooking — once you know how to make pastry, sauce, meats, and other various things, you can put together whatever kind of meal you want.
You can get all the tools and materials for these things in a kit, but I wouldn’t recommend that route. Everything in such kits are put there for people who only think they want to tie flies but will give it up before the stuff starts breaking or the materials run out. It’s a REAL easy hobby to give up. Anyway, do some research and get yourself as good a vise as you can afford. Tools aren’t that expensive (just don’t let anyone talk you into a $40 pair of scissors — a $5 or $10 pair will do just fine), just get what you need at first and you can add extras as you go.
As for materials, you can get big grab bag sets of material, too, but I’d go the slow and steady way — get the materials you need to learn to tie your first fly. When you move on to the next fly, get the materials for that one. And so on. Soon you’ll have a basic array of materials and when you up and learn a new fly, you’ll need only one new kind of material or maybe not even that.
If you’ve never picked up a bobbin in your life, the very best way to jumpstart this hobby is to take a class or at least watch some live demos where you can ask questions. Or, if you have a friend or relative who can show you something, bribe them to do so. Wash his car, walk his dog. Whatever it takes for him to teach you how to tie a couple flies. If you can’t manage that, get some very detailed and involved videos and watch about eleventy-dozen times. Get a good book on the subject — the Orvis book is not bad (it’s not great) and it’s pretty inexpensive. It explains all the basics and has some good photography.
http://www.amazon.com/Orvis-Fly-Tying-Guide-Tom-Rosenbauer/dp/1592281214
Fly Tying: Zonker Streamer: The Natty Light