Cheaper to Dye your own materials?

[ikilledflipper]

Hello everyone,

A while back, I used to tie my own flies. I gave up as I didn't have time & so sold all of my materials. I really missed it though and have started up again.

At the moment, I have very few items and do not want to fall into the trap of my younger years. I bought impulsively and wasted a lot of money on things I would never use.

I'm a little more sensible now, and wonder if it would be best to buy a few natural capes etc & dye them several different colours instead of purchasing lots of coloured capes or small bags of feathers.

I am not sure as of yet, what flies work for me, and so I'm at the stage of experimenting tying flies and seeing if they work. As you can imagine - this is expensive! Once I know which flies I always want in my box - I can buy materials in bulk & tie in bulk - however this is in the future.

Like I said, I'm feeling my way through different patterns & want to tie many to test them out. So, is dying the cheapest and most sensibel option?

PS - I know nothing of dying, bleaching etc and would rather not have to spend hours dying when I could be tying!

[goldenolive]

Get your hands on a copy of this months totalflyfisher, theres a good article on dyeing your own materials.

its something I really wanted to get into also,

I think that veniards sell the dyes, I also know an irish flytyer over here that uses Dylon to dye his materials & his capes & seasl fur are amazing!

although Im sure he didn't get them rght first time around!
I will probably would need plenty of cheap white capes & seasl fur to practise on first

[mikeab]

I dont think its really worth dying your own materials these days, unless your after something in a pecific colour, that you cant get. and as for the experimenting stage it never ends its like a drug once you start you cant stop

[doonicus]

Dyeing your own materials is time consuming, and can be quite expensive, so best to leave this for now. The best value for money these days is definately genetic capes, as you can dress dries, wets, lures and nymphs off the one cape. A few of the basic colours, black, brown, a decent greewell/red and black or a cockybondhu will all be most useful to you. Do not waste money on dyed hackles, you will get few, if any that are suitable for you, they create a lot of mess as well. Cheap dyed capes, whether hen or cock are probably the better option for now, but again genetic capes are the real answer, although you would not want half a dozen capes in fluorescent colours that will be no good to you.
Difficult choices ahead, until you decide what flies you want to dress.
Why not go for dry fly only, it is undoubtedly the most exciting way to fish, and since you are more mature you will probably want to practise catch and release, or just take a few for the freezer, and not try to empty the place. A few nymphs for back up, and you are fixed for most weather conditions.

[emerger1981]

yes mate ,
it would be better to buy a cream or white cape/saddle and 3 or 4 dyes
than buy a load of them.. if you want it for dry flys a grizzle or cree are the best all round hackle for standard hackled drys and para/klinks.. if its for palmering and hackling wets and nymphs then the cream/white saddle and hen hackle.

[Scratch]

If time and money are still issues, and you're not even sure what you want to tie then forget dyeing, it's not cheaper - it's a luxury for some, and a necessity for others (who know what they want), but time and cash consuming for both. You'll ruin alot of materials on the learning curve too.
Stick to building up your tying materails for now... quality materials in every shade under the sun are available for a song from the Likes of Lakeland, Artifly, Cookshill, CelticFlycraft etc etc etc.

When you know what you want, and find yourself turning into a miserable, fussy, pedantic, perfection seeking evil scientist, like Midlander, then ask him for some tips.

[emerger1981]

Originally Posted by Scratch

If time and money are still issues, and you're not even sure what you want to tie then forget dyeing, it's not cheaper - it's a luxury for some, and a necessity for others (who know what they want), but time and cash consuming for both. You'll ruin alot of materials on the learning curve too.
Stick to building up your tying materails for now... quality materials in every shade under the sun are available for a song from the Likes of Lakeland, Artifly, Cookshill, CelticFlycraft etc etc etc.

When you know what you want, and find yourself turning into a miserable, fussy, pedantic, perfection seeking evil scientist, like Midlander, then ask him for some tips.

you lazy g*t

[goldenolive]

Here is a great link for a web page that Midlander made,
plenty of great info to help you out.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/radbard88/

To keep the costs down, I will not be dyeing the whole cape
I will just dye enough feathers that I will use.
one capes could be used for a couple of colours.

[darwin]

I think it would be cheaper for me to take up checkers and buy my fish at the market. Not sure their is such a thing as a cheap hobby. all funnies aside...

You will pay 4-5GBP for each small tube of most dyes, how many colours do you want to have? Are you going to mix your own colours or use them as the are? You might screw up a few dye jobs while you are learning and or experimenting. You might love a colour only to find that the fish don't. You might make a mess of the kitchen and get yourself into hot water
I just started learning and I enjoy it... I dyed a few items the other night (claret deer hair, seems to the all the rage!) while getting dinner ready and both came out fine. Many of the colours that I want I can not get locally so dyeing my own works for now. I purchased a cream cock saddle and will split it into 2 or 3 pieces and dye each a different colour, that will last a long time for me. Is that cheaper than having 3 full saddles, each a different colour? Can you purchase the items in the colours you want? So many questions, so many points of view.
Shortly someone with much more experience and skills will come along and will be more helpful to you... For me it comes down to doing only the things I enjoy doing or have to do, everything else I let someone else do for me. Have a good weekend!

[Scratch]

Originally Posted by emerger1981

you lazy g*t

Not at all mate, no offence taken though I just prefer time at the vice to time slaving over a hot pan, breathing in all manner of indescribable gases! Besides, if I have any special requirements I just get Midlander (Alex) to do it Alex is a thinking angler, and dyeing is a crucial part of his whole modus operandi. He doesn't do it to save time or money. Dyeing your own materials will never save you, the O.P, Alex or anyone else time or money.