Flies,    Underground's Best

More Shocking Proof of Drug Abuse by Fly Fishing Writers

By Tom Chandler 12/27/2006

Save money tying your own flies?

That's the hilarious contention of John McCoy (staff writer for the Charleston Gazette), and I wonder if his employer shouldn't immediately administer a drug test - lest John suffer another drug-induced flashback.

I gaze at the piles of expensive fly tying materials, expensive hackles, machined HMH vise, chemically sharpened hooks and several-lifetimes-supply of hen necks cluttering my office and wonder what our friend John has been smoking.

fly tying vise HMH
My HMH vise. Ticket to savings, or expensive tool of obsession?

He recounts the high price of flies - and his amusing solution:

A relatively inexpensive answer to this problem is to learn to tie flies. Thirty years ago, when I started fly fishing, I couldn't afford to buy rods and reels and flies too, so I learned to tie. I've done it ever since.

It's difficult to estimate how much money I've saved, but I'll try.

Let me try for you. I'd have to tie flies from now until people started making dinner reservations for their 2999 New Year's Eve celebration to recoup the investment I've made in tools and materials.

And frankly, I'm an underachiever compared to the likes of Noted Pack Rat Dave Roberts, who recently built a whole new extension onto his house so he could warehouse his er.... "extensive" collection of materials.

(When the apocalypse comes and fly tying materials disappear from our nuclear-ravaged landscape, I'm heading right for Dave's house.)

And there are plenty of people who consider him an underachiever.

So how about it? Is anyone saving money tying their own flies. Or are we spending scads of money for the privilege of getting them exactly the way we want 'em...?

fly tying, hmh, flies, fly fishing


AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

18 comments
It takes a while for experience to show itself, but it truly happens when you realize that the pattern which calls for the underiside of a young male red squirrel while it's being fed by its ovulating mother...in September, will do perfectly well by taking the lint from your belly button! And it will!
0
0
It's remarkable that - with all the bargain fly sources available online - I've yet to hear a fly shop owner complain about a dip in fly sales. (They might be experiencing such a thing, but they aren't necessarily complaining about it.)If only someone sold Beetle Bugs...
0
0
I can buy wholesale flies for $4.50 a dozen (average) tied by skilled tiers with years of experience. The mark up the shops are charging is extortionate.....and they source them (most often) from the same suppliers. Tie your own from a satisfaction viewpoint but avoid jungle cock which at over a $100 a cape means you need to put a lot of fish on the table......
0
0
I like to take advantage of my extensive rifle collection to gather materials for tying. I have more partridge and rabbit that I could ever use, as well as other various critters from over the years. Come to think of it, the money i've spent on gas, food, and beer to go on these hunting trips is probably in the thousands of dollars. All to sit in a dark basement with a PBR, tying with the sweet sounds ... more of Hank Williams JR. in the background.
0
0
John: You're in denial. Admitting the existence of the problem is the first step.
0
0
I saved a fortune tying my own fly's, that's what I tell myself anyway.....a fortune.
0
0
Honestly, tying does save me money vs. filling my fly boxes with roughly the same store-bought flies. I've probably spent about $300 on fly tying stuff including my tools and my Orvis tying reference. And that's only about 200 flies at retail. I've got about that many between the wife's and my fly boxes right now. And I've cycled through quite a few along the way. But I tie to fish. And I am a tying ... more minimalist.
0
0
Genius!
0
0
An upside down parachute? White wing post? You just tied a lactating emerger...
0
0
Will, Yes, the upside down flies do work...and I can't express how much that fact aggravates me! I refuse to fish with a fly that lands upside down, even when it's working. Here's an interesting thought though. I wonder if that upside down parachute mimics some aquatic life form? If so, I could purposefully tie some up for landing upside down. Then I'd feel ok catching fish on them. But then they'd ... more probably land right side up (which would then be the wrong side up I guess), they'd still catch fish, and I still couldn't feel happy about it! Such is my life...I'm the Charlie Browniest fly fisherman. But hey, at least I'll be catching fish either way and that's worth something I guess. Take care, hawgdaddy
0
0
There's just too much here to easily respond to. As usual, KBarton wins the "hot tea out my nose" award, and just in case he's not kidding, we forwarded his name to the local anti-drug authorities. I'm sure he won't mind. It's interesting that I have to immediately purchase materials for every exotic pattern I see - despite the fact that I've pretty much settled on a small handful of patterns for ... more 90% of my fishing. Cognitive dissonance rears its ugly head once again...
0
0
Hawgdaddy - do the upside-down Adams Parachutes work?
0
0
I've spent a much greater amount of money on fly tying than I would ever have spent by buying flies. If I see a fly that looks good to me, I have to immediately buy the materials to tie it, whether or not I will ever need it, practically speaking. The fly tying is totally out of hand. I'm not even very good at it, barely capable of crafting a useful parachute adams, most of which seem to land upside ... more down no matter what adjustments I make, and yet I refuse to purchase a better made one. I'm pathetic. I've got more materials that I would ever be able to use given my very limited tying time. I don't even save money on beer because I drink a lot of it when tying flies, and I rarely visit bars. Come to think of it, maybe that's why my flies aren't so great :) If my wife ever leaves me, it will no doubt be because of fly tying or fly fishing in general. hawgdaddy
0
0
It saves me money in that, on the rare occassions I do tie, I am at home drinking beer from a six pack that costs five dollars total, rather than drinking a five-dollar beer at the local bar.
0
0
Oh yes and I must not be able to spell my own name. That's what I get for trying to multi-task.
0
0
Tom, I would love to have the money back that I have spent on materials I have never used over the years. I did once have the good fortune to meet a fly shop owner who needed some advertising materials, for which he paid me in items from his inventory. As for the present day I tie only a few flies that can't be bought and purchase the rest online for around $7.35 a dozen. It's hard to take the time ... more and materials to tie a dry fly for .61 each. I do enjoy tying but it is hard to find the time and I'm not really that good at it. I also buy some $2.50 flies each year from the local shops just be a good consumer.
0
0
I am not an addict to tying materials, I save thousands tying my own fly's and make money tying, mostly when my fellow fishers run out of the fly's they need and I have a full box and they start out a 5 bucks a piece on the water in the middle of a good hatch. I don't hord materials. All those 200+ box's are just to fill the wall up. But if Kbarton10 has any Bustard left please give me a call. Got ... more to get back it the room and save more money at the vise its 3:30 AM and I need to tye. David
0
0
Tom, You might be right. But I think that the whole tying endeavor comes closer to paying for itself than any other "hobby." This is especially true when one considers that WT originals are, in some circles, considered priceless. That's what I hear anyways. WT
0
0

Discover Your Own Fishing and Hunting Adventures

With top destinations, guided trips, outfitters and guides, and river reports, you have everything you need.