Fly tyers are always looking for ways to improve efficiency and quality. More flies mean more time on the water. Better quality flies will be more durable and stimulate more hook ups.
As kids and rookie fly guys and gals. Our selection of flies was proportional to our pocket change and availability. Most of us started with just a few dozen flies in an old fly box or a plastic container.
If you dropped the fly box or the wind whipped up, your armory of flies would quickly disappear. Fishing days could get really short, really fast. If you ran out of a certain lucky fly or the proper match the hatch fly, you would end up just fly fishing and not catching.
Flies are dammed expensive. This is why many fly guys pick up fly tying. They hope to save money and increase their armory of flies. Ironically, fly tying involves its own expensive budget and you can quickly stockpile an expensive box of tools, vises, materials and …
If you enjoy fly tying, here are some tips to help you tie faster, better, and cheaper.
ORGANIZE Know where your materials and tools are. Your hooks are labeled and ready. Use magnet tape to hold hooks in place.
CLEAR THE DECK Only have what you need on deck. The rest just become cluttered. Focus on one fly at a time.
TIE IN STAGES If you are making a specific pattern, like a bead head, load all the beads onto the hook first, then tie the fly.
WEAR YOUR SCISSORS Time wasted looking for your tying scissors is wasted time. Use large finger holed scissors that fit onto your thumb and finger. Wear them during the entire tying process. It takes some practice but saves time. Just be careful when scratching your nose.
DOZEN UP Never tie less than 12 flies. Line up all the materials and get to it. Some will be give aways but the rest will improve one tie at a time. It takes hundreds of repetitious ties to make a great fly. You will improve faster when you tie at least 12 at one setting.
KEEP THE LINE TIGHT Long lined bobbins take longer to wrap around the fly. Keep the distance between the bobbin and fly shorter.
PRECUT and STAGE If you are using specific sized parts, say rubber legs, wings, posts, or… take time to make the parts ready and sized for the fly.
CLEAR EYES and BARB / SHARPEN Once the fly is tied and you add the head cement. Check the fly to make sure that the hook eye is clear. This will save time on the water. If the fly needs to be barbless, you can make that happen now. I usually barbless my hooks before I tie a fly, in case the hook breaks. I also sharpen every hook, even when new.
Time is money when tying your own flies and lures.
Montana Grant
