Essential Tools
by Dave Cammiss on January 27, 2009
- Vice – Today you can buy an adequate vice for as little as £20, but you can pay hundreds. Buy the best you can afford.
- Scissors – You will need a pair of fine pointed very sharp scissors. Embroidery scissors are good. A good pair should last you for years as long as you don’t go cutting wire with them.
- Bobbin Holder – The early models had no ceramic inserts in the tube and eventually started fraying the threads. It is worth the extra cost to buy ceramic models.
- Hackle Pliers – Basic models are not expensive and will do the job adequately. I still have my original one that my mentor made for me from thick wire, and it still works.
- Dubbing Needle – I still use hat pins. They are handy for cleaning out varnish from the hook eye and applying varnish to the head of the finished fly. You can buy the proper tool cheaply.
- Threader – An indispensable tool for feeding your thread onto the bobbin holder.
- Whip Finish Tool – If you can use one of these then use it. If you cannot , tie off with the traditional double half hitch ( like me ).
- Varnish – You only need clear to start with. Apply with dubbing needle. Very good advice is to remember to put the lid straight back on the bottle when finished.
- Beeswax – Indispensable for dubbing.
- Pliers – A pair of small fine nosed pliers for de-barbing hooks
- Dubbing Brush – Used for raising dubbed hair. Make one easily yourself using an old lollipop stick and glueing velcro to both sides at one end.
Tagged as:
equipment,
essentials,
fly tying,
flytying,
information,
tools
{ 78 comments… read them below or add one }
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Hi Dave, great site – thank you so much for sharing everything with us. As far as a whip finishing tool is concerned, I managed to make one which works superbly out of a coat-hanger bent with a pair of pliers.
Hi Ru
Thanks for your comments. Good to know that we have been able to help.
I think I will continue tying off using my fingers, after more than 60 yrs I am too old to learn too many new tricks.
Happy Fishing
DaveC.and the Team
Hi Alex
The Green Drake a dry fly pattern of many years standing. I must confess to never having fished it……I prefer the nymph. Dressing as follows.
Hook l/s 12 ( kamasan 830)
Body olive floss with fine wire rib
Hackle olive cock
Wings mallard drake breast feathers dyed olive.
The traditional way is to wind on the hackle in front and behind the fanwing. It might be worth trying tie the hackle parachute style .
Hope this helps
Happy fishing
DaveC.and the Team
i dont know who but someone was looking for natural materials try the book dyeing and bleaching it is about natural fly materilals
Hello Dave,
may I just comment on what a superb site this is, I’ve only just taken up fly fishing, and a good friend is helping me with casting instruction, and tackle tips. One thing I’m keen to do is tie my own flies, and your instruction is great, very easy to follow, and very helpful, I found your site via Youtube, it’s now in my favourites.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us all.
Best regards
Steve
Hello dave,
my name’s Travis and i live in the states. i also found your website via youtube and i must say your instruction is extremely usefull and easy to follow. I myself have in the past two weeks started tying myself, and have never fly fished before. i have a rod, but the weather in central texas has not been cooperative just yet.:) i was curious if you had fished for rainbows in the states, and if so how does it compare with your stomping grounds? thanks a million
Hello i was just wondering what vise is used by dave in these videos? Also do you have any input as to what is a good vise to get or brands to look at?
I dont know what dave uses but if you are new to fly tying i would suggest a Veniard full rotary vice. Lathkill tackle does them for under £30 and the P&P is less than £2 regardless of the weight of the items you buy.
I have no affiiation with Lathkill but i make no secret of the fact that i think its gods gift to the fly tyer. I suggest you phone instead of using the web site as sometimes things are cheaper when you call direct and the advice you get is always good, also if Chris does not have exactly what you want he can help you better if you phone.
Hi from Oz.
As a newby to fly tying at 64 I am really impressed with your lessons. Have you ever considered putting them out on DVD and charging for them? I for one would be happy to pay for a DVD that contained all your lessons that I could play on my fly tying desktop DVD player and watch as I tie. I think it would be a great hit and might reap you some greater rewards for your efforts.
I look forward to the next lesson.
Cheers,
Graeme Carson
Hi Dave,
I’m just learning fly fishing/tying so at this point my flies are “as my grandson puts it” Rubbish. But I keep on trying.
Can you advise how to stell a wet fly from a dry fly.
Thanks for sharing.
D.M.
I have been fly fishing for a couple years now…. but I have still found this site very useful. Thank you for your time.
I am just getting started and have found this site to be much more than just a bit helpful. I stumbled onto the beginners lessons on youtube and got hooked on video’s. There is so much to learn on this site and with your help it doesn’t look to be as much of a chore as reading thru the stacks of books. I have been looking for a site like this since I am only getting started and am very glad you have taken the time to put up such a great site.
Thanks for your time and help
Blane R
Hi Blane R.
Thanks for your e-mail. Good to know you find the tutorials helpful.
If you have any problems e-mail me and I will endeavour to help.
Happy fishing
DaveC and the Team
Very easy to see and understand, Thanks
I found the videos on YouTube on my Blackberry phone. I have been watching a couple each day.
My wife and I took a fly fishing/fly tying class at a local community college several years ago. I took up fly tying at that time – mostly saltwater & warm water flies. There are not many trout streams in Florida.
I’ve never used a whip finish tool either. I either half hitch or use my fingers as a whip finisher. It is pretty easy to do, but hard to explain. A bodkin or dubbing needle is easily made with a dowel or cork for one end, a needle & some hot glue or other durable adhesive. I too have a griffin vise; a c-clamp model. It holds large & small hooks securely & is decently priced.
It’s been years since I tied any flies, but watching the videos is rekindling my interest.
Good job on instruction & the historical vignettes are interesting as well.
Hola, mi nombre es Martin espero que alguien hable español, yo vivo en patagonia Argentina y queria decirle que aprecio mucho los videos que publica, voy a probar algunos de modelos de moscas que usted ato, que me parecieron muy buenas,
Saludos
Dave,
Many thanks – once again – I am now well into North Country Spiders, and after a couple of hours as chair of my Club find them very theraputic, the best medicine for getting hot under the collar. CHEERS
Ni
Hi Ni
As an 11yr. old I was introduced to the world of north country spiders. partridge and orange/yellow, march brown, snipe and purple, waterhen bloa, greenwells glory and i still have the 1946 diary with all the patterns written out with the appropriate hackle glued alongside. how i wish i could be starting it all again.but i can dream.
happy fishing
dave c.
ps. excuse the small case…..only got one hand working at present.
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