I challenge every one out there to come up with and share cheap fly tying material. My latest one I'am playing with is Easter grass, come in many colors and looks like it will make good scud backs...

green silly streach (kids craft stuff) makes a great green weenie 2.0

cat hair,dryer lint dubbing,dollar store x-mas tinsel,needle point floss,white sewing thread as head on red magnet wire brassie,the copper from discarded extension cords,bead chain,craft fur,plastic bags for scud back,latex from rubber gloves or other sources,organza ribbon,chenille meant for knitting,mylar from chip bags,nail polish.

your turn

I challenge you to support local fly shops and tie good/quality flies with quality materials

i think its fair to say that the majority of us trace the origins of most of our fly tying hoard back to a shop however even a well stock shop is only going to have so much material. and also safe to say that in comparison to a huge craft store that material area is going to relativly small . so the odds of finding a material that may create in intutive spark in a craft store is relitivly higher. also just because it didnt come from a fly shop does not mean that it will not be a good quality material to tie a good/quality fly .ex if you pick up some really nice 11/0 glass beads to use as heads on midge emergers you will probably spend about the same as you would for the same beads at a fly shop difference being you will have the choice of every color under the sun . now its not logical for the fly shop to have a color wheel of small glass beads sitting there not selling so having the few colors most commonly used is normally a safe bet but sometime going that tiny distance outside the box and then pressing up agaist the walls is what it takes to make the next great pattern

glass beads
wire leaders
storage bins
and the off chance of some pheasant/Lady Amhurst feathers
... the only thing you should be "craft-storing"

too many times people get caught up in trying to find craft store materials and forget about trying to learn technique and tying quality flies

do you really think the holy grail of tying in a craft store?

the problem may be that your fly shop is poorly stocked and is unhelpful at finding the materials you want...

but easter grass and t-shirt puffy pain... no thanks

I buy fly tying material all the time.When I go to Woodlands World I always buy 50 to 100 dollars worth of stuff.Pretty flys catch fisherman...Some of the worst looking flies I ever seen catch fish.
The challenge is to use imagination and materials to tie flies..Hopefully to look good and catch fish..The chain gang stone fly won awards, where did he get the materials? From a fly shop, craft store,his basement,hardware store, who knows...I guarantee he would of paid more at the fly shop than the other 3 mentioned.

Ramcatt it sounds like you have a fly shop, If I had a store i would tell you to buy my eggs instead of going to the farm......

i do buy most of my materials at a fly shop.last time i bought materials at a fly shop i spent over two hundred dollars.i love my fly shop,and i also order from feather craft.

that's not the point of this thread though.the whole idea of this thread is cheap materials.

think of it this way. Q;what do you get at the supermarket?

A;go to restaurants .

hello?

Think of it this way

You need to do some car maintanice
And you go to the supermarket

Sure you can get air freshjunk and some armour all wipes

But your not changing your oil with syrup


"but craft store flies catch fish"
Yeah ... And you can date fat chick

But you shouldn't ...

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Ramcatt, I couldn't agree more. For the most part, fly tying materials are not that expensive, and they are the right stuff for the job. There are a few cases where I think I can get the exact same thing in larger quantity and do. For example, bulk nylon from the sewing store is essentially unistretch and comes in more colors. And sometimes it makes sense to buy natural materials from other sources. I got a full muskrat hide from a taxidermy supply for $8.50. The quality and diversity of fibers on the hide are superior to what I had been buying at flyshops.
But >90% of my materials are packaged for sale to fly tiers.

WOW, I just stumbled across this thread and read it and I have to say...some people a very creative!!!! Thats awesome. I just dont understand why some one would not harness someones creativity to making a buck!?!?!? Yeah so some people are coming up with different ways of doing things and thats great, Just because it isnt "fly shop bought" does it really mean its worse than some name brand material that HAS to be marked up to make $$? Seriously its like buying Coca Cola versus buying ATreat....

Small diameter rope or twine and pillow fluff.

I could take Easter grass, dog hair or anything, put it in an ORVIS bag and people would think it's the best fly tying material every made.Where in the world do you think fly tying materials come from?Quote:

I agree with Shakey 100%. I buy fly tying material all the time.
But the point of this thread is to come up with different materials and imagination. The cheaper the better, how long does a fly last anyway?

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Maybe ORVIS will put some Easter grass and dog hair in a bag and make a beliver out of Ramcatt.