Books
It's all been written down! There's nothing new in fly tying, you just need
to find the right Books! Check out my Fly
Tying Book Recommendations!
Vises and other Tools
Vises are one of the bigger decisions for the beginning tyer. The first thing
you should do is check out the brilliant article by Hans Weilenmann and Bruce
Salzburg (The Best Vises).
This is a great piece of work, and they've been updating it as new designs come
out. At a minimum, read the review of the vises you are most interested in!
That being said, some of the local guys have picked up some of the more
modest vises, so I figured I'd get some photos and list them on The
Vise Page. Of course,
along with our collective opinions!
Minimalist Fly Tying Kit
What if you didn't want to tie a whole bunch of different flies, you just
wanted to tie one or two patterns? What would be the minimum kit necessary to
accomplish that? For instance, if you wanted to tie flies on an airplane? Check
out my discussion here.
Here's how to use my Gap-A-Matic 3000,
the amazing salmon fly proportioning device. OK, "device" is maybe too strong a word...
And maybe "amazing" is a bit on the excessive side, too...
Whip Finishers.
I think you all know my opinion on whip finishing.
Just do it. Stop whining about half-hitches being just as good, etc., etc. Just
do it. We've taught young boys and girls to do this in minutes.
Buying a whip finisher. Just buy the Matarelli.
Note that I didn't say Matarelli-style. Get the real thing. There's a
difference, really. Save your time and money and don't mess with anything else.
(I am seldom adamant about tools, books, etc., but this is just a weird thing.
You can buy a half-priced knock-off, and while it works, it's just not as smooth
- the slightest bit clunky. Multiply the 0.375 seconds you waste, times the
50,000 flies in a life time, and buying that expensive Matarelli is a great
investment!)
As an aside to the above paragraph, I still don't think that a tool that
simple could show that much difference between the knock-off and the real thing,
but it's true. Take a look at this photo
of the knock off on the left, and the real thing on the right. It has everything
to do with the weight and finishing of the hook end, as well as the dimple in
the folded bar. In addition, the "bearings" in a Matarelli (or the
hole in the handle) fit the shaft better. The Matarelli will spin for several
seconds if you spin it, while the knock off will wobble just for a second. This
translates into a smoother wrap. I'm not making this up.
Here is a page that has some links to various videos (many of them "not
so great") and I also scanned the Matarelli instruction sheet.
Magazines
Personally, I go back and forth on magazines. Every time the renewal card
comes in, I ask myself, "Did I get $19.95 of value from this over the last
year?" It shouldn't be a hard question, but sometimes I can't answer in the
affirmative! Right now I just subscribe to two magazines:
Fly Tyer Magazine. A US based quarterly.
Fly Dresser. The Journal of the UK Fly
Dresser's Guild
Both of these are nothing but fly tying. I can recommend them both.
Websites
Hit the "Up" button, go back to the Favorites
page, and check out the links there!
Stuff
OK, Materials. Where do I get stuff? My first advice is always, "Right
down the street." Support your local fly shop. For us, that means Sam's
Sporting Goods in Keene or Brattleboro, Pelletier's in Jaffrey, and Frenchy's
Fly Shop in Keene. None of these guys have really exhaustive supplies of
anything, but they may get you by in a pinch.
So where's the
best place to get stuff online?
Hook and Hackle. I like these guys.
They are famous for providing good value for money, on mid-ranged stuff.
Although, I see they are now carrying Dyna-King and Regal vises which raises the
bar quite a bit. Also, hook charts, fly tying tips, etc.
Stone River Outfitters.
You can shop online, or drive to Bedford. All very high quality stuff. They
occasionally have a deal or two in their store. The new fly tying section is
quite nice, but at least an hour away for most of us.
Cabela's. Good selections of mid-range
to higher-class stuff.
Orvis. What can I say? Hard not to like
Orvis, but I think the fly tying supplies here have gone downhill for every one
of the 25 years I've lived out here. I'm afraid it's all about women's clothing
now. Still, worth the trip just to watch the trout feed. If you don't want to
drive up to Manchester, check the site.
Techniques
Not that I'm a wizard at any of this stuff, but I have written a few things
down. I will put them up here as they come up.
Thread Control
A major roadblock for some of my students. They just can't seem to get the
idea of what it takes to get their thread to behave. I decided to write down
everything I knew about thread control and pass it along. Of course, that wasn't
good enough, so to make it more concise I did it in Haiku form. You can see my work
here
Deer Hair
Deer hair spinning is a lot of fun, but can make you crazy. Here's everything
I know about deer hair. It's a short list.
Bet You Can't Tie Just One
Well, you shouldn't, anyway... Here are my thoughts
on why you should tie lots of flies.
All About Leaky Waders
Well, I didn't say it was going be techniques about just fly tying. Here's
how I fixed my perforated waders.
