Fly Tying: Wet Flies
by
Eugene Macri

Wet Flies are relatively cheap to tie. You do not use expensive hackle and body material, tinsel, ribbing, wings and other needed materials reasonable. Soft Hackle Wets are even cheaper to tie consisting of mainly fur, silk or other body material and bit of hen or grouse hackle. Below is a list of the basics to get you started in fly tying wet flies.

Fly Tying Vise

You can open a real can of worms with arguments on a fly tying vise. However, you actually get a decent vise for most of your fly tying for under $30.00. What about the $200 to $500 vises? Well that's up to you but for most wet flies and most patterns an economy vise will do you well and you'll have a lot more money for materials.

Wet Fly Body Material

Fur: Rabbit all colors. You can buy a great selection in little bags that most fly tying shops have. Get all the colors and you mix your own for special patterns. Rabbit is relatively cheap. You can also buy whole dyed skins and mix your own blends. I recommend you get one of the small coffee grinders that are sold all over. You can get one for under $20.00 and you can mix your own furs for fly bodies. I also would get some muskrat, beaver, squirrel, mink and fox fur. Once again you can buy pieces or in pre shredded bags.
Chenille: Get yourself a variety of colors and sizes and also get some of the newer ultra bright stuff to.
Tinsel: Gold and Silver will do in various widths
Copper Wire: Various sizes to rib bodies.
Floss: A variety of colors and widths
Synthetic Blends: There are a number of combinations of fur and synthetic mixed as well as just synthetics for body material. There is no simple answer what to buy. Go slowly and try a few and see if they work for you.
Peacock Herl: Many different varieties.

 
Wet Fly Winging Material

Duck Quills: In gray and brown and a few other dyed colors if you want.
Antron yarn; Can be used on emerger type patterns
Ring Neck Pheasant: A whole lot feathers can be used for a variety of purposes; so can other types of pheasants and birds
Squirrel Tails: All colors and you can also get these dyed.
Hackle: Can be used as winging material in variety of colors and styles.
 

Wet Fly Hackle

Hen Hackle is relatively cheap and can be used on a variety of patterns. Get the necks in grizzly, brown grizzly, brown, tan, reddish brown, blue dun etc.
Guinea Hackle: You can buy in bags or necks. Still fairly cheap.
Grouse feathers and hackle. You can buy it by the bags or the entire grouse skin. Used on a variety of soft hackled patterns
Ring Neck Pheasants and other pheasants. Makes a variety of fly patterns
Partridge feathers and hackle: Bags or skin. Makes great soft hackles
Dyed Mallard-Wood Duck. The dyed mallard is cheaper and make sure you get some the lemon dyed because it makes a great sulfur hackles.

For Tail material you can use a variety of hackles, hair, and feathers. So there you have it. There are many other things you can use too but this is a good starting point. If you don't already have it get yourself a pattern book. Have a good time fly tying.