Basic Fly Tying Equipment

Basic Fly Tying Equipment – Fly tying is a very easy and satisfying thing to do and it can be made more complicated than necessary, by the fly tying beginner not knowing what fly tying equipment to buy and being daunted by all the different fly tying materials and tools that look very unusual. However, you only really need a few basic fly tying items to successfully tie more than 100 different flies and colour combinations, but from the beginning you need to have the right fly tools and more importantly fly tying basic skills on which to build your foundations! Click more to see the rest and a video

I know fly tying is an art, I have been doing it for 30+ years and I am still learning new flies and as with everything in life, new items appear on the market, that open up different options for the fly tying fans young and old. There are even competitions for the best tied fly and the most unusual fly, etc, but that is considered the top end of fly tying and not really what I am about, don’t get me wrong, a well tied mayfly is a joy to behold, but I would rather tie a few dozen different flies.

You tend to find that fly fishermen/women (including me!) tie flies that they have seen someone else catch on or have bought a good looking fly from the fishing shop and caught a few fish on. In both case I rush home after fishing and get to my vice to tie a few of the flies for my box ready for my next adventure. I always tie more than I am going to use as I always give a few flies away at the water’s edge, if I get asked what I am catching on, I show the person (even though they should be asking how deep I am…but that’s another story) and always give them a few of my flies, because I remember when I was young and went fishing on my own, the older guys always looked after me and gave me loads of flies!

So on to the basic equipment required for fly tying; you will need a basic vice, hooks, bobbin holder (or darn spinner as my Grandad use to call it), whipping tool and a very good pair of scissors, then only a few materials (next video). Out of all the parts of the equipment I have just listed, you would be best to spend more money on a good quality pair of scissors. You will find that there are lots and lots of different pieces of equipment that you can buy, but don’t get put off, just buy the few things I have listed and along with a few materials you can make many many different flies.;

Below you can see a video I have done to show the basic equipment required to start to tie a fly.

Any comments or suggestions, please contact me!