4 great places to find bargains on fly tying materials

A great untruth has been told to generations of fly anglers. And even though this deception arose from the best of intentions—to encourage people to take up fly tying—it’s time to come clean: tying your own flies won’t save you money.

Well, make that probably won’t. If you only tie a handful of patterns that you use (and lose) a lot, such as Woolly Buggers or Clouser Deep Minnows, you can purchase just a few materials and fabricate flies for a quarter of their retail price. But that’s not how it usually goes. Once you get into tying flies, you tend to accumulate stuff, often shelling out for materials that will take years to use up. So while tying your own flies is immensely rewarding on many levels, breaking even is a more realistic monetary goal than saving a few bucks.

As always, fly-fishing shops remain an excellent source of information and advice, and the only place to get quality fly-tying tools and premium materials. But if you’re thrifty and enjoy scavenging and improvising, you can break even on your materials a little faster by seeking out bargains from non-traditional sources…

Looking for even more help? You can see all of Outdoor Canada’s expert fly tying tips at www.outdoorcanada.ca/flytyingtips. And for fly pattern ideas, check out our running list of the all-time best flies for Canadian anglers at www.outdoorcanada.ca/musthaveflies.

#1 Dollar stores

If you open your mind to the possibilities, almost every aisle of a dollar store offers materials at rock-bottom prices. In the crafting section, I’ve bought bags of marabou, pheasant, peacock and saddle feathers. It’s rarely top quality, but it’s good enough for many streamers and wet flies. Even if only half the feathers in a package are usable, you’re still ahead. I’ve also found glass beads for nymphs, googly eyes for big poppers and cheap yarn that would be itchy in a sweater but works great for wet-fly bodies.

From the hardware aisle, I’ve bought fine wire for ribbing and cheap bungee cords—strip ’em apart and you’ve got thin rubber strands for wiggly legs. I also use dollar-store nail polish for head cement and for painting eyes on large flies.

#2 Arts and crafts stores

Years ago, I took my young offspring shopping for art supplies at our local craft superstore and came home with bags of goodies for myself, as well. Craft shops stock a wide variety of feathers, though you have to watch the prices, especially compared to dollar stores. However, you can often find deals on beads, tinsel and wire, as well as chenille, embroidery thread (for bodies, not tying) and fuzzy or sparkly yarns that make very interesting streamer and nymph bodies.

Arts and crafts stores are also where I get closed-cell foam sheets, cylinders and chunks that I use in my bass bugs. And I’ve had good luck with brightly coloured synthetic craft fur as a body dubbing, especially on saltwater flats flies.