+1 on Sulky Holoshimmer (flaky holographic reflective) and Silver Metallic (solid foil), both 250 yds for like $3 and both in a multitude of colors. Also the sheeny anti-static bags for electronics (can be cut into strips), any packaging with a metallic foil look (also for cutting into strips), my Australian Shepherd's underfur (a fine blend of black, grey, white, and tan), wire from electro-magnetic coils on vintage electronics (steal a TV!), and probably many others. Great topic, great video! Headed to the craft store today for that knotting cord. Thanks, eh!
Great tips!! I use the the copper from 240v cabtire off cuts from electricians i know. It’s the perfect gauge, but I will definitely keep in mind to check old trashy electronics too- thank you. I am hearing a lot about the holoshimmer thread, gonna check it out. Thanks a bunch for contributing 🤘
@@ThueyOutdoors Location, Location, Location! If anyone can convince a customer that the items being sold are specialty, then they are supposedly worth more. One thing I like about tying is that it allows me to use crazy materials. Sometimes they work out, sometimes the hook comes back up bare. lol
Besides the 2mm, that 6mm sheet foam usually found in black, red, tan and white is fantastic for larger gurglers and mice patterns. Bonnie Braid is a good sub for EP fibers. Eyelash yarn works decent in place of Polar Chenille. Sometimes a guy can find decently long craft fur, limited colors sold in the fabric section. The shorter version works good for leeches/small baitfish. Googly eyes work good if that's all you have.
I've been tying deer hair bugs, bombers, etc. with mono thread for about 25 years or so. The stuff I use is from the material/sewing shop and is usually used for making invisible hems on pants and jeans. It's 0.004" thick and quite strong, with a little stretch. Spins deer hair superbly, and it will break before cutting deer hair. You need a large bobbin because the spool is bigger than typical tying thread.
My only regret was not knowing about that stuff earlier. The only thing i found is that you need more tension when using it but other than that, it’s incredible.
There aren't that many companies that actually manufacture stuff so a lot of companies "contract" the manufacture and if they buy enough they can put their own brand and call it whatever they want. Sometimes the specs are slightly different and sometimes it's the exact same product under a different name. FWIW: the price can vary drastically on the exact same products depending on the end market.
Markers are such a good idea. I use them to colour my white threads and just started to add mottling to my ostrich herls for intruders. Such a good suggestion, thanks for posting this, I am sure others will find this very useful 🤘
A vinyl table protector can be cut into miles of "scud back" material with an Ofla knife. Different thicknesses are available, it can be stretched to make it thinner and can be tinted or marked with a Sharpie. Vinyl is also used to package bedding material like sheets and blankets. Needlepoint yarns are available in a wide variety of colors but may not be waterproof and need to be checked. This limitation is not a problem if the yarn is protected with UV Resin. Bead chain is economically available in a variety of sizes and finishes from the hardware stores. "Diamond" or "Sapphire" nail files are excellent for sharpening hooks. I drill a hole in the handle to thread them onto the chain I carry my clippers on.
I have been using those glass beads for awhile on my Pumpkin head flys, also there is a small polyester cord I buy at the sewing shops in green and brown colors makes great body material. Amazing how you can adapt other materials makes fly tying fun and challenging coming up with different patterns!😊
Hawaii does not have a fly shop... some of the fishing stores are starting to bring in a limited supply of materials to tye "glass minnow" type flys... We have to mail order just about everything.
It is knicker elastic! There is always more than one strand, usually 4- 6 strands, great bug legs, could even cut the wifes old knickers up in the name of science.
I can't believe you didn’t have some of the Faux Fur/Craft fur. Hobby lobby has a brand that makes shorter/sparse cut pads of fur. but there's tons of colors, patterns and cut lengths of Faux Fur. I like a clean short cut for zonked strips. They just need to be reinforced with a good fabric glue. I prefer Fabritac. They're practically indestructible tail strips
Thanks for sharing! I haven’t had luck with craft fur at the stores because of what you mentioned, the short hair. I prefer longer fibers but just haven’t been able to find anything that is like the stuff at the fly shops. Neat tip about reinforcing it with the glue, I am sure that will be helpful 👍
Chennile sticks, from $2 shop or hobby supplies make great bodies for sink flies. Some of the are stripes and the inner wire id galvanized. Essentially they are a pipe cleaner.
I have tried them but prefer cactus chenille. The stuff at my Michaels (craft store) has a pretty stiff wire for my liking. Thank you for sharing and am sure other will find this very useful 👍
Sulky Holoshimmer thread/ tinsel makes for very strong tinsel . Hollow mylar braids and many more things in craft stores. More and more fly shops barely stock anything for fly tying or so it seems.
It's NOT that I don't support the fly shops... it's that I'm a NEW tyer. I am still practicing and learning and to spend 4 or 5 or 6 bucks and get this LITTLE packet of material...doesn't make sense right now. Financially.
Things from craft stores. Beadalon for articulated streamers and a there's a certain one that a pike fly guide uses for a bite leader. Then the best thing ever is Hobby lobby sells these huge skeins of tinsel for Christmas. It's the same as flashabou. Except this stuff is 36in long.
Thanks for the tips. I have tried beadalon wire but have found powerpro works better for my needs. What diameter and strand count do you use for the beadalon?
Just be careful with the tinsel though. Not sure about the stuff from HL, but the $.99 skeins at walmart will delaminate and become brittle with UV exposure. It has about 1/3 the breaking strength of flashabou. Yes I'm one of those nerds, lol.
While I apprieciate a well stocked fly shop, I do not appreciate the often excessive prices present at a lot of them. To be clear this isn't necessarily the fault of the shop. Anyone who fly fishes knows that buying anything with a fly fishing name brand comes with a price tag much, much higher than it should be. If the craft store is selling the same material for much less then buy it there and let the fly shop know. Honestly they should be stocking that craft store brand with the wider profit margin rather than the overpriced fly brand with the narrow profit margin.
I agree with anything and everything dealing with flyfishing,it's ridiculously overpriced. When I started tying I practiced with cheap sewing.embroidery thread etc. Once I got the hang of everything in a couple weeks I bought numerous supplies from fly shops/suppliers. Once I got familiar with those products I realized I'm wasting a lot of money on the same thing that I can source much much cheaper elsewhere. I have not bought anything from a fly shop/supplier in years except maybe a few biots, etc. Almost everything else can be sourced elsewhere except thread. Many of my bigger jigs like for deerhair for striper and/or saltwater like Sea Witches,etc. I tie with cheap light pound braid like 4-6 an maybe 8#,1094yds for $30 +/-. I have not really found a sub for Life Flex though or a perfect one for Scud Skin. Why would I want to or should I support those who rip me off by overpricing the same materials? I hate crooks,so I do pass these saving on to my consumers.
Business is tough! I have had a few businesses in my lifetime and totally get the markups. Plus sometimes vendors don’t give you much to work with maybe like 20-30 points with some products!
I don't agree with the "buy everything you can from your local fly shop" mentality. Fly shops could support the sport and fly tying hobby more by not making the sport feel like gate keeping for a rich people. The material they sell feels maliciously over priced. I have found better prices at standard tackle shops than I have at the dedicated fly shops. Fly tying your own flies should give you the advantage of being cheaper to do for yourself then it would be to just buy the actual fly from the fly shop. And the price increases people are claiming are do to inflation is ridiculous. How can someone claim a bag of marabou feathers was $1 four years ago is now $4 today, and 90% of the feathers in the bag are junk. the mantra "you get what you pay for" is a lie anymore. Money is what you give, and the value a company gives back to you is only the profit they are willing to part with.
You bring up a lot of points here. I have seen some prices that make me shake my head as well. At the same time, i am very well aware of overhead costs of owning a business and those little “ma n’ pa” shops can use a little help from us by making a purchase here and there. BUT!!! And this is a big one. If your budget allows it!!! To be honest, i shop the at local fly shop as well as the big box stores. Prices are flippy floppy up here in Canada because we import a lot of stuff from the USA, so I totally get those inflated prices. I often wonder when we will hit the threshold and this is an issue in all industries. Thank you for commenting, it was a good read.
There is shrinkage that is for sure, then again go buy a car or have one worked on when repairs are needed. Hell, I had the right ball joint go bad on my car, and it was a 1200 dollar bill. Everything is up. As for fly tying being cheaper than buying a fly, that is not really true. It's like Reloading ammo, it was sold to me back in 1968 and you can save a lot of money, yeah what they didn't tell you, is you just would go shoot ten times as much. It's painful gee, and I just dropped 200 at Fly Fish Food! Oh in 1968 I spent a good deal of my lawn mower money on an 8'Fenwick 5wt Fly Rod and a Phluger Medialist Reel and fly line it came to around 80 bucks. I still have the rod and reel. 80 dollars was a good chunk of money in 68!
@@GeorgeSemel wow! You know how rare it is for someone to hold onto an old fly rod? That’s impressive, I still have my first rod and won’t give it up! Thank you for your insight
I have every single rod and reel I bought with my own money- if you take care of your things and don't buy junk, there is no reason on earth you can be fishing with a set up for 50 years or more; breakage does happen. I still tie flies on a first gen Regal vise. I thought I was nuts when I paid 125 for it in 1982! That Fenwick is one of my treasured possessions. It is my favorite hopper rod for blue lining.@@greenhornflyhorn
“Tying your own flies should be cheaper than buying them” Yeah, not so much in my case.😂 Fortunately, I enjoy tying my own & get a sense of accomplishment & pride by fooling a wily old brown that’s seen it all before, with a creation I tied on my vise. Also, tying keeps me sane in the winter. Trip to the fly shop to pick up flies...meh. I still make purchases at fly shops though, because I want those small businesses to survive!
Where abouts? In Canada(Michaels Craft Store) it cost me $2 for each item WITH a coupon which they have pretty much every day. Hope this helps, tight lines🙂
No,you got to go to the produces of the/A product. I buy tons of items from the factory it's self in bulk that are most of the time only penny's on the dollar. Example is the beads,not the same brand but still the same thing,I get a container of 3000 for $2.49 and they have....IDK 22? different colors. I use other beads in various sizes,materials,lengths and colors and they're not more than $4 per at least 500 (up to 12mm).
I also pour and paint jigs,and a lot of these you see doing so also an are making these oddball designs/colors is just that trying to catch that fisherman. There's no need to go anywhere past the 10 basic colors. Fish do not care if that red is candy or matte or that white is pearl or not. They really don't care if there are eyes glued or painted on either. Other than the basic 10 colors they don't care about anything but the action of that lure or if it's the right size.
Sulky Holoshimmer thread/ tinsel makes for very strong tinsel . Hollow mylar braids and many more things in craft stores. More and more fly shops barely stock anything for fly tying or so it seems.
+1 on Sulky Holoshimmer (flaky holographic reflective) and Silver Metallic (solid foil), both 250 yds for like $3 and both in a multitude of colors. Also the sheeny anti-static bags for electronics (can be cut into strips), any packaging with a metallic foil look (also for cutting into strips), my Australian Shepherd's underfur (a fine blend of black, grey, white, and tan), wire from electro-magnetic coils on vintage electronics (steal a TV!), and probably many others. Great topic, great video! Headed to the craft store today for that knotting cord. Thanks, eh!
Great tips!! I use the the copper from 240v cabtire off cuts from electricians i know. It’s the perfect gauge, but I will definitely keep in mind to check old trashy electronics too- thank you. I am hearing a lot about the holoshimmer thread, gonna check it out. Thanks a bunch for contributing 🤘
@@greenhornflyhorncraft store has the best peacock hurls, and hackles
All the big hobby stores sell UV resin and the curing light for a fraction of what fly shops sell it. comes in black clear and colors.
Oh really? I honestly haven't even looked at that stuff there. Thank you for the tip!
@@greenhornflyhorn
I had to ask about the resin for help in finding it but I have had good luck with it. 🎣
Ask an employee those stores are a maze, I am all about supporting the local shops, but 20 bucks for a tiny bottle of uv is crazy😂
@@ThueyOutdoors
I had to ask and it was in the jewelry making section. lol
@@ThueyOutdoors Location, Location, Location! If anyone can convince a customer that the items being sold are specialty, then they are supposedly worth more. One thing I like about tying is that it allows me to use crazy materials. Sometimes they work out, sometimes the hook comes back up bare. lol
Besides the 2mm, that 6mm sheet foam usually found in black, red, tan and white is fantastic for larger gurglers and mice patterns. Bonnie Braid is a good sub for EP fibers. Eyelash yarn works decent in place of Polar Chenille. Sometimes a guy can find decently long craft fur, limited colors sold in the fabric section. The shorter version works good for leeches/small baitfish. Googly eyes work good if that's all you have.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I've been tying deer hair bugs, bombers, etc. with mono thread for about 25 years or so. The stuff I use is from the material/sewing shop and is usually used for making invisible hems on pants and jeans. It's 0.004" thick and quite strong, with a little stretch. Spins deer hair superbly, and it will break before cutting deer hair. You need a large bobbin because the spool is bigger than typical tying thread.
My only regret was not knowing about that stuff earlier. The only thing i found is that you need more tension when using it but other than that, it’s incredible.
You could always work out a way to load up a smaller bobbin.
There aren't that many companies that actually manufacture stuff so a lot of companies "contract" the manufacture and if they buy enough they can put their own brand and call it whatever they want. Sometimes the specs are slightly different and sometimes it's the exact same product under a different name.
FWIW: the price can vary drastically on the exact same products depending on the end market.
Markers, UV resin, organza material, peacock eyes, sulky thread, and craft foam are other good options. Some better fhan others.
Markers are such a good idea. I use them to colour my white threads and just started to add mottling to my ostrich herls for intruders. Such a good suggestion, thanks for posting this, I am sure others will find this very useful 🤘
Well done Milan. Adding this to my favorites just in case I give tying a try.
Thanks brother! Tying is a fun hobby and highly addictive
A vinyl table protector can be cut into miles of "scud back" material with an Ofla knife. Different thicknesses are available, it can be stretched to make it thinner and can be tinted or marked with a Sharpie. Vinyl is also used to package bedding material like sheets and blankets.
Needlepoint yarns are available in a wide variety of colors but may not be waterproof and need to be checked. This limitation is not a problem if the yarn is protected with UV Resin.
Bead chain is economically available in a variety of sizes and finishes from the hardware stores.
"Diamond" or "Sapphire" nail files are excellent for sharpening hooks. I drill a hole in the handle to thread them onto the chain I carry my clippers on.
Absolutely top notch tips! Thank you for sharing this with us :)
I have been using those glass beads for awhile on my Pumpkin head flys, also there is a small polyester cord I buy at the sewing shops in green and brown colors makes great body material. Amazing how you can adapt other materials makes fly tying fun and challenging coming up with different patterns!😊
Thanks for the input. Is it like floss?(the thread you’re referring to).
hobby lobby has these beads also.. lots of times they have a 1/2 price sale
Hawaii does not have a fly shop... some of the fishing stores are starting to bring in a limited supply of materials to tye "glass minnow" type flys... We have to mail order just about everything.
Thin black elastic cord produces a squillion rubber legs for bug patterns.
What is the product called?!?!? I could use that for sure🤘
It is knicker elastic! There is always more than one strand, usually 4- 6 strands, great bug legs, could even cut the wifes old knickers up in the name of science.
😂 👍🎣👌
I have bought sheets of different colored foam. Very inexpensive. I have also purchased feathers and googly eyes. Good Luck, Old Chief
Yeah! The foam is great stuff too, i use all the time for chubbies. Thanks for sharing
Trying to spread the word about your site. Old Chief, Texas
@@user-pw7mh2pf6n well thank you very much for that, and I sincerely appreciate it
thanks for this infornation..
Try hair dressing suppliers for pike and Muskie fly winging and body fibres
I can't believe you didn’t have some of the Faux Fur/Craft fur. Hobby lobby has a brand that makes shorter/sparse cut pads of fur. but there's tons of colors, patterns and cut lengths of Faux Fur. I like a clean short cut for zonked strips. They just need to be reinforced with a good fabric glue. I prefer Fabritac. They're practically indestructible tail strips
Thanks for sharing! I haven’t had luck with craft fur at the stores because of what you mentioned, the short hair. I prefer longer fibers but just haven’t been able to find anything that is like the stuff at the fly shops. Neat tip about reinforcing it with the glue, I am sure that will be helpful 👍
Ive found good long cut fur at Hobby Lobby and Joan Fabrics@@greenhornflyhorn
Nice info
Great information. My first time with you but I subscribed. Thanks.
Welcome aboard!
MERCI 🎉 BEAUCOUP Brother !!!!
✨🎣💫
Chennile sticks, from $2 shop or hobby supplies make great bodies for sink flies. Some of the are stripes and the inner wire id galvanized. Essentially they are a pipe cleaner.
I have tried them but prefer cactus chenille. The stuff at my Michaels (craft store) has a pretty stiff wire for my liking. Thank you for sharing and am sure other will find this very useful 👍
UV resin is also available at good price.
Good to know, appreciate you sharing that with us
Seed Beads for midges, Sulky silk thread, silky machine tinsel. Just for starters.
Thanks for the tips!
Creatology is really looking for members? Dude, where do I sign? LOL 😁
Sulky Holoshimmer thread/ tinsel makes for very strong tinsel . Hollow mylar braids and many more things in craft stores. More and more fly shops barely stock anything for fly tying or so it seems.
Hey man! Thanks so much for sharing, hollow mylar braids would be awesome for streamers. 🤘
Helpful, thanks.
Appreciate it
It's NOT that I don't support the fly shops...
it's that I'm a NEW tyer. I am still practicing and learning and to spend 4 or 5 or 6 bucks and get this LITTLE packet of material...doesn't make sense right now. Financially.
What happened to the heat in your house?
Things from craft stores. Beadalon for articulated streamers and a there's a certain one that a pike fly guide uses for a bite leader. Then the best thing ever is Hobby lobby sells these huge skeins of tinsel for Christmas. It's the same as flashabou. Except this stuff is 36in long.
Thanks for the tips. I have tried beadalon wire but have found powerpro works better for my needs. What diameter and strand count do you use for the beadalon?
Just be careful with the tinsel though. Not sure about the stuff from HL, but the $.99 skeins at walmart will delaminate and become brittle with UV exposure. It has about 1/3 the breaking strength of flashabou. Yes I'm one of those nerds, lol.
We use to use nylon sewing thread for ice fishing panfish . 1980?
That’s cool!
Nice video, great tip on crystal flash! Hey, love your coat, mind sharing who made it or where you got it?
Thank you and yes, the crystal flash really is great! That canvas shirt is from carhartt , very heavy weight about 12oz canvas duck weave.
Question about the mono:
Is normal thread going to be stronger?
Stuff like GSP is pretty strong stuff so it depends on which thread. But mono vs. your regular thread? The mono is way stronger.
While I apprieciate a well stocked fly shop, I do not appreciate the often excessive prices present at a lot of them. To be clear this isn't necessarily the fault of the shop. Anyone who fly fishes knows that buying anything with a fly fishing name brand comes with a price tag much, much higher than it should be. If the craft store is selling the same material for much less then buy it there and let the fly shop know. Honestly they should be stocking that craft store brand with the wider profit margin rather than the overpriced fly brand with the narrow profit margin.
I agree with anything and everything dealing with flyfishing,it's ridiculously overpriced.
When I started tying I practiced with cheap sewing.embroidery thread etc. Once I got the hang of everything in a couple weeks I bought numerous supplies from fly shops/suppliers. Once I got familiar with those products I realized I'm wasting a lot of money on the same thing that I can source much much cheaper elsewhere. I have not bought anything from a fly shop/supplier in years except maybe a few biots, etc. Almost everything else can be sourced elsewhere except thread. Many of my bigger jigs like for deerhair for striper and/or saltwater like Sea Witches,etc. I tie with cheap light pound braid like 4-6 an maybe 8#,1094yds for $30 +/-.
I have not really found a sub for Life Flex though or a perfect one for Scud Skin.
Why would I want to or should I support those who rip me off by overpricing the same materials? I hate crooks,so I do pass these saving on to my consumers.
Business is tough! I have had a few businesses in my lifetime and totally get the markups. Plus sometimes vendors don’t give you much to work with maybe like 20-30 points with some products!
Nice Video! What brand bobbin are you using with the Coates and Clark spool?
I use a normal bobbin from Dr.Slick. It stretches quite a bit so I have switched to loading an old empty spool with this stuff. Works great!
Permanent Markers and White tying thread.
It's a must! Great tip and one every fly tyer needs to know :)
I don't agree with the "buy everything you can from your local fly shop" mentality. Fly shops could support the sport and fly tying hobby more by not making the sport feel like gate keeping for a rich people. The material they sell feels maliciously over priced. I have found better prices at standard tackle shops than I have at the dedicated fly shops. Fly tying your own flies should give you the advantage of being cheaper to do for yourself then it would be to just buy the actual fly from the fly shop. And the price increases people are claiming are do to inflation is ridiculous. How can someone claim a bag of marabou feathers was $1 four years ago is now $4 today, and 90% of the feathers in the bag are junk. the mantra "you get what you pay for" is a lie anymore. Money is what you give, and the value a company gives back to you is only the profit they are willing to part with.
You bring up a lot of points here. I have seen some prices that make me shake my head as well. At the same time, i am very well aware of overhead costs of owning a business and those little “ma n’ pa” shops can use a little help from us by making a purchase here and there. BUT!!! And this is a big one. If your budget allows it!!! To be honest, i shop the at local fly shop as well as the big box stores. Prices are flippy floppy up here in Canada because we import a lot of stuff from the USA, so I totally get those inflated prices. I often wonder when we will hit the threshold and this is an issue in all industries. Thank you for commenting, it was a good read.
There is shrinkage that is for sure, then again go buy a car or have one worked on when repairs are needed. Hell, I had the right ball joint go bad on my car, and it was a 1200 dollar bill. Everything is up. As for fly tying being cheaper than buying a fly, that is not really true. It's like Reloading ammo, it was sold to me back in 1968 and you can save a lot of money, yeah what they didn't tell you, is you just would go shoot ten times as much. It's painful gee, and I just dropped 200 at Fly Fish Food! Oh in 1968 I spent a good deal of my lawn mower money on an 8'Fenwick 5wt Fly Rod and a Phluger Medialist Reel and fly line it came to around 80 bucks. I still have the rod and reel. 80 dollars was a good chunk of money in 68!
@@GeorgeSemel wow! You know how rare it is for someone to hold onto an old fly rod? That’s impressive, I still have my first rod and won’t give it up! Thank you for your insight
I have every single rod and reel I bought with my own money- if you take care of your things and don't buy junk, there is no reason on earth you can be fishing with a set up for 50 years or more; breakage does happen. I still tie flies on a first gen Regal vise. I thought I was nuts when I paid 125 for it in 1982! That Fenwick is one of my treasured possessions. It is my favorite hopper rod for blue lining.@@greenhornflyhorn
“Tying your own flies should be cheaper than buying them” Yeah, not so much in my case.😂 Fortunately, I enjoy tying my own & get a sense of accomplishment & pride by fooling a wily old brown that’s seen it all before, with a creation I tied on my vise. Also, tying keeps me sane in the winter. Trip to the fly shop to pick up flies...meh. I still make purchases at fly shops though, because I want those small businesses to survive!
Craft stores here aren't any cheaper any more.
Where abouts? In Canada(Michaels Craft Store) it cost me $2 for each item WITH a coupon which they have pretty much every day. Hope this helps, tight lines🙂
@@greenhornflyhorn cadillac michigan
hobby lobby sell glass beads for 2.99 sometime,, 1/2 off
No,you got to go to the produces of the/A product. I buy tons of items from the factory it's self in bulk that are most of the time only penny's on the dollar. Example is the beads,not the same brand but still the same thing,I get a container of 3000 for $2.49 and they have....IDK 22? different colors. I use other beads in various sizes,materials,lengths and colors and they're not more than $4 per at least 500 (up to 12mm).
I use only real Fur, Feathers, Thread, wool.....Classic flies.... all else catch a lot of fisherman.
Interesting. I will have to give it a shot one day. Thanks for the tip!😉
I will source all fur from hunting,fresh roadkill,or farms. There isn't much I buy except the non-native and that's even seldom.
I also pour and paint jigs,and a lot of these you see doing so also an are making these oddball designs/colors is just that trying to catch that fisherman. There's no need to go anywhere past the 10 basic colors. Fish do not care if that red is candy or matte or that white is pearl or not. They really don't care if there are eyes glued or painted on either. Other than the basic 10 colors they don't care about anything but the action of that lure or if it's the right size.
Sulky Holoshimmer thread/ tinsel makes for very strong tinsel . Hollow mylar braids and many more things in craft stores. More and more fly shops barely stock anything for fly tying or so it seems.
I love Sulky, in pearl I use it a lot as a rib on hare's ear nymphs!
Sweet! Appreciate the suggestions!