Starter fly tying kit

• May 17, 2014

• #1

duckbill

Senior Member

Hey folks. I've decided to finally start tying flies after a lifetime of fishing store-boughts. Money is tight so I need to get started on the cheap.
Cabelas has a kit for $40 that is a travel kit. Anybody familiar with it? Would this be an adequate start up kit? This would just be the tools of course.

Thanks

 

• May 17, 2014

• #2

jigman29

Senior Member

I got a starter kit when I started but I had to buy a lot of stuff to tie the ones I fished with.I would pick a few flies I liked to fish and get what I needed to tie those.You can get a tool kit pretty cheap to start with.

 

• May 17, 2014

• #3

kirby999

Senior Member

Out of the vises I've owned I have two I use , one is an old spring type like this one
http://www.amazon.com/APPALACHIAN-c...qid=1400383969&sr=1-6&keywords=Fly+tying+vise
I think I paid $40 about twenty years ago . It's been a good one . The other is a Griffin Superior 2A , that I bought a base for . This one
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Super...qid=1400384327&sr=1-5&keywords=Fly+tying+vise
. The ones with the lever to clamp the hook The ones I've owned I could never get tight enough to hold the hook without damaging something . Here's one of the spring clamp type by itself
http://www.amazon.com/Agesus-AGS-81..._sbs_sg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1JHKAWSWPCDYC4YKTQRM Kirby

 

• May 19, 2014

• #4

fish hawk

Bass Master

duckbill said:

Hey folks. I've decided to finally start tying flies after a lifetime of fishing store-boughts. Money is tight so I need to get started on the cheap.
Cabelas has a kit for $40 that is a travel kit. Anybody familiar with it? Would this be an adequate start up kit? This would just be the tools of course.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I bought one of those cheap kits and it works just fine for me,although I only tie foam spiders,beetles and such.I've never used one of those high dollar vices so I don't know any different .I'm too cheap to drop that much money on a vice,but I'm sure theres a huge difference if your splitting hairs.On a side note....The only tools I use from the kit is the vice ,bobbin and scissors.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #5

duckbill

Senior Member

fish hawk said:

I bought one of those cheap kits and it works just fine for me,although I only tie foam spiders,beetles and such.I've never used one of those high dollar vices so I don't know any different .I'm too cheap to drop that much money on a vice,but I'm sure theres a huge difference if your splitting hairs.On a side note....The only tools I use from the kit is the vice ,bobbin and scissors.

Click to expand...

That's the other side of the decision. I'm primarily a bluegill/bass fisherman (mostly bluegill). I can't see dropping major coin on a vise and tools at this point.
I just don't want something that's going to irritate me to use. As long as it's functional, I figured a basic setup should be fine.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #6

kirby999

Senior Member

Although you can tie with the entry level vises , the ones I've used frustrated me when the hook would slip . I used them for years before I moved up .
I say go for the Cabelas kit and get your feet wet . All of the lever type are about the same IMO .
I still use the entry level bobbins .
A lot of satisfaction catching fish on something you create yourself . Kirby

 

• May 19, 2014

• #7

duckbill

Senior Member

Kirby
I've been looking at a lot of vices online and they are mostly the lever type. I found one that had 3 different jaws. I wonder if that might help with hook slippage. Fighting with hooks moving would definitely be aggregating.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #8

John I. Shore

Senior Member

I started out with cheap stuff I picked up off Ebay and bought hair and hooks local when I was tying in AK, now that I'm "outside" stuff is plentiful......there are used vises on Ebay today for less than $10.....all you really need to get started is a vise, a thread bobbin, needle, something to cut with.....the rest you can pickup from Bass Pro, Mudhole, or other places.

I do recommend the DVD by Lefty Kreh on tying flies for Bass, it is great.

Good luck with it, let us know how you make out.

John I.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #9

duckbill

Senior Member

Thanks guys. I'm leaning away from the kits. I might buy the Griffin 2A vice.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #10

injun joe

Gone But Not Forgotten

I got a Clearwater kit from Orvis as a gift many years ago. They are about $100 now. It has served me well for what I tie (bream and trout).
With flies being $2 or $3 bucks retail, it doesn't take long to make your money back. As Kirby said, it's a lot of fun to catch them on the fly you made.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #11

duckbill

Senior Member

Just ordered the Griffin 2A. Now to get a bobbin, scissors and some material and thread.
Don't need hackle. I've got a yard full of chickens.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #12

injun joe

Gone But Not Forgotten

Don't forget the pictures after you slay the bream.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #13

B

bronco611

Senior Member

If you have access to a welder get a cheap pair of vice grip long nose pliers and weld a shaft to it and a clamp to the other end of the shaft and walla!!!! Instant fly vice.

 

• May 19, 2014

• #14

W

Win1917

Senior Member

Very inexpensive vises can be found used so there's no reason not to use one but I've seen people tie flies without vises. That set me off on a little kick for awhile tying without a bobbin but that was primitive as I got with it.

IIRC, in the Curtis Creek Manifesto he shows simple directions for making a vice out of a deer antler.

 

• May 20, 2014

• #15

fish hawk

Bass Master

duckbill said:

Just ordered the Griffin 2A. Now to get a bobbin, scissors and some material and thread.
Don't need hackle. I've got a yard full of chickens.

Click to expand...

Arts and craft stores are a great place to pick up materials,cheap.Make sure you get the right thread,I like the 210 denier,it's pretty hard to break,others might like something different,I only buy black.I bought a book called "Tying Flies with Foam Fur and Feathers by Harrison R Steeves III" That gave me some great ideas.

 

• May 22, 2014

• #16

Oak-flat Hunter

Senior Member

Buy You a Renzetti fly tying tool kit along with there vice. and pick up a few fly tying material and have at it. Check out Feather Craft and You will be able too get some good deals.You can also view people fly tying on u-tube. It will help You with the learning curb.Go too utube punch in fly tying videos.Welcome too the brotherhood.

 

• May 24, 2014

• #17

Fire Eater

Senior Member

Bass Pro has a good entry-level vise and accessories for about $40...invest in a good fly-tying dvd - you will learn in minutes what I learned in years.

If you think you are SAVING money tying your flies...one GOOD thing for which roadkill is useful.

 

• May 27, 2014

• #18

Bitteroot

Polar Bear Moderator

A yard full of chickens works pretty good on some flies...but if your tying tiny... spend a few buck on the Whitting feathers only for the size your tying....I find it much more useful than buying a whole cape.