Fishing Forum

I was checking out the orvis website the other day and came across a pretty good looking deal. they had a trout fly assortment on sale for 9.95 for 20 flies. Had a little bit of eveything in it. some dries, some nymphs, some woolys. how is the quality of the orvis flies? are they just a mass produced piece of junk, or is it something worth purchasing?
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[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Before I started tying I had picked up some pretty decent flies from Orvis. Heck all flies are massed produced. People sit at a bench and tie the same fly pattern over & over again. BTW 50¢ is a good price.[/size][/#008000][/font]
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I have that assortment. Those are good flies. It's a one time deal only per customer on that assortment.
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Orvis flies are some of the better for the most part, but anytime I buy flies and with the intention of them lasting for awhile, I do put a dab of head cement or Zap-A-Gap on the head just to make sure they last awhile.
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I have them also and they are good flies. They give beginners all the major flies you would start with. They are also labeled which helps beginners learn what fly is what. Seems most the Orvis flies are tied in India. Fly Sweat Shop? who knows, but they work is all I know and seem to last and @ $0.50 the price is right.
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actually i think they are tied in Kenya. I am moving to a place this summer that is huge in fly fishing so I am just trying to build up my fly box before the summer. I will be moving to dubois, wyoming and fishing the wind river. they have a couple fly shops in town, with good flies, but i won't be able to find any flies under 1.50 a pop, so i figure stocking up on some inexpensive flies will get me by until I need to support the local economy, which I probably will enough.
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Right On and good choice!
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You are right, it is Kenya now that you mentioned it. You should also check out EBAY. I have bought many flies from there (well over 30 dozen). If you by a few here and there you will learn who has the good flies and which ones last. I by them by the dozen and some I get as cheap as $0.05 each. For that much, losing flies is not a big deal to me.

I also order flies from TheFlyStop.com. They have a great selection and ship very fast. Most of their flies like BH copper johns run $0.55 ea.
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Been awhile since I bought any flies from Orvis. They were being tied in Sri Lanka, back then, in, yes, sweat-shop conditions. But you wouldn't know that from the pricetag.

Virtually every one of those flies unraveled while casting. After the third or fourth one came apart I was starting to come apart at my own seams.

But I learned one valuable lesson: Cheap or expensive, unless you know who tied the fly, assume that it needs a drop of head cement---at a minimum---to bind everything together.

Brook
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[center][font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Good point Brook. I didn't realize the value of head cement or what it actually was until I started tying my own flies. Without a question a little dab will do you! LOL[/size][/#008000][/font]
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Using head cement is just one of the lessons you learn once you start tying your own.

I'm a firm believer that every flyfisherman should learn the basics of tying. Even if you never actually tie your own, you learn exactly what it takes to build durable flies, and how to recognize quality.

I also urge all flyfishermen to attend at least one show, where they can watch good tyers at work. Again, you learn what makes a good fly; lessons that stay with you forever.

Ironically, I didn't realize how important that could be until I started doing presentations at such shows myself. Had never been to one until then: what an eye opener. I still have sample flies I was given at the first one of those, and that had to have been 16 or 17 years ago.

Brook
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I don't think I will be able to get head cement in my immediate area unless I order it. Will a clear nail polish do about the same thing? or should I try to order some when i order some more flies?
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[font "Garamond"][#008000][size 4]Believe that every fly tyer has a bottle of this stuff readily available. Check out your better halfs nail polish stuff for Sally Hard As Nails. Every drug store sells this product.[/size][/#008000][/font]
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Clear nail polish is fine. Most tyers prefer Hard As Nails, at least for a finish coat. But I don't think it really matters all that much.

Make sure you get some nail polish remover as well, to act as a thinner.

You want the polish to be thin enough so that it's absorbed into the threads, not merely coating them. Then the final coat can be straight nail polish if you want a hard, shiny head. If not, don't bother. The fish won't care.

BTW, clear nail polish, even the premium priced brands, is still less expensive than buying head cement.

Brook
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Sally Hansen is all I use. Head cement always dries up on me, but the nail polish for some reason doesn't. When I am tying flies, I coat the thread itself, then whip finish. Like Brooke said, it gets a good layer of nail polish all the way down to the bottom thread that way.

And I like the shiny head[laugh]
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That wouldn't work for those of us who whip finish by hand, FlyGoddess. We'd get it all over our hands, which would soon be coated with bits of fluff, thread clippings, etc.

But if you thin the nail polish it gets sucked down into the underlying thread layers, as well as the final whip, binding everything together.

Lots of people like the shiny head. And British flydressers, particularly salmon fly tyers, would never release a fly that wasn't finished that way. But it's done for the eye of the angler, cuz the fish don't care one way or the other.
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[u]That wouldn't work for those of us who whip finish by hand, FlyGoddess. We'd get it all over our hands, which would soon be coated with bits of fluff, thread clippings, etc. [/u]




I didn't mention about it getting all over for a reason....LOL I can still do that even with the whip tool.
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I gots sooooooooooo much to learn.. ;-)
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[quote SdDryFly] I will be moving to dubois, wyoming and fishing the wind river. they have a couple fly shops in town, with good flies, but i won't be able to find any flies under 1.50 a pop, so i figure stocking up on some inexpensive flies will get me by until I need to support the local economy, which I probably will enough.[/quote]

I used to fish the East Fork of the Wind - one of the easiest streams in the area. For me the copper nymph worked the best, followed by the wooly bugger and trudes. But you're right about the price of flies in town or Jackson for that matter. Nothing wrong with the flies from Sri Lanka, Colombia or Kenya. Large retailers like Orvis and LLBean (and at one time A&F) used overseas tiers because of price point. Quality followed suit.






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