Making Fly Fishing Lures

Making your own fly fishing lures can appear to be a difficult task for a novice but with a bit of practice and the right tools it's not that hard to produce your very own handmade flies.

It is important to remember that when you are creating your own lures your are trying to replicate various bugs, beetles, moths and insects, theses creature are ugly so even if your lure doesn't appear to be perfect imitation to the human eye it can still appear appetizing to a fish.

There are instructions available to make many of the popular flies but as you become more confident in your fly making you may want to create your own flies based on baits found in your local fishing area. This is one of the great advantages of making your own flies as you can see which flies work best and tweak until you create the perfect fly.

Tools Required

Some of the tools you will need to get started:

Fly tying vice: The vice is the most expensive piece of equipment required for fly tying and is essential if you want to achieve professional looking results. There are three main types of vices available, they are the lever-clamp vise, the spring-clamp vise, and the screw-clamp vise. It is a personal preference as to what type of vice you use, try them out in the shop to see which one give you the amount of control you like.

Needle nose pliers: You may already have a pair of these but it doesn't hurt to have a couple of different size pairs. Pliers are used to shape wire and other pliable items used in fly making.

Fine point scissors: You should have a pair of good sharp fine point scissors, some people use surgeons scissors but these can be quite expensive. You need the fine point scissors to be able to get into tight spots, regular scissors just can't do this. A good pair of scissors will last you a last you a lifetime so the investment is well worth it.

Dubbing needle: This is essentially used as a utility tool used for applying cement glue, separating feathers and any many other task when a fine point is required.

Bobbin: The fly tying bobbin holds the thread spool and allows the thread to be fed out under precisely controlled tension.

Materials Required

The materials will vary depending on what type of fly you are making but to start with you will most likely need:

Feathers and animal hair: Many fishing stores will stock a starter kit containing various feathers and hairs to get you started. You can also collect your own feathers from your your local area.

Yarn: Specialist fly tying yarn should be purchased, these yarns come in a wide range of colors and thicknesses. If you are following a set of instructions the required yarns should be listed.

Hooks: Many of the most popular lures are made using #14 up to a #24 size hooks, purchase a few different sizes of quality hooks when starting out.

Instructional Videos

These video lessons will show you what you need and how to make your own fly fishing lure. The lessons demonstrate the making of a buzzer fly, a simple and effective beginners fly.