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Fly Tyer Briefcase – DIY

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI think this is a story that a lot of flytyers have been through: When I started fly fishing I purchased flies and brought them with me on a trip, noticing which was good or not. Then I started tying myself, looking at the experience I had with the flies and was happy with that, but I was tying up a lot of different patterns to ensure I wouldn’t be empty of a particular size.

Then came the next step: bringing with me tying gear to tie on-the-spot, or if the weather was bad! But, I brought with me stuff in plastic bags, and everything was messy, and the bottles of varnish had to be wrapped and things was all over the place. So: there are some cases you can buy out there, but they are expensive, and they don’t fit what you want, so after work today I got one of these briefcases that are meant to transport cameras and so on, and got to work (these should be able to get a lot of different places)

The inside is well padded and the material is “pre-cut” in small squares that you easily can tear off to get your bottles and gear into.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI have half the briefcase for my bottles of varnish, the vice and all the other things I need when I go outside my normal tying station.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe other half I can then fill up with hooks, dubbing, hair and everything else I need for that particular trip. Of course: this is not the ideal place to bring along capes, but I’ll see what I can do with the lid there to get room for some more.

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The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference

dryfly.me.the_fly_tiers_benchside_reference
Title:  The Fly Tier’s Benchside Reference
Author: Ted Leeson, Jim Schollmeyer
ISBN-10: 1571881263
ISBN-13: 978-1571881267
Pages: 444
For me this is the reference book that I keep on my desk: this is not about patterns, discussions about what to tie for different species or rambling about non-essential things, but to the point descriptions about specific techniques that you need for achieving the best result. Each technique is presented short, but with a very clear description accompanied with pictures for that specific part of the fly. In addition to the main explanation that has pictures with blue background there are also alternate steps (for achieving the same result) on some of the techniques to show how it can be done with a different approach.

I use this book as a reference when tying (very good when looking at online videos where quality is not that good all the time) and for sitting down and learning new techniques – Just pick a section (Extended Bodies) and implement all the different techniques in a training session.

The book contains 400+ tying methods presented with 3000+ color pictures, and have chapters like:

  • Hook Preparation
  • Thread Handling
  • Tails and Trailing Shucks
  • Dubbed Bodies
  • Woven BodiesUpright Wings
  • Parachute Hackle

and many more. The full index and some of the material is available for preview if you click on the cover on the book at amazon.com