Want to get into to fly tying ....but?

[conrad_farlow]

Hi I want to get into tying my own flies again, I actually used to tie a few for my late uncle when I was 14, which was 30 years ago! I have seen the Veniard's kits - are these a viable way to start? There is one that is about £80 or so. My concern is that they are full of materials that I may not really need and that I would be better buying what I need when I need it.

What are considered to be good hooks for spider patterns and nymphs especially in the smaller sizes?

I will buy a decent vice, been reading the reviews and the Scottie by Weaver seems to be a good choice.

So basically I'm looking for advice on how to get started. I expect to be fishing small Yorkshire and Derbyshire rivers and streams with the occasional trip to the odd stillwater and I quite fancy a go at piking on the fly as well.

Any advice appreciated.

Conrad

[Steve Walker]

I had the same problem, and was advised to steer clear of the kits. I went to a tackle shop (Sportfish at Reading), told them what sort of flies I wanted to tie and what budget I had in mind and asked them to sort me out.

Worked out well enough, though now I think I should have bought a better vice.

[marmalade]

Speak to someone like Phil at SpiderPlus/Flytying Boutique. He stocks kit and materials and will spend the time guiding you through.

You'll get lots of excellent advice on the forum, but that's part of the problem - there will be lots of it, most of it good and most of it from a variety of different angles which can be a bit confusing at times..

[danielp]

The way i started was to make a list of all the flies i use regularly and therefore would like to tie. I used this to determine the materials i would need to tie them, most fairly generic such as pheasant tail and peacock herl etc... and just bought these to keep the cost down.

For the tools side of it I would suggest going to your local tackle shop and seing what they can offer as a sort of a deal.

Agree with the vice though, i bought a cheap one early on and had to change it within a few months as the flies i tied got smaller and the clamp was no longer able to hold them tightly.

Dan

[wynne]

Agree with danielp - list the flies you are going to start with & buy the materials to suit. On hooks, the Kamasan type boxes of 20/25 are good, go for size 8;10 & 12.
As mentioned by many before, go for the best vice you can afford, it'll be worth it in the long run.
Your kit will soon get to a stage where you're wondering what you bought half of it for !!

[jindra]

It is never too late to embrace the arcane art of fly tying! Welcome back to the dark side of fly fishing, muhawha... !!!

I recommend staying away from the tying sets, they are based on philosophy of one size fits all needs; it never works out that way.

Treat your vice as capital investment - one that has a life of many years and thousands of flies, plus a significant resale value (you can also consider buying one second hand). The other tools are rather cheap in comparison.

As for the materials, consider what style of fishing - river or stillwater? and types of flies - dries, wets, buzzers, lures - you enjoy the most, make yourself a list of ten or twenty patterns you really need and break them down to a shopping list. Stick to this shopping list when you visit the fly shop - or you end up with a ton of very cool & sexy materials which you will never use.

And last bit of advice: fly tying is great way to let out your inner artist and gain respect of your peers, just don't expect it to save you money