fly tying kits

[pn]

G'day everyone,
I was wondering whether anybody could help me with some info on fly tying kits. I have been fly fishing for the past 5 years but i have never really got into tying the flies, I have tied a couple but i want to get a large collection going. I fish mainly Windamere Dam but i want to mainly get saltwater flies. Should i buy all the peices separate or should i go for the kit, any info would be great

pn

[Muzzy]

Vids are good I got to see lefty do his stuff on one and that helped heaps.

Cant give an experts angle but for me I would try and tie clowsers first. as they are simple and effective and incorparate lead eyes flash etc that we do in fly tying.

To tie a clowser you need two different colours of hair one normally being white. The most popular hair and prehaps the best to learn with is Bucktail. So if ya bought your self say one white and one light gree buck tails, a pack of flashabo or sparkle flash, some flatwax nylon thread and bobbin. A pack of lead eyes and some hooks. You should be able to tie up a few flies to learn the mechanics of it all i.e. whip finishing, ading glue, folding flash etc etc. Then once ya have the mechanics of it then prehaps buy thr more complete kit. For when I started tying waste was the biggest factor reduce that its cheaper and better.

Then say go from a clowser to the deciever then pink thing and progress on like that.

remember to walk before running and you will win.

just my angle not gospil and far from expert...

[Rosso]

Well lets see...

Personally, the kits won't give you everything you'll need. Sooner or later you will need to go out and buy something that wasn't included...

Also i don't know about the quality of the vise. I have two vices now. A cheap one that holds hooks from about 6 and above. But it broke.

Now i have a nice new one from Talon and it holds anything from a 6 down to 18 (thats the hooks i have used so far anyway) It will probably hold all the others, i just haven't got around to tying them yet :-)

Hope this helps.

Rosso.

[stephen_t]

A friend of mine bought me a basic fly tying kit contained a basic vice,small scissors, bobbin. that was all I started with. I jumped on the net and found this site because I wanted to tie was a clouser. http://www.tie1on.net/clouser.htm

I went down to the local tackle shop tackle warehouse picked the colours I had used before(shop made) and followed the instructions, halfway through the first fly I did realise I needed a few extra tools whip finisher & hackle pliers.to make it a bit easier later on. http://www.tie1on.net/tools.htm

at the moment this is all I have and it does the job for me. I like looking around at shows, on the net & shops for different colours schemes.
I have not lone started it does the trick for me and there is something about catching a fish on you own tied fly...got ta love it

I hope I could help a little

cheers
stephen http://www.ausfish.com.au/chat/images/smilies/cwm1.gif

[Steve_Ooi]

First consider the size of flies your going to be tying and get a vice that will suit these needs, while there some nice cheap one around , make sure these won't fail you when it come to holding a decent hook, ask to try the vice hook holding strength in the shop with different sizes of hook try the largest you'll be using and the smallest.
learning to whip finish with your hand is a good idea as well, is a lot quicker on larger flies.
look for a rotary vice of some kind it will make life/tying a lot easier.
Scissors can be a lot cheaper ,and better if you buy them from a craft shop, while in the craft shop have a look at some of the items around that can be used for fly tying, it will save you a fortune as compared to fishing shop prices,( eyes, glues , threads, foam and so on).
When buying material , try to learn the difference between quality, although every packet of brand x bucktail may be priced the same the quality may not be.
learning the difference between good and bad quality , it will save you money, and it will make your flies a lot better too.
joining a fly club is one of the best ways to increase your fly tying ability and knowledge , with a few mates you can split the cost of materials and buy in bulk as well.

Poony

[troutstalker]

In my opoinion, flytying kits suck and are a waste of money. a Regal will hold any hook you can dream of and at a price tag of 140$, its a steal.Anvil makes fine scissors and make sure your bobbins are ceramic.