Beautiful flies vs. Not So Beautiful

[Tom Nakashima]

I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well tied,
but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted. I
recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly, but they were
near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never fished with
beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a difference in
appearance to trout?
-tom

[Peter A. Collin]

Tom Nakashima wrote:
> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well tied,
> but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
> thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted. I
> recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly, but they were
> near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never fished with
> beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a difference in
> appearance to trout?
> -tom
>
>
Less important than its looks are how it performs in the water. What I
mean is, do the dry flies float? Are their wings upright in the correct
position? Do the streamers sink properly, right side up, and retain
that attitude when stripped in, rather than spinning? Do the nymphs
sink right side up? Do they sink at the proper rate? Are the hooks
strong and sharp? Can the fly take many strikes before falling apart?
You can have a ratty looking fly that catches them fine.

Peter Collin

[Ken Fortenberry]

Tom Nakashima wrote:
> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well tied,
> but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
> thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted. I
> recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly, but they were
> near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never fished with
> beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a difference in
> appearance to trout?

I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.
A lot depends on how picky the fish are at the time you're
fishing for them. Sometimes they'll take just about anything,
other times they want exactly the right size and color.

In a commercial tie one way to judge quality is by how long
the fly lasts. If one fish trashes it so bad it becomes unusable
it doesn't take long for the 55 cent flies to become more
expensive than the buck/buck fifty flies I usually buy. If I
spend $2.80 for a fly I'll put it under glass and frame it. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

[Tom Nakashima]

"Ken Fortenberry" > wrote in message
. net...
> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well
>> tied, but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly,
>> which I thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I
>> wanted. I recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly,
>> but they were near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never
>> fished with beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a
>> difference in appearance to trout?
>
> I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
> lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
> that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.
> A lot depends on how picky the fish are at the time you're
> fishing for them. Sometimes they'll take just about anything,
> other times they want exactly the right size and color.
>
> In a commercial tie one way to judge quality is by how long
> the fly lasts. If one fish trashes it so bad it becomes unusable
> it doesn't take long for the 55 cent flies to become more
> expensive than the buck/buck fifty flies I usually buy. If I
> spend $2.80 for a fly I'll put it under glass and frame it. ;-)
>
> --
> Ken Fortenberry

Ken, I think Peter gave me a lot to think about when he wrote:

> Less important than its looks are how it performs in the water. What I
mean is, do the dry flies float? Are their wings upright in the correct
position? Do the streamers sink properly, right side up, and retain
that attitude when stripped in, rather than spinning? Do the nymphs
sink right side up? Do they sink at the proper rate? Are the hooks
strong and sharp? Can the fly take many strikes before falling apart?
>You can have a ratty looking fly that catches them fine.
>Peter Collin

Ken to answer your question about how your quite not sure how a fly could be
aesthetically lacking and well tied at the same time. The flies I purchased
are well tied in that they won't come apart when I cast, but as I said they
look good enough to match the pattern, but they're not aesthetically
pleasing as in the $2.80 flies that I've seen. Peter brought up a good
point when he mentioned, can the fly take many strikes before falling apart?
I am looking forward to finding out.
-tom

[briansfly]

Peter A. Collin wrote:
> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>
>> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well
>> tied, but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly,
>> which I thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the
>> patterns I wanted. I recently saw some very nice tied patterns at
>> $2.80 per fly, but they were near perfect and very aesthetically
>> pleasing. I've never fished with beautiful flies before, but was
>> wondering if they do make a difference in appearance to trout?
>> -tom
>>
> Less important than its looks are how it performs in the water. What I
> mean is, do the dry flies float? Are their wings upright in the correct
> position? Do the streamers sink properly, right side up, and retain
> that attitude when stripped in, rather than spinning? Do the nymphs
> sink right side up? Do they sink at the proper rate? Are the hooks
> strong and sharp? Can the fly take many strikes before falling apart?
> You can have a ratty looking fly that catches them fine.
>
> Peter Collin

Exactly. I've bought my share of cheap flies, and with few exceptions,
they were not worth the money I supposedly saved. Hoppers didn't float.
Traditional dries didn't float, or ride on their sides. Some nymphs
would just fall apart. I now have a small handful of places I order
flies from. Price varies, but I can get a good quality fly for around a
buck. Anything in the 50 cent range, I don't bother with anymore.

On the appearance subject, I would say it makes a difference. I mean why
would all these fly fisher people spend countless hours, and money,
trying to match the bugs trout eat. ;-) Example, I like narrow, tightly
dubbed(or biot)bodies on my mayfly patterns(dries). I think it gives a
better, more realistic silhouette. Compare a cheap fly, to a fly shop
quality fly, and you'll see a noticeable difference. It might not matter
to some fish, but if you run into selective fish, i'd rather have a good
imitation.

JMHO
brians

[Tom Nakashima]

"Peter A. Collin" > wrote in message
...
> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well
>> tied, but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly,
>> which I thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I
>> wanted. I recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly,
>> but they were near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never
>> fished with beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a
>> difference in appearance to trout?
>> -tom
> Less important than its looks are how it performs in the water. What I
> mean is, do the dry flies float? Are their wings upright in the correct
> position? Do the streamers sink properly, right side up, and retain that
> attitude when stripped in, rather than spinning? Do the nymphs sink right
> side up? Do they sink at the proper rate? Are the hooks strong and
> sharp? Can the fly take many strikes before falling apart? You can have a
> ratty looking fly that catches them fine.
>
> Peter Collin

Peter, you seem to be very knowledge about fly-ties. You made me think
about things I haven't heard before or read in a book. Never knew about
nymphs sinking right side up, thought it didn't matter. If you can think of
other valuable information about flies, I'm always willing to listen and
learn.
thanks,
-tom

[rw]

Tom Nakashima wrote:
> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well tied,
> but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
> thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted. I
> recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly, but they were
> near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never fished with
> beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a difference in
> appearance to trout?
> -tom

What I'd be suspicious of in a 55-cent fly is the quality of the hook.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

[Dave LaCourse]

On Tue, 2 May 2006 13:07:17 -0700, "Tom Nakashima"
> wrote:

>I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well tied,
>but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
>thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted. I
>recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly, but they were
>near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never fished with
>beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a difference in
>appearance to trout?
>-tom
>

A fly shop two towns over from me went out of business several years
ago. I knew the guy that ran it and jumped at the chance to buy some
of the "realistic" flies that he had for sale. I bought a bunch of
them for about $0.75 apiece, and some Water Wisp flies for about the
same amount. I was so very pleased in my purchase of these flies and
couldn't wait to try them on my favorite stream.

Long story short: The Water Wisp flies were absolutely useless.
Never had a rise to them *all season*. The realistic flies did not
perform any better that the hack jobs that *I* tie. So, I can say
from experience that it ain't what they look like necessarily.

I believe presentation is the key to successful fly fishing,
regardless the discipline (nymphing, wets, dries, streamers).

I once caught a 20 inch land locked salmon that had a fly in its jaw.
I removed it and put it on my patch. About an hour later I tied on
that fly and took fish after fish after fish. The fly was beat up
beyond recognition at the end of that day. It became my "lucky fly",
and I only used it when I was getting skunked. It *never* failed. I
eventually lost it to a fish that beat me, and I regret to this day
that I did not reverse engineer the fly to see how it was tied. I
have tied similar ones, but nothing that had the success of that fly.

Dave

[Charles Crolley]

On Tue, 02 May 2006 20:43:35 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
> wrote:


>
>I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
>lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
>that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.

I admit to tying a couple of really crappy files that took many fish.
They were wooly-buggers on a size 12, and I guess, in my
late-Saturday-drunken-stupor I didn't get everything quite right, and
after the first fish the hackle, then the chenille, then damn near
everything else started unravelling. But I caught about a half-dozen
nice fish.

Then tied on a beautifully tied wooly, same color, same everything,
and nada. Go figger.

[Wolfgang]

"Ken Fortenberry" > wrote in message
. net...

> I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
> lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
> that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.....

Leading one to wonder how it is that some folks expect others to understand
what they say when they are themselves absolutely clueless. :)

Wolfgang

[Larry L]

Tom Nakashima wrote:
I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
> thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted.
> -tom

Tom,
I suggest you take up fly tying. It will cost you a LOT more for
flies, so don't think otherwise <G> and there's a good chance your
flies will be pretty shoddy at first :-), but tying is what changed
"another way to fish" into a true passion for me, personally..

I know you practice casting at lunch and spend WAY too much time in fly
shops <G> ... you just strike me as a guy that should roll his own.
FWIW, it's not the flies one ties that make the difference, it's all
the study that tying leads to and encourages that adds so very much to
the hobby of fly fishing.

[jeffc]

"Wolfgang" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ken Fortenberry" > wrote in message
> . net...
>
>> I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
>> lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
>> that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.....
>
> Leading one to wonder how it is that some folks expect others to
> understand what they say when they are themselves absolutely clueless.
> :)

It's funny to think back that you two were once lovers.

[[email protected]]

On Wed, 03 May 2006 03:16:25 GMT, "jeffc" > wrote:

>
>"Wolfgang" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> "Ken Fortenberry" > wrote in message
>> . net...
>>
>>> I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
>>> lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
>>> that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.....
>>
>> Leading one to wonder how it is that some folks expect others to
>> understand what they say when they are themselves absolutely clueless.
>> :)
>
>It's funny to think back that you two were once lovers.

Funny? Mindbogglingly, scare-little-kids, make-Hugh-Hefner-celibate,
blind-weaker-souls, and I-just-had-some-pizza-with-anchovies-you
-sick-twisted-mother****er nauseating, yes...funny, no...jeezus
motherofmercy God in heaven lord all mighty, I'd rather have wayno
describe how hot he got watching Louie doing the lambada to "YMCA"...
while I was watching a video of Scott getting dressed for, um,
fishing...

[Wolfgang]

"jeffc" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Wolfgang" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Ken Fortenberry" > wrote in message
>> . net...
>>
>>> I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
>>> lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
>>> that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.....
>>
>> Leading one to wonder how it is that some folks expect others to
>> understand what they say when they are themselves absolutely clueless. :)
>
> It's funny to think back that you two were once lovers.

Even funnier to reflect that you were once a witless frat boy with a grossly
inflated sense of his own humanity......and nothing has changed.

Wolfgang

[BJ Conner]

Long ago and far away my brother use to catch trout in the McCloud
with a fly called the "lucky strike"
It was made from the foil and the red cellophane "zipper" on a luck
stike cigarette package. Ugly as hell and you were lucky if it lasted
two fish. You could tie another one with the hook still on you line.

[Sprattoo]

"Tom Nakashima" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Peter A. Collin" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>>> I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well
>>> tied, but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly,
>>> which I thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns
>>> I wanted. I recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly,
>>> but they were near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never
>>> fished with beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a
>>> difference in appearance to trout?
>>> -tom
>> Less important than its looks are how it performs in the water. What I
>> mean is, do the dry flies float? Are their wings upright in the correct
>> position? Do the streamers sink properly, right side up, and retain that
>> attitude when stripped in, rather than spinning? Do the nymphs sink
>> right side up? Do they sink at the proper rate? Are the hooks strong
>> and sharp? Can the fly take many strikes before falling apart? You can
>> have a ratty looking fly that catches them fine.
>>
>> Peter Collin
>
> Peter, you seem to be very knowledge about fly-ties. You made me think
> about things I haven't heard before or read in a book. Never knew about
> nymphs sinking right side up, thought it didn't matter. If you can think
> of other valuable information about flies, I'm always willing to listen
> and learn.
> thanks,
> -tom
>

I sell cheap flies online.
Although my fishing experience is limited. I know it took me a L-O-T of work
to find a cheap overseas supplier who wasn't supplying me in crap.
I would say 95% of the time the cheap flies are crap. I got in samples from
a number of different tying houses and was about to give up when I bought my
website.
I was just going to start ordering from Rumpf and selling their flies...
even if the competition in the high price range was tough.

In a last ditch effort to find a decent tier and a number of angry Africans
steaming at the idea that they sent me samples and i refused to order. I
blindly sent a bunch of money into Kenya to a tying house that made some big
promises. I hit the jackpot!

The other flies that I got would unravel after snapping them off the ground
a couple of times. and like mentioned before bodies were a bit loose and
many would twist up my line on the casts. The wulffs i got weren't thickly
packed and the deer spinning on many muddlers weren't tightly packed.

My story with finding cheap flies and getting quality is a rarity. Before
doing this I would either tie myself (which weren't always the most
professional while I was learning a new pattern) or buy them from a guy who
owned a fly shop nearby and I'd pay like $2.00 to $5.00 per fly.

From reading around, I am pretty sure both of you guys (Peter and Tom) are
more experienced fly fishermen than i am, but I think it can be hit or miss
with cheap flies.
On the opposite hand though, I bought some size 14 blue Duns (2 flies for
$3.50) from Dick's that were REALLY lousy. So even the expensive ones don't
always work out.

I am currently working on a way to pop out a bunch of free samples to folks
on my customers list. If you guys want, just email me and I'll add you in to
try to get you a couple of freebees to see why I like this tier I have now.

The only draw back to my site is that I only order once per month instead of
sitting on 20,000 dozen flies to send out orders immediately. Not everyone
can wait a month or so to get their flies.

I still hop down to the flyshop down the street to see what the local tiers
are doing and grab a few flies I don't want to wait for or tie myself.
Once you find a good quality supplier anywhere... it's like gold no matter
what the price.


--
flies from $5.60 per DOZEN!
Rods/Reels and Gear
www.fly-fishing-flies.com

[Sprattoo]

"Dave LaCourse" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 2 May 2006 13:07:17 -0700, "Tom Nakashima"
> > wrote:
>
>>I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well
>>tied,
>>but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
>>thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted.
>>I
>>recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly, but they were
>>near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never fished with
>>beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a difference in
>>appearance to trout?
>>-tom
>>
>
> A fly shop two towns over from me went out of business several years
> ago. I knew the guy that ran it and jumped at the chance to buy some
> of the "realistic" flies that he had for sale. I bought a bunch of
> them for about $0.75 apiece, and some Water Wisp flies for about the
> same amount. I was so very pleased in my purchase of these flies and
> couldn't wait to try them on my favorite stream.
>
> Long story short: The Water Wisp flies were absolutely useless.
> Never had a rise to them *all season*. The realistic flies did not
> perform any better that the hack jobs that *I* tie. So, I can say
> from experience that it ain't what they look like necessarily.
>
> I believe presentation is the key to successful fly fishing,
> regardless the discipline (nymphing, wets, dries, streamers).
>
> I once caught a 20 inch land locked salmon that had a fly in its jaw.
> I removed it and put it on my patch. About an hour later I tied on
> that fly and took fish after fish after fish. The fly was beat up
> beyond recognition at the end of that day. It became my "lucky fly",
> and I only used it when I was getting skunked. It *never* failed. I
> eventually lost it to a fish that beat me, and I regret to this day
> that I did not reverse engineer the fly to see how it was tied. I
> have tied similar ones, but nothing that had the success of that fly.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>

There used to be an olde salmon and trout fisherman who lived next door to
me on Stanley Pond in Hiram, Maine when I was a kid. He would go out and buy
Mickey Fins and some other types of bucktail streamers ( I was only like 12
or 13 at the time), bring them home and start plucking out some of the
bucktail with tweezers, thinning them down and generally roughing them up.
He swore that flies needed to be weathered and a bit thinned to work
properly.

Maybe thats what happened to your lucky fly. After being chewed on a bit by
the fish and catching all those others... it was thinned enough to imitate
something the fish recognized.

--
flies from $5.60 per DOZEN!
Rods/Reels and Gear
www.fly-fishing-flies.com

[Sprattoo]

"Larry L" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Tom Nakashima wrote:
> I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
>> thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted.
>> -tom
>
> Tom,
> I suggest you take up fly tying. It will cost you a LOT more for
> flies, so don't think otherwise <G> and there's a good chance your
> flies will be pretty shoddy at first :-), but tying is what changed
> "another way to fish" into a true passion for me, personally..
>
> I know you practice casting at lunch and spend WAY too much time in fly
> shops <G> ... you just strike me as a guy that should roll his own.
> FWIW, it's not the flies one ties that make the difference, it's all
> the study that tying leads to and encourages that adds so very much to
> the hobby of fly fishing.
>

for sure. Even though my flies that I tie myself don't look so perfect and
get kind of screwy... It's 10 times more exciting and satisfying to pull in
a fish on your own creation than someone elses.

likewise when I crash an R/C plane i built myself from balsa sticks, Its 10
times more painful to watch than one I just bought ready to fly.

[Vaghan Hurry]

Tom Nakashima wrote:

> The answer is, and this may sound funny, but It's pretty hard for me to sit
> in one place for a long period of time. This is what I do at work, which is
> why I practice my casting on my break and at lunch. I think I would go nuts
> learning the craft of tying, although I'm very much interested in the
> aquatic side of fly-fishing and can recite fly-patterns in my sleep..."guess
> I'm hooked". Pretty sad when your wife asked you the next morning what a
> parachute adams is? When I do see perfectly hand tied flies, I'm in envy.
> Perhaps one of these days I'll start tying, but after I retire.

Tom,
I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and too
short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my birthday
several years ago and I took to it immediately. I don't say I am good at
it but I enjoy tying flies very much, not as much as fishing them but it
is still a decent excuse for a hobby, especially in the winter. It wont
save you money though, I now have a room full of stuff and routinely
carry more flies than any sane man needs. Still, give it a try, you
might be surprised.

/Vaughan

[Tom Nakashima]

"Vaghan Hurry" > wrote in message
...
> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>
>> The answer is, and this may sound funny, but It's pretty hard for me to
>> sit in one place for a long period of time. This is what I do at work,
>> which is why I practice my casting on my break and at lunch. I think I
>> would go nuts learning the craft of tying, although I'm very much
>> interested in the aquatic side of fly-fishing and can recite fly-patterns
>> in my sleep..."guess I'm hooked". Pretty sad when your wife asked you the
>> next morning what a parachute adams is? When I do see perfectly hand
>> tied flies, I'm in envy. Perhaps one of these days I'll start tying, but
>> after I retire.
>
> Tom,
> I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and too
> short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my birthday several
> years ago and I took to it immediately. I don't say I am good at it but I
> enjoy tying flies very much, not as much as fishing them but it is still a
> decent excuse for a hobby, especially in the winter. It wont save you
> money though, I now have a room full of stuff and routinely carry more
> flies than any sane man needs. Still, give it a try, you might be
> surprised.
>
> /Vaughan
>

Good one Vaughan, I enjoyed reading.
I'm also going to forward this one over to my wife...
I think if a fly-tying kit was there, I would use it, just hard right at
this moment to justify buying one.
-tom

[Scott Seidman]

"Tom Nakashima" > wrote in
:

>
> "Vaghan Hurry" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>>
>>> The answer is, and this may sound funny, but It's pretty hard for me
>>> to sit in one place for a long period of time. This is what I do at
>>> work, which is why I practice my casting on my break and at lunch. I
>>> think I would go nuts learning the craft of tying, although I'm very
>>> much interested in the aquatic side of fly-fishing and can recite
>>> fly-patterns in my sleep..."guess I'm hooked". Pretty sad when your
>>> wife asked you the next morning what a parachute adams is? When I
>>> do see perfectly hand tied flies, I'm in envy. Perhaps one of these
>>> days I'll start tying, but after I retire.
>>
>> Tom,
>> I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and
>> too short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my birthday
>> several years ago and I took to it immediately. I don't say I am good
>> at it but I enjoy tying flies very much, not as much as fishing them
>> but it is still a decent excuse for a hobby, especially in the
>> winter. It wont save you money though, I now have a room full of
>> stuff and routinely carry more flies than any sane man needs. Still,
>> give it a try, you might be surprised.
>>
>> /Vaughan
>>
>
> Good one Vaughan, I enjoyed reading.
> I'm also going to forward this one over to my wife...
> I think if a fly-tying kit was there, I would use it, just hard right
> at this moment to justify buying one.
> -tom
>
>
>

A fly tying kit can be a wonderful introduction to the hobby, valuable in
and of itself, but often the kit ends up entirely replaced before too
long. The typical advice is to get a reasonable vise, scissors, and
materials to tie the two or three first flies you'd like to tie-- Wooly
Bugger, Adams, and gold-ribbed Hare's Ear would prove a nice starting
point, but YMMV.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

[Tim J.]

Tom Nakashima typed:
> "Vaghan Hurry" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Tom Nakashima wrote:
>>
>>> The answer is, and this may sound funny, but It's pretty hard for
>>> me to sit in one place for a long period of time. This is what I do
>>> at work, which is why I practice my casting on my break and at
>>> lunch. I think I would go nuts learning the craft of tying,
>>> although I'm very much interested in the aquatic side of
>>> fly-fishing and can recite fly-patterns in my sleep..."guess I'm
>>> hooked". Pretty sad when your wife asked you the next morning what
>>> a parachute adams is? When I do see perfectly hand tied flies, I'm
>>> in envy. Perhaps one of these days I'll start tying, but after I
>>> retire.
>>
>> Tom,
>> I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and
>> too short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my
>> birthday several years ago and I took to it immediately. I don't say
>> I am good at it but I enjoy tying flies very much, not as much as
>> fishing them but it is still a decent excuse for a hobby, especially
>> in the winter. It wont save you money though, I now have a room full
>> of stuff and routinely carry more flies than any sane man needs.
>> Still, give it a try, you might be surprised.
>
> Good one Vaughan, I enjoyed reading.
> I'm also going to forward this one over to my wife...
> I think if a fly-tying kit was there, I would use it, just hard right
> at this moment to justify buying one.

As Vaughn said, there's really no way to cost-justify getting into tying.
The hobby becomes soothing and satisfying after you get past that
break-every-feather-and-thread phase. Now I work with a combination of flies
I've tied, flies I've bought, and swap flies. For the most part, the ones I
buy and get in swaps are much better looking than the self-made flies,
although I surprise myself from time to time.
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

[Tom Nakashima]

"Tim J." > wrote in message
...
> Tom Nakashima typed:
>> "Vaghan Hurry" > wrote in message
>> ...

>>> Tom,
>>> I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and
>>> too short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my
>>> birthday several years ago and I took to it immediately. I don't say
>>> I am good at it but I enjoy tying flies very much, not as much as
>>> fishing them but it is still a decent excuse for a hobby, especially
>>> in the winter. It wont save you money though, I now have a room full
>>> of stuff and routinely carry more flies than any sane man needs.
>>> Still, give it a try, you might be surprised.
>>
>> Good one Vaughan, I enjoyed reading.
>> I'm also going to forward this one over to my wife...
>> I think if a fly-tying kit was there, I would use it, just hard right
>> at this moment to justify buying one.
>
> As Vaughn said, there's really no way to cost-justify getting into tying.
> The hobby becomes soothing and satisfying after you get past that
> break-every-feather-and-thread phase. Now I work with a combination of
> flies I've tied, flies I've bought, and swap flies. For the most part, the
> ones I buy and get in swaps are much better looking than the self-made
> flies, although I surprise myself from time to time.
> --
> TL,
> Tim
> -------------------------
> http://css.sbcma.com/timj

I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.
I know everyone's dexterity and hand to eye coordination is different,
but on the average, how long before you feel comfortable tying flies?
Has anyone ever said; They don't want to tie flies anymore?
-tom

[BJ Conner]

I would suggest starting with one pattern. The advantage is to
minimize the material you buy. Lots of tyers have boxes and boxes of
crap they never use. If you have a vise, three baggies of feathers
and a couple of spools of thread you can tie a couple anywhere. If you
master a half dozen patterns you should take care of 90% of your
fishing.

Tom Nakashima wrote:
> "Larry L" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Tom Nakashima wrote:
> > I've paid 55 cents per fly, which I
> >> thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I wanted.
> >> -tom
> >
> > Tom,
> > I suggest you take up fly tying. It will cost you a LOT more for
> > flies, so don't think otherwise <G> and there's a good chance your
> > flies will be pretty shoddy at first :-), but tying is what changed
> > "another way to fish" into a true passion for me, personally..
> >
> > I know you practice casting at lunch and spend WAY too much time in fly
> > shops <G> ... you just strike me as a guy that should roll his own.
> > FWIW, it's not the flies one ties that make the difference, it's all
> > the study that tying leads to and encourages that adds so very much to
> > the hobby of fly fishing.
> >
>
> Yes, I've been thinking about tying my own for quite awhile now. One of the
> questions I'm usually asked in fly-fishing is; "Do you tie your own flies?"
> When I answer "No" their question is followed by; "why not?"
> The answer is, and this may sound funny, but It's pretty hard for me to sit
> in one place for a long period of time. This is what I do at work, which is
> why I practice my casting on my break and at lunch. I think I would go nuts
> learning the craft of tying, although I'm very much interested in the
> aquatic side of fly-fishing and can recite fly-patterns in my sleep..."guess
> I'm hooked". Pretty sad when your wife asked you the next morning what a
> parachute adams is? When I do see perfectly hand tied flies, I'm in envy.
> Perhaps one of these days I'll start tying, but after I retire.
>
> Agree once a week in fly-shops is excessive, especially when we don't talk
> about fly-fishing. I've made some good friends in the shops and I could
> tell they're happy to see me when I walk in, although I hardly ever buy
> anything....go figure.
> -tom

[Charlie Choc]

On Thu, 4 May 2006 09:05:32 -0700, "Tom Nakashima" >
wrote:

>I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.
>I know everyone's dexterity and hand to eye coordination is different,
>but on the average, how long before you feel comfortable tying flies?

It depends on what you're tying, but I was able to tie 'fishable' flies after
only a few tries on a fairly simple pattern (GRHE was the first I tried, IIRC).
I'm not sure I've ever tied a beautiful fly, though.

>Has anyone ever said; They don't want to tie flies anymore?

Sort of. I don't tie very many trout flies smaller than size 12 or 14 these
days, mostly due to close up vision problems as I get older. I still tie most of
my sal****er patterns and the larger freshwater ones, though.
--
Charlie...
http://www.chocphoto.com

[Conan The Librarian]

Tom Nakashima wrote:

> I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.
> I know everyone's dexterity and hand to eye coordination is different,
> but on the average, how long before you feel comfortable tying flies?

Obviously, everyone's mileage will vary, and a lot dpends on the
types of flies you are tying. I'd say that I got fairly comfortable
tying flies after a couple of months at it. (Given that being
comfortable is not the same as being good at it.) But even after tying
for a few years now, I still look at some of the stuff that comes from
my vise and shudder.

One good way to improve your skills dramatically is to just
concentrate on one or two flies (or types of flies) that you know you'll
use and tie a lot of them. As you start to get better, you'll see that
the first ones you tied don't look so good. But that's what razorblades
are for.

Then enter a flyswap. You'll get pretty good when you have to tie
20+ of a particular fly that you are going to send off to strangers. :-)

> Has anyone ever said; They don't want to tie flies anymore?

Yes, usually right after finishing tying the flies for a flyswap. ;-)

Seriously, tying, fishing and catching with your own flies is a
treat. I still buy some patterns (humpies, for instance; I just can't
seem to get them right), but it's nice to be able to re-stock your box
overnight, or experiment with little variations on standard patterns.


Chuck Vance

[Tim J.]

Tom Nakashima typed:
> "Tim J." > wrote in message
> ...
>> Tom Nakashima typed:
>>> "Vaghan Hurry" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>
>>>> Tom,
>>>> I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and
>>>> too short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my
>>>> birthday several years ago and I took to it immediately. I don't
>>>> say I am good at it but I enjoy tying flies very much, not as much
>>>> as fishing them but it is still a decent excuse for a hobby,
>>>> especially in the winter. It wont save you money though, I now
>>>> have a room full of stuff and routinely carry more flies than any
>>>> sane man needs. Still, give it a try, you might be surprised.
>>>
>>> Good one Vaughan, I enjoyed reading.
>>> I'm also going to forward this one over to my wife...
>>> I think if a fly-tying kit was there, I would use it, just hard
>>> right at this moment to justify buying one.
>>
>> As Vaughn said, there's really no way to cost-justify getting into
>> tying. The hobby becomes soothing and satisfying after you get past
>> that break-every-feather-and-thread phase. Now I work with a
>> combination of flies I've tied, flies I've bought, and swap flies.
>> For the most part, the ones I buy and get in swaps are much better
>> looking than the self-made flies, although I surprise myself from
>> time to time.
>
> I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.
> I know everyone's dexterity and hand to eye coordination is different,
> but on the average, how long before you feel comfortable tying flies?

Chuck has it pegged pretty well, IME.

> Has anyone ever said; They don't want to tie flies anymore?

I don't tie as many as I used to, but still enjoy it when I do tie. It also
makes a good excuse to drink porto and scotch with friends.
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

[[email protected]]

On Thu, 4 May 2006 09:05:32 -0700, "Tom Nakashima"
> wrote:

>I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.


turn back now .... while you still have some cash :-)
Harry

troutflies com

[Wayne Harrison]

> wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 4 May 2006 09:05:32 -0700, "Tom Nakashima"
> > wrote:
>
>>I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.
>
>
> turn back now .... while you still have some cash :-)
> Harry


hilarious; and so altruistic, to boot.

yfitons
wayno

[[email protected]]

beauty has a similar relationship to women and girlfriends too,
don't you think:

.....not at all essential, but nice.

[Dave Mohnsen]

"Tom Nakashima" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Tim J." > wrote in message
> ...
>> Tom Nakashima typed:
>>> "Vaghan Hurry" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>
>>>> Tom,
>>>> I also thought I would never tie flies - fingers are too clumsy and
>>>> too short tempered but the wife bought me a basic kit for my
>>>> birthday several years ago and I took to it immediately.
(stuff snipped)
Tim wrote:
>> As Vaughn said, there's really no way to cost-justify getting into tying.
>> The hobby becomes soothing and satisfying after you get past that
>> break-every-feather-and-thread phase.

Tom wrote:
> I'm getting more interested in tying as I read these post.
> I know everyone's dexterity and hand to eye coordination is different,
> but on the average, how long before you feel comfortable tying flies?
> Has anyone ever said; They don't want to tie flies anymore?

Hi Tom,
Good advice from some folks here about trying it.
I've been tying for over 30 years or so fairly actively. Also had a little
kit as a kid. . .tied a few. All could catch fish.
What is important to me is the technique for different styles. When I used
to teach this stuff I had 4 sessions, first with a woolly buuger and the
last with a Royal Wulff.
(twelve different patterns total)
As far as being comfortable, the folks attending classes had the most
anxiety with the first fly. After the basics they were having more fun.
I'd recommend taking a class to see if it suits you. ( and they should
provide everything)
DaveMohnsen
Denver

[[email protected]]

RE> a fly called the "lucky strike"

And what was it LSMFT stood for?
Something about "loose straps" or "let's stop"
.....I can't remember.