Craft Store Fly Tying Finds, Holsinger's Fly Shop, Episode 507

This week's video is a different kind of video. Instead of doing a tying video, this week I decided to share some materials I picked up at local craft stores that I use regularly to tie some very cool patterns with. Hopefully seeing some of the flies I show during the videos gives you some ideas to create patterns of your own. When I started tying 36 years ago we didn't have all of the materials that we have available to us today at your local fly shop (or your favorite online shop www.holsingersflyshop.com). We scrounged around and used whatever was available that we could find and a fair amount of those materials were from craft store. Now it's amazing the amount of materials a fly shop can carry and we are getting things from all over the world. I love the fly design aspect of fly tying. It is where I get to express my creative side and I love going through the stores and looking at things and trying to figure out how I can incorporate them into flies.
I hope you enjoy this different style of video and if you do drop a comment down below and let me know. Also if there is any materials in the craft store that you use that I missed let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching and supporting www.holsingersflyshop.com
-Shawn

[@evanmnelson]

Sewing thread wax is another great item to pick up at the craft store. A little puck will last a long time and it really helps when you need just a little more grip on slippery materials like deer hair.

[@ronporreca9574]

Great info, Shawn. I use a lot of acrylic yarn from craft stores to blend my own dubbing. Toss in some Angelina fibers and it makes a great Senyo’s laser dub clone! I especially like that I can control the fiber length for different pattern sizes. Not to mention I can make any color my mind comes up with!

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thanks Ron. Yarn is something I need to mess with more and making some of my own dubbing blends.

[@johnkies5343]

Been going to JoAnn and Michael's for some time. As they change inventory you can make.so.e interesting finds. Bought a plastic thread caddy to keep my thread separated and easy to find.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

That is awesome! I have a thread holder rack from there that I have hanging on the wall in my tying studio. Love it, it makes all my threads visible and easy to find.

[@MrCinnamon123]

Marabou, rabbit pelts, pheasant tails, wire and ostrich hurls also. Again lower quality I haven’t noticed that the fish mind at all. 😊

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Rabbit pelts, that's a good one that I didn't think of. I remember seeing them but didn't think much about them. It's too easy to buy and use precut conker strips for me to mess with cutting my own. However I like making my own dubbing blends so I may have to look into that.

[@guitarhiker4449]

Good timing on this one! Was just talking with my uncle about this sort of thing. Funny he showed me a fly woven with embroidery thread similar to yours, but without the beadhead. I also went to Michaels craft store recently to buy skeins of yarn for an egg fly that works well for browns at one of the tribs i fish. Glass beads are great! Seen some really nice fly patterns tied using craft store beads. I'm still pretty new to fly tying. But i have been fly fishing for years so i know what kind of flies i like to use, so that knowledge is helping me some. Your videos especially and a few other fly tyers i watch on here are helping greatly, so thank you!! Fish on!!

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Great!! I'm glad my videos are helpful to you. I forgot all about using the yarn to make sucker spawn when I made this video. I tied a lot of that when I started tying. I'll probably do a woven nymph pattern on a video sometime soon. They are fun and easy once you get the routine down.

[@gregstinogel2217]

Great video. I've been going to Joann for years. Been using DMC floss for woven nymphs, great stuff, and cheap. Also picked up some wool yarn to make dubbing. I buy most of my stuff from fly shops, but craft store too. Thanks again, I really enjoy your videos!

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thank you very much for your comment. Ive been using the DMC floss for years too. I really like the metallic threads from them too they add a nice classy touch to streamer wings.

[@simonghantous8034]

I enjoy ur videos a lot, and thank you for the different things u show. U can use Ballons too to tie different body colors. Kids Ballon.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

I'm gonna have to try the balloons. I had another guy comment about using them. Surprisingly I never tried them before. I've used condoms and gloves but I've never cut up a balloon.

[@jamesvatter5729]

Even though I'd seen woven nymphs, Ed Koch's book on midges got me hooked on embroidery floss. My best day ever at the Paradise was with his thread midges. Although not from a craft store, another thing guys looking for budget materials can use are the strands from mesh produce bags. There are many colors available. They can be used flat or twisted into a rope. You can create slender, multicolored bodies, ribs, etc.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

I was tying some CDC midges this week using one strand of embroidery thread for the ribbing. I'll probably do a video of that one in a couple weeks because really I like the looks of that one. Never heard of using the produce bag. That's a new one for me. I know a local guy that does a lot with foam and he uses the non slip mats that you put under rugs or in cabinet drawers to make ant bodies for floating ants.

[@MarcTelesha]

Permanent Markers!!!! I got 100 color markers and use white and cream materials and color them. Works great.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

For Sure!!! I bought the big sharpie assortment pack at Christmas last year. I use them for a lot of different things.

[@tomt5176]

Hi Shawn. Good idea for a different flavor video. I’m a craft store tier looking for the same kinda stuff. I chuckled at the glove cause I do that too and my wife asks if there’s anything else on my mind - I raise my eyebrows a couple times real fast and she shakes her head. Thanks for sharing.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

hahaha my wife is used to crazy purchases like that now she doesn't even ask. 😂

[@FLYFISHTIE]

nice video!

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thanks Mark

[@MrSofthackle]

I’ve been using Guinea fowl feathers from the craft store for my softhackles. You’re right the quality of isn’t the greatest but you can tie softhackles in all kinds of garish colors. And guess what? Trout and panfish love them. I also use foam from the craft store and it works really well.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Yeah I have a full drawer of foam in different colors and thicknesses. Those Guinea feathers are perfect for tying for fun. The big problem is no uniformity in the feathers. You get what you get

[@naturalverities]

Beyond craft stores, thrift stores have bins of plush toys for super cheap and they can provide exotic craft furs. Also fashion accessories like scarves can be picked apart to obtain unique textured cordage. I even tie from scraps of trash I find on the ground, so fun to improvise!

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

That's a great point. I know guys that would hit those stores for the mink stoles to use for dubbing.

[@joeg5414]

that fish is staring at you😂

[@edherrmann182]

I am glad for videos like this. Several fly tiers that make videos often interject craft store and other specialty stores that have materials we use as fly tiers. I’ve been using embroidery thread as floss bodies on flies for years. I use to find a large selection in a sewing store. However, hobby lobby, Joanne’s, others craft stores have unlimited supplies. You named a few of the useful ones you picked up. I bought supplies from multiple outside the box types of materials. Several years ago I needed some biots. I found a source that made costumes for the theater and movies. I got them very cheap. But now I got to figure out what to do with two 3 foot lengths of biots that were used to make a skirt. There are 20 or more lifetimes of biots! Feathers, beads, markers, foam, eyes, you name it, I bought it. Feathers are ok, but as you said, quality is less than perfect. Since I try to tie salmon flys and old types of wet flys, many materials kept costs down. But I still love all the fly shops on line.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thanks for the comment!! One other comment I would add about craft store materials which goes the same for fly shops is that dye lots are not all the same. The same color product may very from lot to lot. If you see something you like grab it while its there.

[@burtonbrocious171]

Your a true fly tier shawn wherever I'm shopping I always think of ways to use materials I see. Craft stores are honey holes I get latex balloons glitter and tools tks shawn 😊

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thanks Burton, I never thought about the latex balloons. That would work great!

[@williammattos5]

Love the gloves caddis. Great suggestion to experiment with.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

One of my friends at the tying shows Safet Nikocevic is the master of using the rubber gloves for his caddis patterns. He markers his gloves. I just happened to find one the color I liked.

[@davehall2160]

Thanks Shawn, a lot of good info

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thanks Dave!!!

[@frankmonroe8320]

Long time ago you told me use what you've got. Words to tie by. I find some nice cheap peacock at the craft store. Have a great new year.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

You too Frank!!! I like using my flashy new materials but I'm still and old school style tier and have been at this since before the fly shops had the selections we have today. We had to think outside the box and use what we had.

[@coreystoner4129]

I have bought so much from craft stores for fly tying it’s crazy. I bought sone sulky tinsel at Jo Ann’s for ribs. Endless choices at the craft store if you are willing to think outside the box

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Yeah I forgot to mention Sulky and Krenik too. There's a lot you can use if you look hard enough.

[@coreystoner4129]

@@HolsingersFlyShop agreed. If I go out of town to go fishing or hunting I always look for craft stores to see what they have

[@bobmatuzak2263]

My wife is a quilter/crafter and whenever she says she’s making a JoAnn’s or Michael’s run I volunteer to drive😂

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Haha I usually have to talk my wife into going in there. Sometimes it's her but more often me. 😆

[@lambertsaldi1550]

Shawn Great Stuff 👍 Happy new year!! The Vermonter

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

Thanks a lot and same to you!!!

[@MarcTelesha]

I would say when it comes to foam Eva closed cell foam is 1000% better then open cell foam. Just read the labels.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

The closed cell is way better however I do like the open cell that sometimes comes as packing material in shipments to use to make posts on emergers. Check out on old video of mine with Randy Buchanan called the Heathen. he was a local guy here by me that came up with this pattern and it's a killer around here.

[@joutdoorsmen23]

Shawn this was a awesome video tonight it would be great if you tie a few using craft materials, just thought always appreciate your videos

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

I wil work a few of them in. I will try to get a woven one in here soon. I'm trying to figure out how to get the camera angle right to show how to do the weave.

[@joutdoorsmen23]

@@HolsingersFlyShop that would be awesome Shawn thanks

[@jthrash75]

Great video. I also grab those bags of assorted feathers, craft furs, and some of the other products you mentioned I have found a product called scrubby sparkle yarn which is just like a medium polar chenille. I use stretch cording from creatology which is just like d-rib stretch tubing, creatology also makes knotting cord which is great. It's got 5 or 6 strands and when you pull them apart it's the same as my crystal flash. I also get beading wire, comes in a lot of sizes and colors, to use as ribs on midges, nymphs, or in streamers.

[@HolsingersFlyShop]

I will have to look for the stretch cording you mentioned, That looks like something I might like. The knotting cord I use for my white death streamers which I need to tie a big batch of right now. Thanks for commenting!!

[@jthrash75]

​@@HolsingersFlyShopHey, anything to give ideas here. As fly tyers we need to stick together! Looking forward to seeing your upcoming vids.