Basic Fly Tying...........

The mechanics of tying your own flies can seem somewhat daunting to the novice, but dont be fooled many fly patterns can be tied with a few basic skills and materials. I have to say speaking personally catching a fish on a fly tied by my own fair hand is extremely rewarding and worth the effort, so i have tried to set out a rough guide to the basics of fly tying in this blog. Please note at this point that i dont claim to be an officianardo i tie purely for my own pleasure and im sure others will tie in a diiferent manner with a different opinion. Later this week i will tie a pheasant tailed nymph step by step and post it here for anyone who is interested. This is a great all rounder and has accounted for many of my trout.

Vice

A simple sturdy vice of around a tenner will be sufficient for the beginner to fly tying, brand names dont matter the fish dont know what vice the fly was tied on after all, however it will be the most important part of your kit so if you can afford a better one then fine. An adjustable vice is the best type so that the hook can be held firmly and easily moved around without having to adjust your own body position.

Tools

Quite simply a thread bobbin used for holding threads,wires and tinsels, a dubbing needle, hackle pliers, sharp scissors, and a whipping tool will be the ideal tool kit to begin, as you advance you can add wing holders, different types of scisssors, hair holders, the list is endless.

Varnishes

Again there are many types and colours to use and they vary greatly in price, i use veniard black and clear varnishes, but i know of other tiers who use sally hansen nail varnish on their flies to give(excuse the pun) better head. The varnish is a critical part of any fly as it gives the finish to the head of the fly as well as holding it all together.

Materials

Also in this section the list is endless depending very much on what you want to tie, i personally have a collection of materials weird and wonderfull which i will probably never use its a bit like "eye of newt & leg of toad" at times. I would suggest some decent threads, tinsel, fritz, hares ear, dubbing(this can be bought in packs of colours) and some other bits and pieces such as beads and wires.

Books

If you can afford one a book on basic patterns and techniques is invaluable when learning to tie your own flies, many tiers go on to develope their own style of tying and almost everyone will tie their own pattern at some point.

I will post some other tips this week including advice on hooks and how to mount them in a vice correctly, starting a fly the whip which finishes most flies off and some pictures of the tools mentioned above, i hope you enjoy reading this and will try to tie some of the patterns i post, thanks for reading (if you still are )

thanks for that its now stuck :D

Well I'm not into fluff chucking but that was interesting and I look forward to reading more on the subject!