OMG It's Fly Tying has Moved!

OMG It's Fly Tying has packed it's bags, it's feathers, hooks, 12 bobbins, it's whip finishers, it's day-light imitating lamp, it's desk, it's camera and it's fly tying owner and moved.

You can find a new, improved and much happier OMG It's Fly Tying here:

                                            THE NEW OMG IT'S FLY TYING!

                                                            

The Saga of "Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge"

It feels incredibly redundant, but just in case anyone following along here at OMG It's Fly Tying hasn't heard, the "Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge" blog was eaten by blogger and apparently no longer exists. If it does exist, I don't know how to get to it - or how to get you to it. It's as if Blogger took my $10 for a domain name and decided that instead, I was paying to have them ruin all my hard work.

So, then:


Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge (The New WordPress blog)

Not only do I like the interface better (after a few hours of poking around and trying to figure out what everything does), but the blog looks leaner, meaner and sleeker than ever, don't you think? If it works out as well as I think it's going to, we'll be doing a WordPress version of OMG It's Fly Tying, too.

So, the next post you'll see from us will either be some great new trout flies we've created this week ( A Circus Act nymph, Big Bang Tenkara fly, and a few "Pokey Caddis" - all new creations straight from the old Peak Rotary at OMG It's Fly Tying central HQ ) or a link to our new home.

Give me a few days and we'll see which way it goes.

No FLIES FOR YOU!

Just a change of pace here at OMG It's Fly Tying! - a post with some pictures of random randomness...

A Few New Patterns...

Tonight I decided to use the time I'd normally spend sleeping to tie up a few new original patterns. Ah, who am I kidding - I never sleep anyway. If I wan't tying these flies I'd be up anyway so don't listen to me. Anyhoot, here are a few new patterns I hope you enjoy - and besides that - I hope that the trout will enjoy the next time I set foot into their world. If the trout like 'em that's all that matters. Apparently that last batch I sent to Rainey's Flies wasn't a big hit - but I'll keep trying I guess. The only thing they can do is say no.

#12 Tenkara Tar Baby

#12 Grim Reaper

#14 Tenkara BWO

#12 Gatlinburg Caddis

Key Lime Caddis, 2010

Trout Flies....24 cents each...

That's what the ad said. 24 cents each.

Now, if you're like me you can only imagine what a 24 cent fly looks like, performs like, etc. How long will a 24 cent fly hold up to an angler mashing floatant into it's feathers or fur? How many fish will a 24 cent fly catch? How can you even pay for the HOOK on a 24 cent fly? The answer: You can't.

The rest of the answer - you know, to all those other questions....

Do I really have to tell you?

If you're paying less than a dollar a fly, I have no doubt you are getting what you've paid for...a poorly tied fly made overseas that will fall apart after two fish. Honestly, you're much better off buying flies tied locally, by someone who has your needs in mind and who cares whether or not they are making a good product.

You can't buy a piece of gum for 24 cents these days - how in the world could you buy a decent fly with that?

NOT a 24 cent fly. 

Also NOT a 24 cent fly. Try $1.25 instead and get something worth casting.

A dollar fly, but only because I have too many...

A Kit for Christmas?

Most people who have tied for years (including yours truly) will tell you that a fly tying "kit" is usually not the way to go when getting started. Sure, it sounds like a great idea but then you're inevitably going to end up with materials and maybe a few tools that you don't really need (and may never use!). You're much better off finding someone that already ties the types of flies you want to tie and getting them to help you put together a "kit" on your own.

That said, some folks would just rather do things the "easy" way and not necessarily the most economical way and I can understand that point of view, too. Back in the days when I was making almost 50G a year I wouldn't have cared if I spent a little more on an easy-to-buy "kit" and got a few things I didn't need....I'd just throw them in the trash or give them away to someone. These days, I watch every penny.

So, depending on where you sit on that economic fence....here's my suggestions for buying a self-made trout fishing kit on your own. ( Most kits may give you tools you don't need, but they also almost always give you the basics that you DO need, so that's something at least...)

Things you'll need to build your own fly tying kit (for trout flies):

1. A Vise. $40 or less will work to get you started. Most fly tying shops will have "beginner" vises, but I'd stay away from the very low-end $20 stuff, even if you think you might not like it. A $20 vise will most likely frustrate you so much, you'll be guaranteed not to like it.

2. Scissors. Don't skimp here. Get fly tying scissors. Later, you can buy scissors from craft or sewing shops for cutting hair and wire and whatever else...but when you're just starting out, save yourself the frustration and bite the bullet on this one item and buy good purpose-made scissors. Usually, around $15-20.

3. Thread. Don't fool around with 8/0 ( very small) thread and midge hooks in the size 18 - 24 range. You need one or two spools of thread to give this thing a whirl. Black and Tan would be wise choices and the most useful colors for a variety of patterns. And again, don't skimp on this one - buy name-brand thread. Uni 6/0 is my favorite and it's stronger than most with a denier of 140 or so. Remember, to start out you only need one spool of black and maybe a spool of tan. It'll suck you in, though so watch out. Thread is pretty and you'll talk yourself into "needing" two dozen colors of it if you're not careful.

4. Hair Stacker:  If the water you fish has Caddis, you'll need a hair stacker. This little guy seperates into two parts. You put the hair in, bang it on the desk to align the tips of the (elk) hair and it makes a nice little "wing" for your caddis patterns. It also works with deer hair or any other kind of hair where you need the tips of the hair to be even. Don't spend a fortune as they pretty much all do the same thing. Yes, the ones that aren't exactly round are nice for keeping them on the table( they don't roll) but it isn't necessary to have one, and especially not for the ridiculous prices I see them at today. $20 for a stacker is absurd. Get one for $5 and you'll be just as happy as a beginner. If you're only going to tie mayflies or nymphs or streamers, you can forget the stacker. ( You can always pick it up later if you find fly tying is for you and you want to whip up some caddis patterns)

5. [ # 5 is something you DON'T NEED ] Bodkin - This is the most useless commercially made tool ever invented for fly tying. It's essentially a needle with a handle. Don't spend $5, $10 or more on a Bodkin. Borrow a needle from your wife's sewing kit. If you want a handle, you can make one for it a thousand different ways. Use that $5 - $10 for the next item.

6. Bobbin - Not to be confused with that needle-masquerading-as-a-tool or unarmed British police officers, the Bobbin is what holds the thread. I could tell you a story about my first attempt at fly tying. As a matter of fact I will. In a nutshell, I was 18 and bought a fly tying kit. Unlike the kits of today this one did NOT have all the basic tools I needed and there was no bobbin to hold the thread. I could not figure out how you were supposed to work with enough thread to tie a whole fly, with no way to control 2.5 feet of the stuff. Needless to say I gave up in short order and didn't pick up tying again for about a decade. Get a bobbin with ceramic inserts. They are cheaper than the ones with full ceramic tubes and work just as well. Should run you around $8 - $20. Don't waste money on a $25 bobbin before you even know if you like to tie your own. Later, you can go nuts if you like and spend as much as $100 on a thread holder, although frankly I think that's a total waste of money that could be spent on #7.

7.  Materials: You're going to need something to bind down with that thread you bought, right? In the beginning, don't go nuts. Pick one pattern and try it out. If it's not for you, you won't have wasted $300 on peacock herl or rabbit faces. ( yes, I said rabbit faces) Here's what you need to tie the amazing and all-purpose dry fly called an Adams:

1 box of hooks, size #12
1 package of "adams" colored dry fly dubbing ( the color is..umm...kinda gray/brown)
1 package of Whiting 100's ( enough chicken feathers to tie 100 flies or thereabouts)

Tie a few Adams dries up and see how it goes. Does it seem cool and fun to make your own fishing lures? Are you excited about learning how to do it? Are you interested in making the flies you tie look more like the ones you buy? A yes to any of these questions means you might have found a new and very addictive hobby! A no to any one of them doesn't mean it's not for you, but it may mean that you will only want to tie a few flies every now and then, or only when you need something special for a trip or specific river. (Nothing wrong with that - you don't have to tie 100 flies a week to enjoy fly tying....)

[Note: You'll quickly find that any fly worth it's salt has a myriad of variations that can be easily adapted to your local conditions, ie. the flavor your trout like to munch. This Adams pattern will use the barbs from the chicken feathers(called saddle hackle) on those Whiting(brand) 100's for the tail, saving you from buying any sort of "tailing material" in the beginning. It also won't require you to buy two packs of Whiting 100's, as the brown hackle will do fine in most waters around the country. The real Adams, or at least the version I fish has a brown and a "grizzly" colored hackle in it - but again, to save you money in the beginning, just use the brown and I promise you the fish won't know the difference or care one bit that it's missing the grizzly colored chicken feather. )

8. Hooks. As you can probably guess from #7 there, I recommend you buy one box of 50 hooks in size 12. Mustad hooks are pretty easy to find, and are a good hook for the money. As a matter of fact they are so good, I use them on everything except my "Made in USA" flies.( I use Eagle Claw hooks for those, so that the whole fly is an American made product) Like the thread, the idea is to get enough to test out fly tying before you sink a fortune into it. Luckily, it's a hobby where a starter set of equipment doesn't cost you a month's pay, so use that to your advantage. If you find it's not for you, you'll have more money to put in when you try out something else. Anyhoot, back to hooks...#12 dry fly hooks. Should run you less than $10 for a 50 ct. box. You can even buy cheap panfish hooks at Walmart or somewhere similar if you like( they won't have #12 fly tying hooks, but any small hook will let you practice tying). Just make sure if they are for dry flies that they are light wire and not heavy, bulky or thick. Remember, you're trying out a new hobby - you can always get "the best" later on if you want to spend $15 on 25 hooks. 

9. A "whip finish" tool. Also called a "whip finisher" or "whip finishing tool." This funny looking little gadget will do two things: Secure the thread at the end of the fly tying process, and eliminate the need for a "bodkin" or your home-made needle thingy. There are some uses for "head cement" (tying glue), but with a whip finishing tool, finishing off your average fly isn't one of them. Most tiers I know don't use head cement on the fly head these days, since the whip finisher does such a good job of wrapping things up for a finished fly. It's basically a sort of "auto knot tier" that leaves the head of the fly smooth and tight...two whip finishes at the end and your fly will probably be chewed apart by the fish's teeth before the end knots ever unravel. Do three whip finishes if you really want to be sure. 


[NOTE: the whip finish seems very complicated and the design of the tool makes it look even MORE complicated. In reality, after you've done it a half dozen times, it becomes almost instinctual to use. There are lots of great videos on the internet that can show you how to use this tool, but like most things having someone at a fly shop (or a friend) show you how it's done is easier and almost always better and faster, too.)






So, that's it!


A vise to hold the hook. 
A box of #12's. 
A bobbin to hold the thread.
Good scissors to make cuts of material and thread.
The basic materials for an Adams dry fly.  (you can go even more basic and get just the hooks and some "egg yarn" and tie up some fake salmon eggs for less than the cost of one pack of Whiting 100's)
A whip finish tool. 


Most fly shops offer fly tying classes and sometimes you can even find them at your local community center, college campus, Trout Unlimited clubs or other local fishing clubs. You can also find alot of info on youtube, fly fishing websites,  forums and other internet sites. Like most people who fly fish, most of the folks that tie flies are more than willing to share what they know about the hobby with newcomers. Fly tying is fun, and it's really fun for those of us who do it to teach new folks the in's and out's of the hobby. It's something you can do in bad weather, or when you can't fish that ties you to the sport you love and it also allows you to be creative if you want. There are no "rules" in fly tying so you're left up to your own decisions about what materials to use and how you want your fly to look when it's complete. All in all, it's a great hobby that you can do almost anywhere and the end result is hopefully more fish on your line and a greater enjoyment of the whole fishing process. 


The one thing I will tell you as a warning is this: If your only reason for wanting to tie flies is to "save money" because you know that flies in the fly shop run about $2 a pop, you should just stop thinking about tying right now....because if you get into it and like it - you are not going to "save money." You are going to want (read: "neeeeeeeeeeeeeed") every tool, material, gadget, fur, feather and floss you ever see. You won't save money. No one does. 

But you may find a huge amount of enjoyment in it and that's reason enough to try it out right there.


Oh PS - I almost forgot! If all this sounds like too much trouble and you'd rather not bother with assembling a "kit" on your own, one of my favorite online fly fishing stores is having a sale right now on pre-made kits to get you started: J. Stockard Fly Tying Kits On Sale