Free Fly Tying Materials

Do you know where you can get free fly tying materials? Probably the biggest complaint I hear from fly tying beginners is the cost of materials and fly tying tools. They read the books, watch the videos and are given a list items that they must have to start tying flies.

Fly tying has been done for hundreds of years, do you think the first person to create his own flies went down to the local fly shop and bought everything he needed to tie that perfect nymph, caddis or wolly bugger? No, the first fisherman had to rely on nature to provide many of the materials needed to tie his flies. He didn’t go buy a brand new rotary vice or flashy box set of fly tying tools. He made the tools he needed and improvised with what he had on hand.

Nothing has changed in the world of fly tying. You can still do this today. Have you looked at how basic most of the fly tying tools are made? Many if not all of them can be produced with a little thinking outside of the box for far less than the highly expensive name brand fly tying tools sold in most shops and magazines.

Now back to the original question. Do you know where to get free fly tying materials? Guess what its hunting season. If you’re not an avid hunter yourself go to your local pub and hook up with someone who is. Most hunters will be happy to give you squirrel tails, deer tails and feathers from all types of game birds. Hmm, maybe that’s how the fishermen got started tying flies in the first place. There was a time in history where sportsmen didn’t want to waste any part of a kill so they found ways to utilized fur, feathers, and antlers. Fly tiers wanting free fly tying materials should take this same approach and utilize what is already wasted in many cases.

Ok, the hair, fur, feathers and other materials might not be an exact match to what the fly tying book tells you to use, but with a little dye, trimming and creative thinking you can make them work fairly easily. So next time you head out to the store to buy an expensive pack of fly tying materials think twice, because there are plenty of free alternatives lying around being wasted.

Fly Fishing Equipment Clearance Everywhere

I spent yesterday afternoon running around town doing a bit of shopping to replace some of my older fly fishing equipment. I couldn't believe the amount of fly fishing rods and reels I found already marked down on clearance. I ended up buying two new fly rods, a fly reel and a new pair of wading shoes. I looks like the stores are marking down fly fishing equipment early this year and getting ready for the hunting season. If you are a fly fishing beginner looking for bargins this is a good time of year to snatch up some really cheap fly fishing rods and reels.

In my area the bargins were especailly prevelant as the stores have started stocking more fly fishing gear during the spring. It seems fly fishng in my town has started gaining popularity. The number of fly fishing items on clearance means they were either over priced early in the season or that they overestimated the numbers when they placed their fly fishing equipment orders. Either way it really paid off for me. I'm not much for buying new fly fishing gear every year but I always take advantage of clearance prices to replace fly line, leaders, tippets and other regular fly fishing equipment. Check your local shops you might find some real bargins too.

Dont over look the tying supplies if you think you'd like to get started tying flies over the winter or need to replace existing equipment.

Fly Tying For Beginners | Fly Tying Video

I know ive neglected to cover much about fly tying and learning how to tie flies in the developement of this blog. But I do have a full time job and keeping regular posts that have some value to both the fly fishing beginner and fly tier has been difficult. In previous posts I discussed the various tools required for fly tying and a list of basic fly tying materials. Over the last few weeks I've been looking for ways to bring more fly tying for beginner related material into my fly fishing for beginners coverage. I have been fortunate enought to find a whole series of free fly tying video lessons that anyone can follow along and master fly tying.
This first video is about tying a "Buzzer" Tying the Buzzer requires a fly tying vise, fly hook sz 10-12, scissors, bobbin holder, black fly tying thread , medium silver wire, fly tying varnish, and a needle or bodkin to apply the fly tying varnish. I hope you enjoy the video and learn as much as I did. This is one of the easiest flies to start with as a beginning fly tier.



Most all of the components required for this fly tying lesson are available in most beginner fly tying kits, including the fly vise, scissors, fly tying materials and hooks. If you don't already have the necessary fly tying materials you might consider shopping ebay for a nice used fly tying kit or inexpensive beginners fly tying kit.