Will start to get some bits and bobs together in anticipation of starting fly fishing in earnest in the new year.

Given my target species will be dace, roach, chub, and sometimes small river rainbows, i have a couple of questions if people would be so kind

1) What are the essential patterns to start my collection off
2) What rigs are used - i see mention of teams and droppers etc and its terminology i dont fully understand as yet
3) Are there any people here who make or sell suitable flies?

Aim would be to put together a selection to cover all eventualities asap, think it will be some time before i start tying my own need to get to grips with the basic types and how to chuck them first

Hello codenamemilo start off your collection with tried and trusted flies, in different sizes.
Roach love nymphs such as pheasent tails, hares ear nymphs and also red tag variants.
Chub will also take the same and more, including lures and bushy flies.
Scale down your tackle use fine tippets ie 0.12 0.14 high tech line and dont lose contact with the fly.
Start off with one fly at first and fish it well, rather than several flies fished badly. This will help your casting and reduce tangles.

Ok mate, I`ll kick this one off for you...
Species are chub, roach, dace and river rainbows so....
Dry flies (not really at thier best this time of year but never say never...)
1. Black hoppers size 12 - 14
2. Olive Klinkhammers size 12 - 14
3. Black or olive F fly size 12-16
4. Griffiths gnat size 16 -18
5. Balloon caddis size 12 -14

Wet flies, good all year
1. Black spider size 14 - 16
2. Teal blue and silver size 12-14
3. Black pennell size 14 -16
4. Snipe and purple size 14-18
5. Silver invicta size 14- 16

Nymphs, good all year
1. Flashback pheasant tail nymph size 14-18
2. Gold ribbed hares ear (weighted) size 14-18
3. Daiwl Bach size 16-18
4. Black buzzer size 16-20
5. Weighted pink shrimp size 14-16 (might be a stretch to call this one a nymph )

Lures, best at fry feeding time
1. Minkie, size 6-10
2. Polar fry size 4-10
3. Cats whisker size 8-12

These are only my opinion, if you ask six people you will get six different answers but the above patterns all catch fish for me. The basic way to rig your fly rod is fly line, leader, tippet, fly. The leader can be straight (the same diameter and breaking strain all the way through) or tapered (thick at the butt end and tapering down in diameter and breaking strain to the tippet). I prefer tapered as it turns the fly over better for me aiding presentation. The leader is attached to the fly line with pre fitted loops on the end of the fly line and butt end of the leader or can be knotted using a special knot such as a nail knot. Leaders can be constructed yourself or bought ready made (such as polyleaders) in a variety of lengths, densities from floating to fast sink and breaking strains. In use they can be from a couple of feet long up to 20 feet long depending on what you are trying to do and how well you can cast.
A tippet made from material such as nylon, co-polymer or fluorocarbon (again depending on what you are trying to achieve) is fixed to the end of the leader, again using a loop to loop connection or a knot of your choice. To the end of the tippet goes the fly. Fishing a single fly may cause less tangles until you can cast reasonably well, then you may wish to fish a team of more than one fly such as a nymph on the point (end of the tippet), a wet fly on the middle dropper and a bushy wake fly on the top dropper, your choice. A dropper is a length of line tied onto the leader using a three turn water knot that will cause the fly to stand off a few inches from the leader. A slightly stiffer material used to tie the dropper on will help with this.
As to ready tied flies, I can reccommend www.spidersplus.co.uk or Fulling Mill patterns.
Hope this rambling hasn`t confused you too much mate,
All the best,
Andy

__________________
The trout in yonder wimpling burn
That glides, a silver dart,
And, safe beneath the shady thorn,
Defies the anglers art

R.Burns

Andrew

That post was just what the doctor ordered, thanks for your time tapping away to produce that.

As for confused - not yet but i will be as soon as the tackle arrives and i have to start to get my head around it then!

Looking forward to it all. Ive always liked very busy methods, where there is almost as much joy in the preparation and application as there is in the result

Thanks also paul - will be making sure i have those flies too

I added one more set, chub love em.

If it were my list and just for river coarse fish, I'd keep it simple for starters..plenty of time later to go mad.
Lures (mostly for perch/chub)
Black or olive tadpoles #10-#14

Dries
Daddies (chub) #12
Klinkhammers in olive, black or PT #14s-#20s (want some tiny for dace/roach)

No dries with CDC, it is a waste of time for coarse fish...too much slime, unless you want to change flies every fish? I don't.
Nymphs
Pink shrimp tungsten bead version #12s-#18s

GoldHead hairs ear and partridge #12s-#18s (my most effective river fly all year round)

Copper bead headed Peasant tail #16s-#18s (also some regular beadless PTs)
Long shank Bead head red tag sticks #12s-#18s (also some beadless)

Spiders
Black & peacock spider #14-#18s

Greenwells spider (any olive-ish spider) #14-#18s

These patterns in different sizes and, most importantly, weights account for probably 99% of my river coarse fish each year (not counting pike/zander), and I do a LOT of coarse fly fishing...100+ sessions a year and only about a twenty for trout/grayling.
Dee