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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
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George, their prices are pretty good compared to the local shops!
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
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George, their prices are pretty good compared to the local shops! Warning! Fly tying can become addictive – don’t say that I didn’t warn you! I told you to purchase flies – don’t even think about tyin! I’m a dummy and didn’t listen – got hooked with first fly I learned to tie! Charlie Cypert’s Mylar Minnow! All I needed was an inexpensive Cabelas tyin’ vise and couple of tools, some mylar braid from JoAnn’s fabric store and some Mrs. G’s yarn and I was hooked! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! George http://texasriverbum.com/tying-the-super-cypret-minnowhttp://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/2610787/Re_Jig_Hook_Mylar_Minnow
N.E. Texas 2 acre and 1/4 acre ponds Original george #173 (22 June 2002)
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,801 Likes: 69 |
George
Cabelas and other outlets offer many fly tying "kits" and the choices are pretty confusing to newbies. It might be helpful to provide a list of bare essentials to get started and an approximate price your experience dictates one should expect to spend. It's so easy to go overboard and pay for stuff a beginner doesn't need.
Can you provide some links to examples of:
Vice - do you prefer clamp on or stand up model? Light Is magnifier important? Hook brand recommendation Good ideas for basic starting materials [thread, hackle, etc.] Other tools necessary [bobbin, thread [size/color?], scissors, etc.]
If there is a solid kit of good quality you could recommend, that would be helpful. Thanks in advance, George!
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 754 Likes: 1 |
The latest sale flyer this week from BassPro actually has an either/or clamp and some other tools or a materials type kits on sale for 25.00 each. I think I'll try to cast before I get into it too far.
It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance? Ronald Reagan _______________ The good Brian
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,794 |
TJ, that’s really a good question - there’s a bunch of PB folks interested in that question. I believe that you are hiding your “light under a bushel” and can contribute to this subject as well as me - I know that Al, Dusty and others can contribute as well. I am an old fashioned “use it up, make it do, wear it out guy .. For starters, I don’t like “kits” - I started tying bucktail jigs many years before flies with a clamp on Cabelas Master vise, a spool of nylon thread, bobbin and inexpensive scissors. Served me well and still use som of the same stuff, but upgraded as time went on. George Cabelas and other outlets offer many fly tying "kits" and the choices are pretty confusing to newbies. It might be helpful to provide a list of bare essentials to get started and an approximate price your experience dictates one should expect to spend. It's so easy to go overboard and pay for stuff a beginner doesn't need.
Can you provide some links to examples of: Vice - do you prefer clamp on or stand up model?Clamp-on if desk or table handy – otherwise stand up if heavy pricy base. Light – Desk light.. Is magnifier important?Large flies no – small flies yes.. Hook brand recommendation“It All Depends” on size and style of fly Good ideas for basic starting materials [thread, hackle, etc.]I like Danville’s Flat Waxed Nylon for large flies and Danville’s Flymaster thread (the larger the number, the smaller the thred) Feathers (hackle) fur, synthetics – too numerous to list – I use “roadkill/hunterkill when can find it. Other tools necessary [bobbin, thread [size/color?], scissors, etc.] If there s a solid kit of good quality you could recommend, that would be helpful.I normally don’t like kits but other may. Here’s a list of stuff from Cabelas – Bass Pro likely similar. Cabela's Master Vise - $29.99 Cabela's Bobbin - $3.99 Bobbin Threader -$2.19 Small Fiskers scissors –~$12.00 About $50.00 bucks for a start but $50,00 bucks will buy a lot of flies Don’t buy a bunch of stuff to start with – lots of stuff from Craft and Fabric Stores – Hobby lobby has lot of foam and feathers Some of this stuff most folks have around the house – keep it simple. Learn Lefty Kreh’s hand whip finish method. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqT33lzdirYOK, Al, Dusty and others – HELP…….
N.E. Texas 2 acre and 1/4 acre ponds Original george #173 (22 June 2002)
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Joined: Feb 2011
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Moderator
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I started with one of those $39 all-in-one Cabelas kits. It came with most everything to get started but a hair stacker, but that's not a necessity for sure.
I quickly figured out the non-rotating vice wasn't the easiest way to tie flies, so I got a Peak for around $150, and I've been very happy with it. I just can't see ever spending the money for a Dyna-King or a Renzetti. They're very, very nice, but we are talking about pond fish here.
What I did spend a little extra on was a Griffin ceramic bobbin. It's around $13 and it helps keep me from fraying thread.
Fly tying thread? Uni or Danville are both good and about the same cost. I usually only keep red, black, and white. A magic marker can do wonders if you're inclined to change colors.
As far as tools, I've tried them all including Dr. Slick, and I use stainless steel surgery tools I get at the gun shows. Very sharp, and very cheap. $2 for the scissors and stats I use.
You'll need glue, and super glue works as well as any.
Where you can really save or spend money is on materials. I usually go with George's suggestions, but places like Hobby Lobby really do help cut costs. For example, if your wanting to tie a floating foam bug of some type, you can spend $3 on a pair of precut bodies, or 98 cents on a whole sheet of sticky back foam at Hobby Lobby. One sheet could last forever.
AL
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Feb 2007
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TJ- All great advice so far. If you're interested, there's a great book I used to learn to tie flies when I was a kid-"Western Trout Fly Tying Manual", by Jack Dennis. Talk about making a guy feel old-I got my first edition copy as a teenager in the mid 70's, I remember the foward was written by Curt Gowdy about what a fine "young man" Jack Dennis was. I looked on Amazon to see if it was still available, and I see that Mr. Dennis is now retired!
Anyway, it's a great book to introduce fly tying. Don't let the "Western Trout" part of the title put you off, the pictures and instructions are excellent, and there's very good information about materials, tools, basic techniques. My first creations looked like mutated hummingbirds on #8 hooks, but I could tie credible #18s after a couple months of dedicated effort-when I could afford the #18 hackles, that is.
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Joined: Feb 2011
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Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
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Yolk, I'm glad you brought up a book. I'm looking for "The Complete Fly Tier" by Reuben Cross. It's an out of print book by who was supposedly the most the technically perfect fly tier of all time. I really don't care about the specific flies he tied either, but like your recommendation, it's the instruction I'm after.
He had fat fingers too, so it's right in my wheelhouse.
AL
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,332 Likes: 309
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,332 Likes: 309 |
AL
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,794 |
George -- I'd certainly be glad to see more info from, as you call yourself, a "non-elite."
As I mentioned to you at the first Pond Boss Conference, I cast like I learned who to use a bull whip. No finesse. I mostly don't use flies -- I like to use redworms from my compost pile. As a consequence, I just use a flyrod setup to try and trick fish by using worms on a very light tippet/leader, without any weights, and without any kind of bobber. I'd be embarassed to do this in public waters where somebody might see me.Ken Courtesy of Texas Fishing Forum: I was cleaning up around the vice this morning, and I think I tied the best fly named after a famous fly fishing story. If you've ever read the Big Two-Hearted River, I give you the Big Two-Hearted Worm. Hemingway wrote this story when he was 25, and I read it when I was probably 12. Looking back at it, there are a couple of mysteries, one that is well know...that Hemingway really was describing his secret spot on the nearby Fox River. But the other mystery is why Hemingway's Nick Adams took all the trouble to use cat gut leaders, but when it came to flies, he used grasshoppers, and that would be the real ones. Just discovered Ernest Hemingway fished with live grasshoppers. Ken, betcha would you would use a live grasshopper and know Brian (highflyer) fishes with them with great expertise. George
N.E. Texas 2 acre and 1/4 acre ponds Original george #173 (22 June 2002)
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Joined: Aug 2013
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 15 |
Not only is fishing with live hoppers fun, it is also a great way to get smaller kids interested in any kind of fishing. My daughter and I have a great time catching the hoppers, threading them on a hook and tossing them out there for the fish to smash. Sometimes we don't even put them on a hook, we just feed the fish. We have a lot of fun and we get to discuss how the grass, hoppers, and fish fit into the pasture/pond ecosystem.
Should you decide to venture down this path, do yourself a huge favor and invest in a butterfly net. The net will greatly improve your catch rate on the hoppers and reduce the amount of time you spend teaching the children new vocabulary because the hoppers continue to escape your grasp.
If the small person(s) that you're fishing with is a bit small to be trusted with fly-pole, you can always use a good sized bobber to cast the hoppers out on conventional gear.
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 207
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 207 |
This will be my first year attempting to fly fish a pond. I'll be going after common rainbow trout and golden rainbows. I've fly fished for years in lakes and streams, for trout only, and can't wait to be able to enhance my skills right in my own backyard.
I have a feeling that a pellet fly is going to be the top dog but I hope I'll be able to catch them on some other offerings.
I just got a new pond, I made it twice because I aint so bright.
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