Reclaiming your discarded un-fishable flies

[scottyb]

I'm still new at tying, this is my 4th season.

When I learn a new pattern the first several (20 or more) flies are practice flies and typically end up in a "discard" pile. Same with when I start again after some time off, the first few flies are un-fishable...meaning I gave up half way through or are so mishappen and clumsy I would never let myself or a friend fish them when I have dozens of better tied versions.

So any clever ways to reclaim the hooks and beads from these sad flies?
Is it worth trying to get hooks back when they only cost a couple of dimes?

 

[ia_trouter]

I throw them in a jar. Doesn't take up much space. Mostly they are not worth the trouble to clean off if I used adhesive. But every now and then, I am glad to find I can recover a few streamer hooks in a particular size I am out of. I also use a few up by clipping the hooks and using them for yard practice.

 

[gc59]

I don't usually bother with smaller hooks unless brand new but salt hooks I reclaim on a regular basis. I take an X-Acto knife and cut down the top of the hook shank (BE CAREFUL) then start peeling off, sometimes easy sometimes not so easy, but in the end you can get back some material, hook, and start over or make a new pattern. I do this on patterns I've messed up or toothy fish have chewed up.

 

[spm]

If I don't like the was a fly has turned out, I strip it down immediately. I don't add glue or head cement until the very end, so it isn't too difficult. I use a straight razor, and a certain amount of cursing.

steve

 

[planettrout]

Many passings of the seasons ago, when I started this tying thing, tying a dozen each of a particular fly, I immediately stripped the hook shank with a razor blade or x-acto knife if a pattern was going South. Nothing "crappy" ever turned up in my boxes...I practice the same today - only stripping occurs a lot less frequently...

Better frustration then, than now


PT/TB

 

[silver creek]

Use a single edge razor blade to cut off the materials. You can then keep the bead on the hook and retie the pattern.

 

[suzyhector]

When I was a kid and poor I saved every single fly and when I ran out of hooks I simply took old flies and cut everything off with a Stanley knife.
Back then I only tied trout flies, nymphs, dries and so on, so they were easy to strip of material. These days I more or less only tie streamer, pike flies, salmon flies and so on, would have been harder to strip those!

 

[ia_trouter]

I don't usually bother with smaller hooks unless brand new but salt hooks I reclaim on a regular basis. I take an X-Acto knife and cut down the top of the hook shank (BE CAREFUL) then start peeling off, sometimes easy sometimes not so easy, but in the end you can get back some material, hook, and start over or make a new pattern. I do this on patterns I've messed up or toothy fish have chewed up.

Those are the hooks I recover too. Some of my large patterns are glued 3-5 times through the course of the tie so they don't cut so easy. I've actually considered saving up a dozen and soaking them in 25 cents worth of acetone. Toothy critters can quickly mangle some patterns on expensive hooks.

 

[flytire]

I'm still new at tying, this is my 4th season.

When I learn a new pattern the first several (20 or more) flies are practice flies and typically end up in a "discard" pile. Same with when I start again after some time off, the first few flies are un-fishable...meaning I gave up half way through or are so mishappen and clumsy I would never let myself or a friend fish them when I have dozens of better tied versions.

fish them. lousy flies catch fish. why throw them in pile?

get a seperate fly box for them and throw the offenders in it. next time out fishing, give a few a try.

or

 

[mtboiler]

I give my poor ties and beat up flies to people learning to fly fish. Everyone knows someone just getting started or that is struggling day to day and could use a boost now and than. I keep them all in a bin and once or twice a year I hand them out to people that I am either teaching to fly fish or I know are starting to fly fish.
Trust me, even your crappy ties are appreciated by newbies that are paying $2 per fly to just lose in a tree!

 

[dennyk]

When I don't like the way a pattern turns out I use the xacto knife.

Generally, I take my time tying because I'm "hooked" on it.

Denny

 

[rangerrich99]

I'm in the same boat as the OP; I generally know that in the first two dozen flies I tie, only 7-10 are going to be up-to-par. I just gotta warm up, I guess.

If I can't get tippet through the eye, they get cut off immediately, otherwise they go into the "we'll see what happens on the water" pile. Sometimes they work better than the "good-to-go" flies. Go figure.

Oh, and I recommend putting said flies in a vise and using a Xacto knife to cut materials off of flies. Or you can do what I did for the first four or five years, and invest in Band-Aid stock. Which is JNJ, if you'd like to know.

Peace.

 

[comeonavs]

Many passings of the seasons ago, when I started this tying thing, tying a dozen each of a particular fly, I immediately stripped the hook shank with a razor blade or x-acto knife if a pattern was going South. Nothing "crappy" ever turned up in my boxes...I practice the same today - only stripping occurs a lot less frequently...

Better frustration then, than now


PT/TB

This or else I just don't go back and strip them. I used to save them and one day started reclaims them and realized I was gonna spend about 3 hours of stripping and sorting to reclaim about $5.00 worth of Dai Riki hooks. Needless to say I chucked them and took the dogs for a walk instead

Strip them at the moment or chuck them later

 

[philly]

I go through my flies every so often a lot of my early not so great salt water flies were tied on a Tiemco hook they no longer make. Can't think of the model but it's a 2XL or 3XL or possibly a 4XL shank. I strip them when ever find an old fly tied on one. I also have many tied on a Varivas salt water hook that I don't believe is available in CONUS. I've been stripping them and reusing them. I'll do the same with some of my bass hooks and pike hooks. Generally, when I'm tying if it starts going south, I'll strip and start over, if I finish and don't like it, I'll toss it in the bad fly box for future consideration.

 

[Ard]

I've never done it but you can strip by razor as mentioned or use a match first then the blade.

I'll strip a good salmon fly hook or steelhead iron but dry fly hooks are much cheaper to replace. My best advice would be to take more care as you tie to produce fewer that meet the trash criterion.

 

[Matt4.0]

I've never made an error tying so I don't understand the problem.

 

[flytire]

rather than completing 20 flies and then you find 7-8 turned out like cr ap, why continue to tie the flies?

fix the problem in the tying process! back off a tying step and fix it BEFORE you continue the tying process.

too much dubbing on the thread! remove some

a hackle that refuses to wrap correctly! remove it and find another one

etc etc etc

 

[scottyb]

Thanks for the replies.

As a beginner it really takes me 20 flies to get a new pattern down...
So out of a pack of 25 I get 5 good flies I can use.
As they say "practice makes practice"
Yes, I'm sure the others would catch fish, but am I really going to tie them on? Probably only if I lose all the better tied ones...

Someone mentioned a match, does burning off the material weaken the hook?

 

[trout trekker]

Some of the greatest artists in history have painted over a used canvas. I cut 'em down, reclaim what I can. No reason to waste a resource. Got a junker in your fly box that you've been picking around trip after trip, get it out of there, cannibalize it for what is reusable. No reason to memorialize the poorest examples of your artwork.

Sorry Scotty, didn't realize that you'd signed off the thread input.

Dave

 

[mike_r]

Just remember when tying trout flies: "less is more" just like the old Lite beer commercials! If it doesn't look right after 2 or 3, take a break; then figure out where your proportions look off and make corrections, ie less dubbing! It will always be easier to razor off the materials prior to any head cement has been absorbed by the thread and materials.

I salvage hooks, and more importantly, tungsten beads from the many midges I tie that will begin to unravel after multiple fish caught on a given fly. I tie as needed throughout the year, knowing what works and what I feel I must have in the box. Having those particular color beads around for last minute tying binges keeps me sane. Pays to recycle for me because the nearest shop is an hour away, and they often are lacking the beads I need right at the crucial moment (night before a planned outing)


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