Personal economics of fly tying

I tie the vast majority of the flies I use (maybe 90-95% or so).
In large part, though, that's because I already have a lot of
money invested in tools, hooks and materials. Being frugal by
nature, as well as unemployed at the moment g, I believe it
would be unacceptably wasteful to let all that stuff sit there
while I went out and spent money on flies.

That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

For one thing, having tied, I'm now a far better judge of what
makes a well-made trout fly. Even if I stopped tying, I think
I'd still forever be a more discriminating consumer of flies. In
the end, that's perhaps the greatest profit I've had from
learning to tie in the first place.

- JR

JR wrote:
I tie the vast majority of the flies I use (maybe 90-95% or so).
In large part, though, that's because I already have a lot of
money invested in tools, hooks and materials. Being frugal by
nature, as well as unemployed at the moment g, I believe it
would be unacceptably wasteful to let all that stuff sit there
while I went out and spent money on flies.

That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

For one thing, having tied, I'm now a far better judge of what
makes a well-made trout fly. Even if I stopped tying, I think
I'd still forever be a more discriminating consumer of flies. In
the end, that's perhaps the greatest profit I've had from
learning to tie in the first place.

- JR


If I had all the money in the world, I would still tie. I have a
creative streak that needs to be satisfied!

Peter Collin

JR wrote:
That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

Oddly enough, I seem to be of the opposite persuasion on this issue.
If I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably tie more. For me,
the economics is that of time. I like tying; but I don't have the
time to do it enough; consequently, I pretty much suck at it except for
some basic patterns & skills. If I had the disposable income, I'd
buy my lunch, buy my home repairs, and buy my own auto maintenance,
giving me more time to tie my own flies.

I don't know how to describe it, but tying is another extension of my
attitude toward the sport. One of my best fishing experiences was
catching a nice fish on I fly I designed using a rod I custom built.
Yeah, I can buy flies; I can buy rods; I can pay a guide to tie up my
rig and point me to the best spot; but at some point, I may as well
just go to a store and buy fish. I need to tie flies to feel a part of
the whole Zen thing.

Joe F.

JR wrote:

I tie the vast majority of the flies I use (maybe 90-95% or so).
In large part, though, that's because I already have a lot of
money invested in tools, hooks and materials. Being frugal by
nature, as well as unemployed at the moment g, I believe it
would be unacceptably wasteful to let all that stuff sit there
while I went out and spent money on flies.

That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

I doubt I'd ever give up tying. There's just something satisfying
about catching a fish on a fly you've tied. Plus, you can make minor
variations to suit yourself that you'd never get from commercially-tied
flies. (Heck, I make minor variations even when I'm trying to make them
all the same. :-)

To say nothing about playing around at the vise and coming up with
"new" flies.


Chuck Vance (and the fact that it's simply an enjoyable pastime;
grab a beer, put on some music and lose yourself in it for an hour or two)

rb608 typed:
JR wrote:
That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

Oddly enough, I seem to be of the opposite persuasion on this issue.
If I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably tie more. For me,
the economics is that of time. I like tying; but I don't have the
time to do it enough; consequently, I pretty much suck at it except
for some basic patterns & skills. If I had the disposable income, I'd
buy my lunch, buy my home repairs, and buy my own auto maintenance,
giving me more time to tie my own flies.

I don't know how to describe it, but tying is another extension of my
attitude toward the sport. One of my best fishing experiences was
catching a nice fish on I fly I designed using a rod I custom built.
Yeah, I can buy flies; I can buy rods; I can pay a guide to tie up my
rig and point me to the best spot; but at some point, I may as well
just go to a store and buy fish. I need to tie flies to feel a part
of the whole Zen thing.

That's my take on this subject, too. I'd love to build my own rods given the
spare time, but I doubt they'd be any better than the store-bought variety
and there really isn't a great economic incentive. My flies most *certainly*
can't hold a candle to the ones I can buy from Harry troutflies.com, but,
IMHO, the Zen thingy figures into all that is fly fishing.
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:28:45 -0700, JR wrote:

I tie the vast majority of the flies I use (maybe 90-95% or so).
In large part, though, that's because I already have a lot of
money invested in tools, hooks and materials. Being frugal by
nature, as well as unemployed at the moment g, I believe it
would be unacceptably wasteful to let all that stuff sit there
while I went out and spent money on flies.

That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

For one thing, having tied, I'm now a far better judge of what
makes a well-made trout fly. Even if I stopped tying, I think
I'd still forever be a more discriminating consumer of flies. In
the end, that's perhaps the greatest profit I've had from
learning to tie in the first place.

- JR



Sounds like you thought that tying your own flies would save you
money......:-)

"JR" wrote

In
the end, that's perhaps the greatest profit I've had from
learning to tie in the first place.



Seems to me that by defining tying as a "should do" to save money you risk,
actually nearly insist on, undermining the "want to."

Few people like to do "should dos" and "must dos" nearly as well as "want to
dos" ... it's called human nature G

Try tying the flies you want to, buying the ones you don't want to tie, and
removing all obligation and "work-like" duty from the decision of which is
which. You just might find the list of "want tos" growing if you remove
the "have to."

Larry L wrote:

Few people like to do "should dos" and "must dos" nearly as well as "want to
dos" ... it's called human nature G

Well, I *want* to want to do it, but just your implication that I
*should* want to do it makes me, well, you know......

Try tying the flies you want to, buying the ones you don't want to tie, and
removing all obligation and "work-like" duty from the decision of which is
which.

Been there, done that, of course. I'm not really asking for
advice, just stating the situation. I liked tying; I enjoyed it
a lot. For years and years. All of the things folks have said:
learning and honing the skills.... the special feeling of
catching a fish on a fly you tie, on a pattern you invent.....
learning and working with the various materials.... etc., I've
had all of that and gotten a lot out of it.... it *did* add to my
understanding and enjoyment of the sport.

Now, though, I just don't enjoy it much anymore, whether it's
tying of a few flies for tomorrow's outing or stocking up during
the winter. I enjoy other uses of my time more.

And it's not that I'm trying to "save money." (Too late for that
g). In fact, saving money was never among the reasons I
started to tie.

But having *already* spent the money..... morally, I'm stuck. I
suppose to me trying to save money and trying not to be downright
wasteful are different things.

"JR" wrote in message ...
Larry L wrote:

Few people like to do "should dos" and "must dos" nearly as well as "want
to dos" ... it's called human nature G

Well, I *want* to want to do it, but just your implication that I
*should* want to do it makes me, well, you know......

Try tying the flies you want to, buying the ones you don't want to tie,
and removing all obligation and "work-like" duty from the decision of
which is which.

Been there, done that, of course. I'm not really asking for
advice, just stating the situation. I liked tying; I enjoyed it
a lot. For years and years. All of the things folks have said:
learning and honing the skills.... the special feeling of
catching a fish on a fly you tie, on a pattern you invent.....
learning and working with the various materials.... etc., I've
had all of that and gotten a lot out of it.... it *did* add to my
understanding and enjoyment of the sport.

Now, though, I just don't enjoy it much anymore, whether it's
tying of a few flies for tomorrow's outing or stocking up during
the winter. I enjoy other uses of my time more.

And it's not that I'm trying to "save money." (Too late for that
g). In fact, saving money was never among the reasons I
started to tie.

But having *already* spent the money..... morally, I'm stuck. I
suppose to me trying to save money and trying not to be downright
wasteful are different things.








JR:

I completely understand what you are saying (which is not the case in a lot
of the replies!!)

To escape the moral dilemma, I gave all of my supplies to the guy I started
buying my flies from. He gets a pile of stuff, some of which is hard to
find anymore, and I get a deal on flies.

For me, a decrease in my vision took me to other pursuits and away from the
tieing bench. Frankly, while at one time I thought it integral to my
fishing experience, I really don't miss it much. Took up the guitar
instead......doesn't take great up close vision and I can sing the blues
when I don't catch fish.

Fly tying is great for those who enjoy doing it.

We don't recommend tying flies to save money. Many buy all that 'stuff',
take the classes and then just still buy them because they don't have time.

Most could have more fun working at Home Depot, a Porn Shop or REI part time
and then buying them.

About 95% of the fly fishers in the USA buy their flies.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Bait-n-tackle

New Orleans, LA

Web site: www.we-suck.com


"JR" wrote in message ...

I tie the vast majority of the flies I use (maybe 90-95% or so).
In large part, though, that's because I already have a lot of
money invested in tools, hooks and materials. Being frugal by
nature, as well as unemployed at the moment g, I believe it
would be unacceptably wasteful to let all that stuff sit there
while I went out and spent money on flies.

That said, if I came into a fortune tomorrow, I'd probably give
away all my tying stuff and never tie again..... and not feel I
was any worse off as a fly fisherman.

For one thing, having tied, I'm now a far better judge of what
makes a well-made trout fly. Even if I stopped tying, I think
I'd still forever be a more discriminating consumer of flies. In
the end, that's perhaps the greatest profit I've had from
learning to tie in the first place.

- JR