Materials for beginner

[greenhead55]

I am new to fly tying and had a few questions on materials. What flies should I start out with ? I would like to tie mainly for trout and later in the summer tie for steelhead. What materials do I need to buy to get me started and what size & style hooks will I need. Thanks guys !

 

[dryflyguy]

When I took my fly tying class, we tied 2 flies each week for 10 weeks
First 2 flies were white marabou and black nose dace streamers
The next week we tied muskrat and hares ear nymphs
The 3rd week we tied ants, beetles, and inch worm - easy ties
4th week we finally tied some serious stuff - light cahill and adams dry flies
I took this class 25 years ago now, but looking back, I would still recommend the same flies for beginner tyers

 

[afishinado]

Here is a copy of a post I did in the past. HTH:




Getting Started Fly Tying

 

[Bruno]

I would added sucker spawn to the list- easy and a killer pattern

 

[jaybo41]

Two more to add to the list-Crystal Meth or Crystal Spawn as some call it and the Green Weenie.

Mustad 3906 Hooks are perfect for the Sucker Spawn and Crystal Meth. Crystal braid is all you need for the CM pattern. I prefer Angora yarn when tying Sucker Spawn. You can also tie Scrambled Eggs and the Blood Dot, which are variations and pretty simple and effective ties. Glo Bug yarn works well for this. Get a wide variety of colors--"hot" colors work well in stained water, whereas I find that the pale colors fish better in more clear conditions.

Green Weenie- Chartreuse chenille tied on a streamer hook, with or without bead. I like the Diachii 2220 in sizes 12 and 14. I also weight these with a few wraps of lead free wire.

 

[littlelehigh]

I got a kit at Cabela's of the essential materials thread and hooks it is priced reg. at $50.00 I got it on sale for $30.00. It has served me well starting especially considering all the mistakes I make. The amount of hooks alone is probally close to a $30 value. They are Lightning strike.

 

[greenhead55]

OK guys info is great but I have another question about the hooks. I am looking at these
Hook Link

How do I know when and what flies to use a 1x 2x 3x nymph hook and what length when tying streamers?

 

[tomgamber]

That would depend on how long or short you wanted the fly to end up. Most fly "recipes" suggest a length.

 

[JeffK]

I'm not a believer in kits.

What materials you need depends on what you tie. Start with just one or two patterns that you use all the time and would like to tie.

Some simple flies to start with are wooly buggers, pheasant tails, gold ribbed hare's ears, Zebra midges, sucker spawn, green weenies/red hots (hot pink green weenie) etc. Tie what you need.

Go to a fly shop or to a tying friend and find out what good and bad materials are. My biggest problem when I started was bad materials.

 

[Rkey530]

I'll agree with the last poster, bad materials = bad flies, even an experienced tier can only do so much with bad materials and as a beginner you will have enough to master without having to learn how to deal with bad materials. So yes difinately go to a fly shop or a freind who ties and have them go over the basics of how to select good common materials and explain which are used for what. I'd probably start with common flies that your going to get to use a lot maybee hare's ears nymphs, elk hair caddis, and wooley bugger, and say an adams. These flies cover most common fly tying techniques to give you exposure and oppurtunity to master a broad range of skills and they are common ties so you will have an idea of what the final product should look and act like which can help. i did some self teaching, though in the end what really helped and moved me along in tying really quickly was private lessons with Rob Lewis of Rob's Realistics. If you can happen into some lessons, or just plain buy them that can help out a lot.