Fly Fishing Creek

Do you know how you can get free fly tying supplies? Probably the biggest complaint I get emailed about from the beginning fly tier is the cost of supplies and tools. They read the fly tying books, watch the videos lessons and are told what they need to purchase to start tying their own flies.

Fly tying has been done for hundreds of years, do you think the first person to create his own flies went down to the local fly shop and bought everything he needed to tie that perfect nymph, caddis or wolly bugger? No the first fisherman had to rely on nature to provide many of the supplies needed to tie his flies. He didn’t go buy a brand new rotary vice or flash box set of fly tying tools, He made the tools he needed and improvised with what he had on hand. Nothing has changed in the world of fly tying you can still do this today. Have you looked at how basic most of the fly tying tools are made?

Many if not all of them can be produced with a little thinking outside of the box for far less than the highly expensive name brand tools sold in most shops and magazines. Now back to the original question. Do you know how to get free fly tying supplies? Guess what its hunting season. If you’re not an avid hunter yourself go to your local pub and hook up with someone who is. Most hunters will be happy to give you squirrel tails, deer tails and feathers from all types of game birds. Hmm, maybe that’s how the first person got started tying flies in the first place. There was a time in history where sportsmen didn’t want to waste any part of a kill so they found ways to utilized fur, feathers, and antlers.

Fly tiers wanting free fly tying material should take this same approach and utilize what is already wasted in many cases. OK so the hair, fur, feathers and other supplies might not be an exact match to what the fly tying book tells you to use, but with a little dye, trimming and creative thinking you can make them work fairly easily. So next time you head out to the store to buy an expensive pack of fly tying supplies think twice, because there are plenty of free alternatives lying around being wasted.