Friday, February 01, 2008

A man should tie his own flies.



The other day a relative says to me something like, "There's a fly fishing store by my office and I thought of buying a Christmas present for you there. But what the hell am I gonna get for you; the angler that has everything?"
Two words for you Cousin Earl, two simple words. Bass Bugs.
Most times I do tie my own flies. Even if it means driving to three or four different fly shops to get the right materials for a particular pattern, gas prices be damned. In the long run it's cheaper though sometimes it seems like I'll have to tie flies for a long time yet to realize the cost benefit.
When it comes to bass flies, the big poppers, sliders and divers, I opt for the store bought variety. Too much work; spinning, stacking then shaping all that deer hair. A professionally tied deer hair bass bug goes for something like four or five dollars a piece. It would take me at least an hour to turn out a Dahlberg Diver or Messinger's Frog that looked half as good as the original. Hell even my boss thinks my time is worth five bucks an hour.
So....thanks Mom, I finally used that Bass Pro Shops Gift card you got me last year. Pass the word around, maybe Cousin Earl will catch on.

12 comments:

Gaizka said...

If the fly is very complicated I prefer buying it, also if it is to fish a not very frequent species.
Nice blog. Cheers from Spain.

opax said...

I got a Dahlberg's Diver from Jay Lee from the Neatherlands about a year ago. Many times I have thought about tying one but didn't got that it takes (mentally). However, I promised to teach how to tie the fly in May this year in one of our fishing club gatherings. I figured I have to learn how to tie it first. We'll see how it turns out.

Anonymous said...

Changing colors ain't as good as good writen'. Whay is my word verification wwhor? Indicative?

Anonymous said...

Color still sux. Prefer the color of your writing.This time I have to type in pigjack to post. Again indicative of something I'm sure.

Anonymous said...

Dude. I'll totally trade you. If you tie size 18 dry flies for me, I'll tie your bass bugs. As a hill-jack with midwest roots, I got bassin in my blood. Tiny dry flies on the other hand...

Anonymous said...

I went to bass pro for bass bugs in Florida yesterday. Going to the fly room in Bass Pro is depressing. I was the only one in there for about 15 minutes--employees included--when some other guy walked in and said, "This room is the retirement home. Come in here to get away from it all."
They just don't seem to give a damn about fly fishing. A guide I know who used to work there told me they pay it lip service on the corporate level but don't make money off it so they really don't care.
Which is unfortunate, since I've watched a Bass Pro open up near where my parents live, and two of the regional fly shops close their doors soon after.
I was going to post about this on my site and link back to you but my bandwidth's all fucked up.

Anonymous said...

Tying your own takes time but they tend to last longer I find I take care of hand tyed units a lot better.

Anonymous said...

ha funny. I once saw a video on youtube where the guy tying the fly took like craft foam to make the head of the popper. It was pretty cool looking but idk how much the foam cost.

http://thefishermenslife.blogspot.com/

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Fly Fishing UK said...

Nice . i totally agree with you
cheers

Luis said...

nice, I always do it for my flies, it's a great experience on a trip.