Fly Tying on a budget: Cheap Sources for Materials

I’m sure many of us have said at some point “I’ll tie my own flys! It’ll be much cheaper than buying them”. O how wrong we were. You would have to tie many, many flies in order to make tying your own cheaper than buying them. Fly tying materials can be so expensive.

Sure it’s often only five to fifteen dollars at a time, (a bag of marabou here, and a bag of rabbit zonkers there), but it quickly adds up. Certain items at specialty fly shops can be expensive.

Many fly tying materials can be found cheaper at non-fly shop locations though. I’ve put together a list of locations for you to try out, and what to look for when you are there.

That being said, keep in mind there are some fly tying materials that you should never cheap out. Don’t go cheap on hooks, and cheap dry fly hackle never works well.

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Craft Stores

Many of the most popular craft stores are a goldmine for cheap fly tying materials. You do have to be careful buying materials from a craft store though, as things can become very expensive very quickly. Craft stores (I go to Micheals personally) are similar to specialty fly shops since they both carry many similar materials, it’s important to remember that both stores also price materials at a premium.

The trick is that fly shops and craft stores price different items at a premium, so certain items that would be expensive at a fly shop are going to be much cheaper at a craft store. The craft department of many big box stores carries a similar (albeit much more limited) selection of materials.

Items to look out for at a craft store:

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  Wire – Copper wire specifically, but you can also fine cheap lead-substitute wire as well.

• Boxes – Craft stores have boxes that are custom built for being storage containers for small craft materials, and these will work beautifully for fly tying materials (think beads, hooks, wire, thread, etc etc the list goes on). They also have smaller containers that you can make into DIY fly boxes.

• Craft fur – While the quality won’t quite be that of fur from a fly shop, but it’s certainly servicable. The fur tends to be shorter, but as long as you are using it for smaller streamers, craft fur from a craft store will do just fine. If you’re tying big streamers, click here.

• Thread – Not really for tying, but for making the bodies of flies.

• Foam – This is the real reason fly tyers go to a craft store. you can get large sheets of foam in so many different colours for a buck or two each. Much cheaper than the same foam at a fly shop. If you’re not using hackle to float a fly, it probably relies on foam to float.

• Wool/yarn – Wool yarn makes excellent dubbing material. It’s hard to buy just a little bit though. Try convincing your girlfriend/wife that she should learn to knit/crochet, and steal some of her yarn for your own purposes.

• Mylar tubing – This can often be found for sale much cheaper than you’d be able to find it elsewhere

• Bead chains – Used for creating eyes on streamers and nymphs, bead chains can be sourced from craft stores for cheap.

• Glass beads – You can find excellent deals on glass beads, and craft shops often have a larger variety of glass beads than a fly shop does. The only issue may be finding extremely small sizes for midge patterns (size 20 and smaller). Most other size beads you should be able to find. Look for “seed beads” when you’re shopping, they’re the really small kind.

• Peacock and Ostrich hurl can be found quite cheap at a craft shop. Quality is lower than at a fly shop, but it’s a good source if you’re a beginner or a tyer on a budget.

• Tinsel, organza, swiss straw, googly eyes and more can also be found quite cheap at a craft store. Use your imagination! I frequently use googly eyes instead of the specially designed flies, they actually look good if used in the right size.

Note: Avoid the chenille at craft shops, as it’s almost always pipe cleaners. I can tell you from trial and error that the metallic centre does not work well for tying flys.

Dollar Stores

Dollar stores can also be quite productive when shopping for fly tying supplies. I like to go after a major holiday to get plenty of cheap materials in a certain colour.

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  Beads – Can find a ton of cheap beads, often only small enough for very large flies

• Paint brushes – The bristles make excellent tails for mayfly dry flies and various nymph patterns. You can find them in either natural, or bright colours.

• Cotton balls – Cotton is a good dubbing material, especially for building bulk on flies. I’ll sometimes build an underbody of cotton, and dub the “real” dubbing over top of it on bulky nymphs or streamers.

• Clear nail polish – I use $0.99 bottles of clear nail polish for any application that calls for fly tying cement. It’s much cheaper and has served me extremely well. A good trick is you can thicken nail polish and head cement by leaving it uncovered on a table for a day or two. The liquid will start to evaporate and leave the thicker stuff behind. I always use a bit of nail polish on my whip finish, and it really helps the fly last longer.

• Coloured nail polish – I buy this stuff mostly to paint jig heads, but I will use to colour the head of a fly, or perhaps put eyes on a streamer.

• Wigs/hair extensions – If you can find a green wig after St Patties day for a buck, you have an near unlimited amount of green streamer material. Those colourful clips on hair extensions that are so popular with kids often come in very “fishy” colours like reds, pinks, and greens.

  

• Squirmy wormy material – The squirmy wormy fly has made quite an impact on the fly tying community. You can get cheap material for this fly from the dollar store in the form of children’s toys.
• Mop fly material – The mop fly has a similar cult status in the fly tying community as the squirmy wormy fly. This type of material can be found on a number of different products at a dollar store. I found a “glove” covered in these little mop bumps used for cleaning cars.

• Holiday decorations – As mentioned above, holidays produce plenty of certain colours. There are lots of synthetic fibers to be had, as well as tinsel and occasionally some marabou. Valentine’s day produces red and pink materials, St. Patties day produces green, Halloween gives plenty of black and orange goodies, and Christmas gives lots of tinsel in gold and silver, as well as plenty of reds and greens.

Hardware stores

• Storage – I have a lot of my fly tying material in on of those storage containers meant for nails, screws, and other miscellaneous pieces of hardware. I have yet to find a fly storage solution that suits my needs better than one of these storage chests.Alternatively, affordable storage can be found here. Hardware and Craft Cabinet (Amazon Link)

• Wire – Copper wire, as we as wire for ribbing can be found from hardware stores.

• Shrink tubing – Can make a very neat head on mid to large sized streamers. Be careful when you shrink it not to set the whole fly on fire!
• Bungee cords (Octopus straps) – These are made up of hundreds of little rubber bands inside, which make fantastic rubber legs. The rubber bands can even be coloured with permanent marker. Avoid the bungee cords from dollar stores, they are typically filled with a useless, barley stretchable strip of rubber.

Beauty Section

Yes, even the beauty section has some good sources of fly tying materials.

• Eyelashes –  Specifically stick on eyelashes. These make fantastic tails for mayfly nymphs and dry fly patterns. They even curl upwards the same way a mayfly tail does. If you really want to get precise, you can cut the fibers so there are only two/three tails to perfectly imitate a mayfly. I got these on sale at a grocery stores beauty department.
• As mentioned earlier, nail polish is great not just for fly heads, but jigheads as well.

Free sources of fly tying materials

• Pets – This almost warrant’s a full post by itself. There are many breeds of dogs and cats out there, and many have fur that will work for fly tying. You can steal some from the brush for dubbing, or if you’re feeling really sneaky, you can snip a little bit of a long-hair breed to use for streamers. Other pets to think about include rabbits, hamsters, and birds. You could tie some really fun flys with the feathers that fall off naturally from a parrot for example.

• Old clothes – Have any old clothes with pieces of fur on it? Raid them and re-use the fur! Any cotton sweaters can be raided for dubbing, and thin leather can be cut up and used for tails on mouse patterns. Elastic bands in underwear, socks, and other clothes can be used as rubber legs.

• Hunting –  You have a goldmine of materials if you hunt, or have a friend that does. Bucktails are the first thing to come to mind, but deer body hair, elk, fox, rabbit, and squirrel hair can all be had. Ducks, geese, partridges, and pheasants are all coming targets for hunters and provide excellent materials. It’s important that you either look into the proper treatment of these materials or keep them separate from your main fly tying materials. improperly treated fur or feathers can carry mites that will ruin your other materials very quickly.
• Roadkill –  An extension of hunting. You’re not truly addicted to fly tying until you’ve snipped the tail off a pine squirrel squashed on the road. It should go without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) that there’s plenty of opportunity for nasty bacteria or parasites if you do this, be sure to properly sterilize any materials you gather this way and wear gloves.

Here are a few things that you should never cheap out on.

• Feathers – Specifically dry fly feathers. I highly doubt you’ll find quality fly tying feathers anywhere other than a dedicated fly shop, especially if you are looking for feathers to use on dry flies. You may find some large feathers that work for large streamers, but often the dye fades from these rather quickly if purchased from discount locations. You can find “okay” marabou at craft shops, but I would still pass.

• Hooks – The hook is perhaps the most important component of a fly. Many anglers have learned the hard way that you always use quality hooks.

What does everybody else think? Are there any materials that I left out? Any that you don’t think should be on the list? Let me know in the comments below. I’m always on the lookout for more sources of affordable fly tying materials.

If you’re knew to fly tying, check out 11 Tools Every New Fly Tyer Needs, or these recommendations for starting tying patterns.