new to fly tying

[marvin119]

can anybody recommend a good fly tying kit or site to visit on the net for around £40-£50 as i'm new to fly tying, i want to mainly tie lures and buzzers and i've had alook on the net and am at a loss as what kit to buy for tying lures and buzzers as there is so many to choose from
regards
marvin119

[steve collyer]

Originally Posted by marvin119

can anybody recommend a good fly tying kit or site to visit on the net for around £40-£50 as i'm new to fly tying, i want to mainly tie lures and buzzers and i've had alook on the net and am at a loss as what kit to buy for tying lures and buzzers as there is so many to choose from
regards
marvin119

Don't buy a kit!

Just decide what flies you want to make, find out the dressings & buy the basic tools, hooks & materials for the particular flies.

I can give you some basic dressings for buzzers & lures, but you have to narrow it down a little.
If fishing buzzers, you'll probably want a basic black buzzer, but also bloodworms.
Lots of the simple buzzer patterns can be made with different coloured feather fibre for bodies, silver tinsel for the rib, peacock herl or similar for the thorax, and fluoro white wool or white marabou for the breathing filaments.
This is a very basic, but solid dressing.

Lures - well that is rather an open ended one...

[arkle]

Hi Marvin119, as Steve rightly says, a kit isn't always your best option. This subject has been covered numerous times recently - just use the search facility above & you'll get pages of info. You didn't mention where you intend to fish & on what type of water, so if we had some more info we could offer more help. Check out www.the-fdg.org website & see if there's a branch near you, if so contact the secretary & he will fall over himself to help you.

[SharkeyP]

So if the FDG is a good thing, but Fly Tying kits are a bad thing, what is your opinion on the FDG subscription and fly-tying kit offer at £38 (It seems like a good thing to me)?

I'm thinking that after a year of chucking other people's flies it's time I started tying my own.

SharkeyP

[ickypimp]

The main issue with kits is that you are likely to end up with a quantity of materials and possibly some tools that are of no use to you at all, that suddently makes what tllos like a great value for money deal not so good, if you look on ebay you can get a perfectly functional entry level vice for a tenner, that leaves you 30 quid to buy materials and tools you want and will use, you csn shop around and buy from retailers that offer good value for money (i bought a bag of CDC recently, 2 grams a good quantity of feathers for the price i could buy 10 carded feathers at the only materials retailer in town)

I was fortunate in that i have family who have all tied for years, i was given hundreds of pounds worth of materials, i also started tying at the same time as a workmate, we tend to buy bulk packs and split them or if a nice saddle or neck shows up but it is expensive ( good quality cree, silver badgers, varients) we buy then and cut them in half.

I really enjoy tying, it adds a dimension to fishing you dont really get with other styles, and there is a certain little flush of pride you get from taking fish on your own creation.. it does get under your skin though, i am always looking out for stuff that can be used... the vinyl protectors that came on my new laptop have been saved for shellbacks, an antelope skin from the car boot sale, sally hansen nail varnish from the cheap toiletries place, cuticle scissors, clip in hair extensions... it goes on and on

[tk8456]

Yeah as others have said, don't get a kit. Unless you're super lucky, they're usually full of a few things that don't normally sell well

Please have a look at my post here

http://flyforums.co.uk/showpost.php?...54&postcount=8

Whole thread here
http://flyforums.co.uk/showthread.ph...354#post488354

[Highlander]

I'll take the opposite view & buy a kit. The poster by his own admission is

new to fly tying

So what does that tell me, he knows nowt about fly tying. most important.
So what does he buy? pray tell me. He would not have a clue , he does not know the terminology. No point you guys "advising him" as he would not know what you are talking about.
At least with a kit you will get enough feathers to tie a few flies, a basic instruction booklet at the very least & maybe even a DVD with the dearer ones.
What are we talking about £30- £40 for a basic kit......your guys spend that on one Whiting Cape & you are concerned about the guy being left with a few bits he might never use, get real.
Poster if you can get a friendly tier to teach you or as suggested join FDG beginners section Just do search for Fly Dressers Guild fine that would be best but if you are stand alone don't know any one just take my advice & get a kit to get you started.
OK so you have settled in,tied a few flies, got the feel of it. Know the difference between a hen & cock hackle then ask your questions on this forum & you will get good advice but to start off. Many tiers have started with a kit & it did not do them any harm........ Get a Kit.
Tight Lines

[Midge]

Hi marvin119

You say your new to fly tying and your looking for a kit £40-£50. You don't say just where you are located, but I'm sure there will be a branch of the Fly Dressers Guild somewhere fairly near to your home. So why not kill two birds with one stone, spend £38 with the FDG and you get a starters kit and a full years hands on tuition from guys who know.


http://www.the-fdg.org/special.htm

TL

Midge

[steve collyer]

Originally Posted by Highlander

...No point you guys "advising him" as he would not know what you are talking about....

But, to be fair Marvin has yet to comment on this since his original post.
It would be very simple to make a list of what he needs if he told us vaguely what he wants to tie!
For instance, he could visit:
http://www.sportfish.co.uk/fly-fishing/flies-fly-sets
and look down the lists & pick off there.
I find a little to-and-fro in conversation to be more revealing than asking a question, then 8uggering off!

[marvin119]

sorry for not replying quickly as i'm working the dreaded night shift all this week and i'm catching up on my beauty sleep (if you seen the look of me some of you will consider 8hrs isn't enough,ah,ah,ah) so again thanks to all the infor. supplied as i'm catching up on all the posts during the early hours.
My real name is Andrew and i live in s.wales in a town called Tredegar which is about 30 -40 miles from Cardiff, and i'm 43yrs of age.I've been fishing mostly all my life, generally course and sea and am in to my second season of fly fishing and cann't get enough of it!! I mostly fish stillwaters and local reseviors in the area, and am starting to toy with the idea of tying my own flies during the coming winter months.Like i said the flies that i really want to concentrate on are mainly buzzers and lures and all the infor. that all you have supplied i think will put me on a start.Please don't get annoyed if i don't reply asap due to work etc but i will get back to all.Please keep getting back to me via private messages etc if any new ideas come up.

regards
marvin119