I've heard from people in the past on here and on Kienes that tying your own flys does not save you money. I'm kinda confused, cuz at an average of 2 bucks a fly it costs me at least 20 bucks for 10 flys. That's if I don't buy bead headed flys. Those cost 2.35. So I'm looking at 20-30 bucks for 10 flies. I can tie 3 times as many for that price. So how am I not saving money? What do you guys think?
I agree. The intial slide is a bit much. And if you are starting out on a new pattern requiring new materias for your box, it can certainly be more expensive than buying. Its a matter of production. Time has be portioned accordingly. You can only fish so much, and tie so much. Anymore, I tie during the nights after work or school when Im not cutting into fishing time. And it depends on the complexity of the pattern. Last night I just made my first Sculpzilla tie, and it took me close to 45 minutes from start to fish. Knowing how to get the process down (snelling the stinger hook and tying it on takes the longest amount of time), I can probably bring that down quite a bit by a little preproduction beforehand. But a midge pupa, or an Adams, or basic nymph, these don't cost nearly as much as you pay for. A basic thread midge, even with a beadhead, probably costs less than 10 cents a tie. Hackle and hooks cost more than any other material you tie with, so hackled dries are more per tie, but with high grade saddles and necks today you can often tie 2-4 flies a feather. But once you get into production mode and crank out a dozen of a pattern, you certainly drive costs down.
-- Edited by crhoden on Friday 22nd of October 2010 06:54:32 PM
I can pretty much say with the time, amount of material I bought and number of flies I tie my flies are a lot more expensive than the ones I buy, most probably less effective too!! But the enjoyment I get from fishing my own flies far outweighs the expense!!
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"Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn." - Anon.
I agree A...I think it can be very expensive to begin fly tying, but down the road it can be cost effective. What is priceless is catching fish with stuff you made...even better, inventing new flies and catching them!!! JW
But the enjoyment I get from fishing my own flies far outweighs the expense!!
