Tying versus buying is the conundrum that all anglers face eventually. Some hear the voices earlier into their fly fishing lives than others, but it is something that we all should consider (or have considered). Personally I have been tying flies for about twenty-five (25) years so I get asked this question quite often by those that are relatively new to the sport, and my answer is a three-pronged one that has never changed… The only way you can be 100% in control of the; design, quality, and availability of your flies, is to tie them yourself.
Now that is not to say that you absolutely must tie your own flies to be a satisfied and successful angler. I have a few friends that have been fly fishing for decades that still buy all of their flies and are quite happy doing so. Having said that, there have been times when one or all of those three prongs have gotten to them… and each has muttered the phrase, "I really need to start tying" right before they would borrow flies from me (or ask me to tie replacements).
I won't even touch on the degree of satisfaction one feels when duping fish on a fly you have actually tied, or about the fun in developing custom patterns and sharing them with others, or that fly tying can be a great cure for cabin fever. Instead I will keep to a brief elaboration on the three (3) "prongs", and let you decide for yourself which (if any) are important enough to motivate you to start tying.
DESIGN
Unless you order flies from the same catalog (or buy them from the same shop), all tyers have their own style and slight variations in the same pattern will occur from tyer to tyer. Plus, there are always local hot flies or tweaks to existing patterns that make them more effective compared to the traditional design. New materials are constantly being introduced and folks find ways of spicing up older patterns with different materials. So the randomness of supposed "common" designs is already there.
If you do decide to tie you will invariably start imparting your own tweaks or style into the patterns that you carry and fish. This is one of the great advantages of tying your own flies in my opinion… the ability to decipher situations in the natural world, and then work those ideas into your own successful patterns. Few things in angling are more gratifying.
Some shop or catalog flies are tied outside of conventional design purposely for the sake of convenience, saving time, or just plain old corner cutting … which leads us to the next topic.
QUALITY
When buying flies, sooner or later, you may encounter issues with (poor) quality resulting in either; a short life span of the fly, or a fly that fishes poorly. Just looking through the mass-produced bins of retail outdoor stores you can see that the level of quality varies greatly within each bin. This is not to say that all purchased flies are of lesser quality. Quite the opposite actually as most flies produced by reputable tyers (or suppliers) are of very fine quality; however, in some cases as it is with any other manufactured product, the "Clint Eastwood factor" is always a possibility… there's the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Think about it, time and materials are "money" to the average commercial tier. And they need to optimize the usage of both in order to remain profitable. It is as simple as that. Tying your own flies allows you to chuck a couple of feathers here or there, or send a fly or two into the recycle bin because you don't like the way it looks, or take those extra steps necessary to ensure a longer fly life. Two flies that come to mind that I use a lot are Soft Hackles and Comparaduns… I've seen show tyers, YouTube videos, and flies in mass bins routinely tied incorrectly (at least for my purposes). But tying them right, and tying them to last may take twice as long, per fly! This added work times a thousand flies means nothing to the person at home tying their own flies, but it is money flying out the window for some trying to make a living at it.
AVAILABILITY
It used to be a running joke in fly shops when I lived back in PA, "You want to know what's hatching? Take a look in the bins and see what's sold out!" This was especially true during the highly-anticipated "sulphur" hatch. If you didn't have your season's worth of #14, #16, and #18 Sulphur Dun patterns by the time May rolled around… you had to do some real searching! Not a problem for those tying their own flies, but a potential disaster for those relying on store bought supply. This could be the same for any pattern really. Stores can randomly sell out of popular patterns at any time. We've all heard the excuses, "Yeah, I just ordered some more and they should be here by Monday." And while comforting in some small way, that won't help you NOW!
Then there are those patterns that are simply not available everywhere, or at all. Every fly shop tyer has a home-spun pattern or two that they can recommend. And truth-be-told they usually work out… sometimes so well that you want to try them elsewhere. Now if these "specialty flies" hit a home run on your local waters, you had better be able to tie some replacements yourself. Or else you may have to wait until your next fishing vacation to grab some more (if they're still around).
One last note on availability with respect to soft hackles (and flymphs)… If you find yourself really loving these types of patterns (like I do)… your only option for total involvement is to tie them yourself. Sure you will find the Partridge & Orange and Partridge & Yellow in most shops, along with the occasional other random pattern. But if you are looking to fish Slattery's Triple Threat Caddis, Libertone's Lil' Dorothy, Leisenring's Black Gnat, Nemes' Syl's Midge, (all highly recommended by the way), or the dozens of other relatively obscure – and highly effective - patterns out there… you simply have to tie them yourself to guarantee their availability. And I'm sure this applies to many other genres of fly types as well.
So there you have it… three (3) of the most important things to consider (in my opinion) when it comes down to tying versus buying. Although I do claim to tie all of my flies that is not entirely true in that I do sometimes purchase flies when visiting fly shops in new areas… mainly because I would feel guilty about asking shop owners for fishing information without buying something. So even though I am capable of tying all of the flies that I use, nothing greases the gears of fly shop conversation quite like a fresh purchase.
In closing, there is one more (controversial?) topic to cover, and that is on the proper way to get started. Let's say for example that you have made the decision to start tying. The very next thought that comes to your mind is, "should I buy a fly tying kit?"
The answer to this question can be a simple yes or no, but the precursor to that answer is wherein lays the problem. If you can somehow decipher definitively that "YES, I want to tie flies!" Then my (strong) recommendation would be to buy a decent vise, good quality tools, and fill out your hook and materials needs a few flies at a time. Kits are enticing with their array of "everything you need to get started" but in most cases what they really should say is "you will need to replace everything in this box immediately if you really want to keep tying." And that is the sad truth for those committed to taking the plunge, but it could also be the answer for those that want to try it to see if they like it before jumping in with both feet. The problem is that not all fly tying kits are created equal, and the tools/materials may be of such poor quality that using them will amount to nothing more than frustration. The truth however is that most folks ignore this advice, get into fly tying via tying kit, soon regret ever buying it, and then need to replace everything in it (and that includes myself, many years ago).
In the end, fly tying is a lot like fly casting (or fly fishing), it matters little how you got there… the important thing is that you got there.
Tight lines!
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