In most parts of the world, winter is tying time.
Winter closed seasons in the Journal’s Tasmanian home, or the sheer cold in places out West, keep us off the water. It’s much more pleasant to be filling in those chilly winter days next to a log fire filling your fly box rather than being cold and wet on a river. But here in the Ozarks fishing is year round, and some of the best in the winter months. We grab time to tie flies when we can. Right now our team is in tying mode for the busy fall ahead. As usual, we should have been 
tying on the long hot days of August when the air conditioning was so nice, but that’s procrastination for you.
Now, we may put off the tying job, but most of us here spend plenty of time at a vice. Our four-seat tying table in the shop has been a trademark, until recently when the demands for more display space, forced the tying crew out to the back. There is a reason our fly tying selection is so big. There is several ex-commercial tiers here, Jim’s flies are local standards. We spend a bunch of time tying other key local patterns; you won’t find anywhere else.
Hence we get to answer a lot of fly tying questions, a lot of them about vices. Like anything else in fly fishing, your going to find a broad range of prices from $15 to the $800-plus European models; we were drooling over in a catalogue yesterday. They all hold hooks, some do it better than others, but do the big dollar vices do it that much better?? In part that question involves a couple of considerations: how much tying you do, and how much you like nice things.
Putting it simply, the more expensive vices are made from better materials. They will last longer, generally, hold hooks more solidly, and their finer engineering means they will feel solid, less wobbly. If you are a car type of person you will understand our analogy that tying on a $200 or better vice compared to a $10 vice is like closing the car door on a Mercedes, then doing it on a Hyundai. They will both drive you to the river but the Mercedes has style and just feels SOLID. Most cheap vices come with a C-Clamp arrangement meaning you need a table top or similar to clamp it to. They are great, unless your table top is thick ; then they don’t work at all. Personally the Journal loves a heavy base though these aren’t as easy to transport and don’t drop one on your toe, but they certainly do contribute to that feeling of SOLIDity. If your vice comes with a clamp, we have table top bases, so you can have both options, the base for home and the c-clamp for travel.
Next up, look at the jaws. The journal personally doesn’t like big bulky jaws. We are clumsy enough and love room to work around even small hooks. Many of the good manufacturers either have fine jaws or have them as an option (usually known as Midge jaws). Of course what do we fish and tie here a lot – midges. In terms of the mechanism for keep the hooks in the jaws, the Journal likes the cam style systems like on the Dyna-Kings line we carry. It’s a one hand operation; it’s fast and easy, just push the cam lever down. Others prefer screw-type arrangements, or levers. They all work, touch the vices, and play with them to decide what you like.
We often get asked is rotary the way to go. The simple answer is yes; a true rotary is a real plus, but you probably won’t tie rotary style. If that sounds strange well, it’s simply that for most of us who learned to tie on standard vices we will stick with what we know and won’t retrain ourselves to the rotary techniques. Instead, we love the easy ability to have a quick 360 degree view of the fly, to flip it upside down to tie Clousers, crawdads of other streamers, add eyes or a million other small tasks which are simply easier on a rotary vice.
Finally, look at the accessory line, particularly if you are investing in a good vice. Does the manufacturer offer things to make your tying life easier: back plates for easier vision, waste baskets, lap extensions, to reduce the strain on your arms or neck? These are good things to have available.
Our answer to all the questions above is simple _ Dyna-Kings. Beautifully made, solid as a rock, lever cam, great accessories and a price range from $129.95 to $329.95. See our Dyna King Range here. Unless you’re a beginner on a budget, or just want to decide if you like it without too much of an investment, these are the way to go.
For the beginning tier there are a bunch of options, but one of the best would be the Asian-made versions of the venerable Thompson A vice. There’s not too many tiers around who didn’t start, or at least have tied on one of these vices. Simple to use, cheap to own, and a very good option. These style of vices are also included in many kits on the market including our favorite Wapsi Tying Kit. Most of these kits will include materials, basic tools, and some instructions.
One thing we love about the Wapsi kit is not only the $70 price tag, but the sheer fact Wapsi is based nearby in Mountain Home. The materials and instructions deal with flies we fish here.
We also offer free beginner fly tying classes in the winter months, usually midweek and a couple of hours over a few weeks. Jim and Ron are great instructors and great tiers and can demystify the tools, terms and techniques. Drop by the store or give us an email to express your interest in these classes.
