To buy or Tie?

D

Deadhand

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I have a Thompson “A” fly tying kit from the early 70s. Since my stroke I’m thinking about tying again for some therapy. What makes sense to buy or tie or a mix of both? Thanks
 
Many will say it is cheaper to buy flies. I'm 100% confident that I save money tying as long as I'm not paying myself for my time.

To me, though, the cost isn't really relevant. Catching fish on flies I tied is a big part of it for me. So, even if it I cost me three times as much to tie my own, it wouldn't make sense for me to buy flies. I've bought less than two dozen flies in about thirty years. I've fished less than six of them.

Tying also gives you the ability to make the flies you need when you need them. Fly shops aren't always readily available.
 
I tie what I can. Not very accomplished. I buy the more complicated flies for now. I may progress enough to tie them but for now we'll mix it up. For me the money is already spent other than replacement of used up supplies.
 
I have been using Thompson A since the mid 70s. No need to change.

That said, tying vs buying is tough choice. Like noted above it may be cheaper if you dont include your time. However, you accumulate alot of materials that you pay for and dont fully use or stop using, especially furs and feathers which can be expensive. I have material that is easily 40 years old and still more to use up, ie certain capes, bucktails, and here's mask. So while the cost per fly is lower if you utilize all the material, the outlay of cash, call it the ante, to get in the game could be prohibitive.

For example a decent full cape is about $75. For that you can probably tie 5
00 or 600 flies. Consider you will use mostly the 12 to 16 sizes, that rocks the number down significantly. Probably the 75 to 100 number. That's 75 cents per fly just for feather/ hackle.

Because of price of natural materials has risen so much, there is a notable shift in fly design and to synthetic materials. For instance hares ears, pheasant tails and prince nymphs while still effective are being replaced by perdigons and other all synthetic flies.

The standard Catskill dry uses rooster cape. Comparadun uses much cheaper deer hair.

I enjoy tying and have enough material to last another lifetime. If I had to start now at my age, I would probably buy. That would be strictly a financial decision as I probably have < 20 years of fishing left. My eyesight lasting that long is toss up. So far so good.
 
I tie. I like having the flexibility to make what I want when I want. It's not about trying to save money. It's about being more into the sport and having the autonomy to create patterns, copy patterns, and fill your boxes as you see fit.

Tie all the way.
 
Last edited:
wildtrout2 said:
I admire anyone who ties, it's an art.
Click to expand...
Dear wildtrout2,

You've never seen flies I tied. They work but works of art they ain't. 😉

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
If you enjoy tying…there’s your answer.

I started “again” two years ago with materials for the patterns I liked to fish. The satisfaction in tying & fishing my own flies makes it more enjoyable for me.
 
All great answers. I reload my rifle ammo, so I will probably look further into tying. Any suggestions on a book? Where to buy materials? Thanks all.
 
I don't tie flies to save money—I tie them to become a better fly fisherman. Every fly teaches something: about the hatch, the water, the fish, and the art itself. Tying isn't just part of the sport; it's a different way of seeing it.
 
I don't buy its more expensive to tie argument. It might be true if you load up on the highest end materials paid at full price and purchase niche tools. You aren't getting those with commercial ties anyway. Once you get good at it, you reduce waste of materials and it gets more economical. If you avoid jumping in and buying the newest, subtly different but expensive materials the guy on YouTube promoted instead of using an equal substitute already in your arsenal, yeah it adds up.
can you make it more expensive, yes. Can you make it worth your while, definitely.
 
I tie to save money and to kill time during lousy weather. I don’t fish, buy, or tie complicated flies. I rarely follow exact recipes and care little about what non fish experts say about materials and proportions. I don’t get all sappy over catching a fish on a fly I tied myself because me or my dad tied just about every fly I ever fished. At this point in life I have more flies then I will ever fish and many more just waiting to be assembled. I might spend 25 bucks a year on fly tying but spend 20 times that on spin fishing tackle.
 
Deadhand said:
All great answers. I reload my rifle ammo, so I will probably look further into tying. Any suggestions on a book? Where to buy materials? Thanks all.
Click to expand...

I am a self taught fly tyer. I learned from books as I had no one to teach me. The book that had the most significant impact was MASTERING THE ART OF FLY TYING, by **** Talleur.
You could probably find a used one on Abe's Books online.
That said, there are a great many exceptional tyers online that would probably help you more. Davie McPhail, Barry Orde Clarke, Oholi's Flies, Charlie Craven to name a few.
To start, I strongly recommend not trying to tie a bunch of patterns. Practice one until you get 3 or 4 flies to look exactly the same proportionally.
Try to purchase materials that are good for a number of patterns. A good starting list would be.

-Brown and Grizzly 100 pack hackle size 14
-size 14 dry fly and nymph/ wet fly hooks
--pheasant tail
-8/0 black thread
-peacock herl/eye
-dubbing in green, grey, and hares mask
-elk hock or deer hair patch
-dark brown hen neck
-lemon dyed mallard flank


Add to list as you need. Don't try to tie every pattern in the book. My guess is if you fish alot, you find yourself using only a dozen or so different flies a year that you have confidence in. Buy those materials.

If you want to experiment with a fly. Buy a few, fish them and see if they are what they are cracked up to be. If not you save all that money on space and materials you will never use. Ask me how I know
 
Tigereye said:
I am a self taught fly tyer. I learned from books as I had no one to teach me. The book that had the most significant impact was MASTERING THE ART OF FLY TYING, by **** Talleur.
You could probably find a used one on Abe's Books online.
That said, there are a great many exceptional tyers online that would probably help you more. Davie McPhail, Barry Orde Clarke, Oholi's Flies, Charlie Craven to name a few.
To start, I strongly recommend not trying to tie a bunch of patterns. Practice one until you get 3 or 4 flies to look exactly the same proportionally.
Try to purchase materials that are good for a number of patterns. A good starting list would be.

-Brown and Grizzly 100 pack hackle size 14
-size 14 dry fly and nymph/ wet fly hooks
--pheasant tail
-8/0 black thread
-peacock herl/eye
-dubbing in green, grey, and hares mask
-elk hock or deer hair patch
-dark brown hen neck
-lemon dyed mallard flank


Add to list as you need. Don't try to tie every pattern in the book. My guess is if you fish alot, you find yourself using only a dozen or so different flies a year that you have confidence in. Buy those materials.

If you want to experiment with a fly. Buy a few, fish them and see if they are what they are cracked up to be. If not you save all that money on space and materials you will never use. Ask me how I know
Click to expand...
That makes sense, practice one until it looks good, then move on. Thanks
 
Tigereye said:
I am a self taught fly tyer. I learned from books as I had no one to teach me. The book that had the most significant impact was MASTERING THE ART OF FLY TYING, by **** Talleur.
You could probably find a used one on Abe's Books online.
That said, there are a great many exceptional tyers online that would probably help you more. Davie McPhail, Barry Orde Clarke, Oholi's Flies, Charlie Craven to name a few.
To start, I strongly recommend not trying to tie a bunch of patterns. Practice one until you get 3 or 4 flies to look exactly the same proportionally.
Try to purchase materials that are good for a number of patterns. A good starting list would be.

-Brown and Grizzly 100 pack hackle size 14
-size 14 dry fly and nymph/ wet fly hooks
--pheasant tail
-8/0 black thread
-peacock herl/eye
-dubbing in green, grey, and hares mask
-elk hock or deer hair patch
-dark brown hen neck
-lemon dyed mallard flank


Add to list as you need. Don't try to tie every pattern in the book. My guess is if you fish alot, you find yourself using only a dozen or so different flies a year that you have confidence in. Buy those materials.

If you want to experiment with a fly. Buy a few, fish them and see if they are what they are cracked up to be. If not you save all that money on space and materials you will never use. Ask me how I know
Click to expand...
Dear Tigereye,

This is good advice, especially for someone starting out or restarting fly tying.

Learn to tie a couple patterns well. For example, Gold ribbed Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, Prince Nymph, and a simple dubbed Muskrat nymph in various sizes can and will catch a lot of fish. That muskrat nymph makes a nice scud or cress bug if you cover the top with a thin strip of plastic sandwich bag and rib it with fine gold wire.

Maybe add some floss in yellow, orange, and olive. Get some partridge or grouse hackle and tie soft hackle wets too.

Get comfortable tying a couple of patterns and then you can decide if you want to go after more complex patterns or dry flies. If hackled dries aren't your thing there is nothing wrong with Comparaduns. If you have the elk patch all you need is some popular colors of Superfine dubbing, like Hendrickson pink, tan, and sulphur yellow and some tailing material and you are all set. You can even use Antron yarn in place of the elk hair for the wings. It's much less bulky, floats like a cork, and fish don't care about it.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
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