Threads, Yarns, Chenille, Hooks - What To Buy?

[DaddyO]

I have a question for the Brain Trust of Fly Tying Gentlemen of this Forum.

I am venturing into the craft of Fly Tying and I want to make sure that I have an adequate supply of material and the proper tools to begin. My uncle sold me his Renzetti Traveler Vise (never used and still in the bubble wrap) and all the materials and tools that he had for $100. It wasn't a lot of material, so, I've been researching Threads, Hooks, Yarns, etc... I'm even more confused now than I was when I started.

In the past posts that I have read, you Gentlemen have listed some of the flies that you think should be stock "go to" flies for the waters listed on this forum. My question is, what materials do I need to purchase to tie all of these flies?

At this point, I don't kow 6/0 from 3/0. I have looked at a lot of the Fly Recipes on the forum as well as other boards. I've also watched a lot of youtube fly tying videos. So, naively, I think that I'm ready to begin. I just need you guys to point me in the right direction regarding material and any other "sage advice" you want to share.

Thanks in advance.

[Jeremy Hunt]

Welcome to the tying world!

It can be a little confusing at first. The best thing to do is start learning basic one, two step patterns and buy according to what those patterns recipes call for. There’s a few rules that “I” myself think are really important that will help you down the road. One would be, don’t substitute hooks for some other ones that are different then the pattern. Two would be, buy good materials right from the start. Your flies will turn out nicer in the long run.

About tying thread, I have about everything you can think of and I use it all. The most common ones are Uni-thread and UTC. They both have there advantages. I use Uni-thread if I’m building flies where you can’t see the thread wraps. I use UTC for thread body flies because it’s a floss thread that flattens when wrapped around the hook shank. There’s a lot of other threads, but you can get away with those for the most part.

The size thread in Uni would be from small to large, 8/0 ( 72 denier polyester ), 6/0 ( 135 denier and 3/0 (180 denier). The 8/0 is used for small flies or tiny dries (18 or smaller). The 6/0 is used for tying flies a little bigger in the 16-10 hook size. The 3/0 is used mostly for streamers like wooly buggers etc.

UTC stands for Ultra Thread Company started by Wapsi about 5 years ago. It goes 70, 140, 210 and 280 denier. The 70 is recommended for flies ranging from 14-32. The 140 is best used for 14-6. Those will be the most used out of the four sizes. If tying flies from 4-1/0 the other two sizes( 210, 280 ) would be best.

And of course GSP in size 50 for egg patterns. Brass wire in sizes sm, br and med. I would buy all the basic colors in all the threads. In Uni- thread I use red, brown, olive, black, gray, rusty brown, white, rusty dun, light cahill, camel, and olive dun. UTC I would get red, black, white, tan, olive, olive green, brown, gray, brown olive and all the fluorescent colors.

Hope this helps you out. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I’ll do the best I can to answer them.

[Danoinark]

Boy, now that is a question that can fill a book....

First, don't start tying to save money.

If you are a first time tier I would suggest just buy the material for the first fly you intend to tie.

For instance the zebra midge. You would need a package of hooks. You can get them in quantities of 25, 50 and 100. Buy quality forged hooks. I like Mustad because I think you get a quality hook for an lower price. (There will be lots of comments on what brand others prefer.)

You will need some beads, either tungsten or brass (tungsten cost more, but its said the sink rank is faster, tungsten is heavier). Threads; I prefer UTC. Get sizes 70 and 140. 70 for real small flies, size 18 and smaller, and 140 for size say 16 and larger. Danville is also an excellent thread in sizes 6/0 for average size flies and 8/0 for smaller ones. For the zebra you will also need some small silver, gold, or copper wire.

Black Zebra, size 18

I use scud hooks

black utc 70 denier thread

small silver wire

silver tungsten bead 1.5mm

size 16, I would use a silver tung bead 2mm

Coat the entire fly in Sally Hansens for sheen and durability.

My point is buy the material that you need for the fly you want to tie, excluding fly tying kits.

I find them overly stocked with items you will never need.

Its amazing how quickly you will accumulate the material you need by doing it this way.

Instead of head cement which is nothing but a lacquer (wood working, etc) that in that little bottle is worth about 97 cents but sold at 5 times that cost as HEAD CEMENT.

I use Sally Hanson's Hard As Nails available in any ladies cosmetic dept.

Good luck on your new hobby. Its rewarding to catch fish on your own ties and can be therapeutic. Keep us updated on your venture.

Dano

[Danoinark]

Looks like Jeremy and I posted bout the same time....He's an expert so listen to him..

Dano

[Jeremy Hunt]

Funny Dano. As soon as I posted I saw you posting yours. You hit on some good pointers about hooks and glue. Of course there's so many opinions about tying materials.

I use Tiemco SP-BL in any hook I can get it in. And I LOVE the new Klink-hamer ( flash point ) by Partridge. A little costly, but what a hook point. Glue you mentioned is great. I use it to, but one I would recommend to everyone is Gloss Coat. You can order it already in a Wapsi applicator bottle. It doesn’t cinch into the thread. It acts like a epoxy that molds around the thread creating durability and makes the thread head look good all at the same time. My theory on water vs. glue is water will always win eventually and wear out head cement the quickest. Because of the drying around the thread it will take alot longer for the water to penetrate through the gloss coat. Believe it or not, I talked Wapsi into putting this in a applicator bottle because I bugged Eric so much on how much I liked it. I used to go to Wapsi and have Eric mix it up for me and put it in bottles for me.

Hooks to me are one of the most important things about a fly. I’ve lost numbers of big fish on poor quality hooks. I won’t mention any, but if you know you might have a chance on hooking a big fish, make sure you have a hook hone to sharpen it before you make that cast. I ALWAYS sharpen my hooks every time I go fishing. Over the years of fishing, it has convinced me to do this.

Here’s a couple of recent browns I caught on the White and Norfork. And I believe the only way I hooked one of them was because I sharpened my hook. I didn’t get a good hook set, but the hook was so sharp, it did the trick.

[DaddyO]

Looks like Jeremy and I posted bout the same time....He's an expert so listen to him..

Dano

Good advice from both of you Gents. Thanks!!

[Terry Beeson]

I have a question for the Brain Trust of Fly Tying Gentlemen of this Forum.

Apparently Jeremy and Dano didn't read the "Brain Trust" and "Gentlemen" part of your question.... sheesh....

No... both are right on. And OK... pretty much part of the brain trust. The gentleman part is still up for debate....

I think it's like anything else we tend to get into. You'll buy a few basic materials for what you want to tie, then you'll go to the fly shop and think "Dang I bet that would make a nice color for that fly" or "Wow, I like how that dubbing looks better than the other dubbing I have" or "What was it (insert any fly tying mentor name here) told me I needed for that great fly I saw?" and soon you'll find that Michael, Tim, Phil, and the other guys are all moving into big multi-million dollar masions and smokin' Cuban cigars and flyin' their private Lear Jets to exotic fly fishing locations because of all the money you've spent on 50 lifetime supplies of fly tying material.

But ya gotta have all that stuff....

And if you tell my wife otherwise, I'll burn your house down....

But, really... you've got some good advice so far. Can't offer anything more.

[DaddyO]

Terry,

You crack me up.

Believe it or not, my wife actually called me at work and told me that either I was going to get the fly tying stuff or she was going to do it for me. Her advice was for me to do it instead of her. I said, "Oh...Baby. Twist my arm a little harder." You gotta love a woman like that.

Now, I've been up almost every night researching all of the stuff!!! I'm feeling somewhat sleep deprived!

I've watched so many youtube videos on fly tying that I'm having dreams about it now. I even understood instructions from Zach Bearden on one of his Flies.

I haven't even tied my first fly and I'm already thinking, "I need some of that and that and that and oooh look at that shiny stuff. I got to have some of that too!!"

[duckydoty]

Yep, DaddyO, you got the bug. It is definately too late for you and there aint no turning back now. Welcome to the world of fly tying!

duckydoty

[duckydoty]

If you get the chance check out flytyingforum.com. Lots of good info and videos on there.