New to Fly Tying? Read this.
Congratulations, you’ve discovered an awesome new hobby.
Every day in this sub I see posts like “what vise should I get? What tools? How should I get started? These are some flies I tied from my brain!”
Hopefully this can help with the repetitive questions.
- What vise should I get? Buy what you can afford. That being said, buy once cry once rings only somewhat true. For years I tied on a very basic, no name vise. It was functional, it still has a place in my myriad of tying stuff, but as a memory. I upgraded to a Renzetti Traveler a number of years ago, but now the addiction is pushing me to look into things like the Renzetti Master, Cotarelli, or a new company I just saw that will be launching soon.
Facebook Marketplace is a great place to look. Kingfisher has a ~$100 rotary on Amazon that is perfectly functional. In my opinion, you probably won’t use the same vise for your entire life.
What tools should I get? You need a bobbin holder (ceramic is best, although I’m partial to the Umpqua DreamStream because of its weight), a good pair of scissors, hackle pliers, a hair stacker, and a whip finisher (maybe controversial). That’s it. Don’t use your good scissors to cut wire. Again, buy what you can afford. There are tons of companies that make good starter kits. If you find yourself tying a pattern that uses a dubbing loop, you’ll want to buy a dubbing spinner. You will pick up tools as you go along. You’ll run through many pairs of scissors over the years. Don’t overthink it.
How should i get started? Pick 3 patterns to learn. The common suggestions are Zebra Midge, Elk Hair Caddis, and Wooly Bugger. These three patterns will teach you a number of techniques that apply to the majority of things you will tie. They also prevent you from going broke buying materials. You’ll need tying thread (SemperFli or Veevus are my go-to), wire, hooks (obviously), a patch of elk hair, dry fly dubbing, hackle (rooster and hen, grab a cape rather than a saddle for dries), marabou, and chenille. 8 materials, at least 3 patterns you can tie. You’ll use these materials in most patterns.
Hop on YouTube and watch some videos on each of the patterns. Focus on one to start. Tie 6. They’re gonna look bad, but that’s ok. They’ll probably still fish in all honesty. KEEP THOSE FIRST FLIES. Identify what went wrong. Taper too heavy? Too much material? Bad proportions? Now that you see what’s wrong, tie 6 more and try not to make the same mistakes. You’ll have already seen improvement in the 12th compared to the first. Then tie 12 and try to make them all identical. Count your thread wraps if you need to. Now move onto the next pattern and do the same thing. Soon you’ll have a dozen of 3 different patterns. Not only does this help teach some fundamentals, it keeps you from buying random shit that you’ll never use (at least at this point in your journey); once you get deeper you’ll probably do what I do and grab packs of stuff because it’s cheap at the fly shop.
On that note, support your local fly shop. If you don’t have a local fly shop, there’s tons of websites that you can order from. AvidMax, FFF, JStockard to name a few.
I just started and tied this fly without following a pattern. Awesome. I implore you to follow some tried and true patterns first, and then branch out and design your own flies. You’ll learn why certain materials are used for certain parts of certain flies. It took me years before I came up with a pattern that I’m proud to have designed.
Have fun.
I really hope this helps. I’m also always happy to provide constructive feedback if you want to drop me a DM.