Big decision - done with fly tying - what to do with all the stuff??

C

Chadk

Life of the Party
I have a decent amount of stuff I've collected over the years - tools, furs, feathers, craft materials, threads, hooks, beads, yarn, foam, tinsel, wire, etc. Nothing is super high end or anything. Just stuff I've accumulated over the years for free or cheap. But definitely some good materials and tools that any fly tier could use.

One piece I may hold onto, but then may also let go if the situation is right - Old Man's (Jim) vise he gave me several years ago before he moved to Montana. I won't sell it or give to just anyone. I'm thinking I could do an auction on this site for the vice and all the stuff - money goes to a good cause? Or is there a young eager fly tyer who someone can vouch for that would really utilize and appreciate it? It is a basic vise - regal I think. A few other tools he passed down to me as well.

Anyway, thoughts on how to find a new home for all this? Once I decide on a path, I will start organizing and taking pics to post for the auction or whatever.

I'm not giving up fly fishing - just coming to the realization that I'm not going to keep tying in the long run for various reasons.

Looking forward to your input.
 
I'll be interested to see where this thread goes. After having a fly shop and choice of pretty incredible materials after some 50 years of tying I'm starting to wonder where is the best place for this much beloved collection to end up. While the replacement value is thousands of dollars simply selling it feels like it would be demeaning what this "hobby" has meant to me.
 
Ever since I retired, I have been downsizing my fly tie materials. The last couple of times I just posted stuff on the "Pay it forward - Free Stuff Only" thread. It worked great, stuff moved quickly and did not have to ship anything either.

With that being said, sounds like you have a lot of stuff. Have you considered giving it to a charity that is associated with fly fishing so they can provide it to those that can not afford items. For example, @Northern is associated with the Mayfly Project. @Jerry Daschofsky is associated with veterans. I am sure there are others. Not everything needs to go to a charity, e.g. OMJ's vises, but to move larger quantities of common stuff, it could help a lot of others in need.

Edited to add: I believe both suggestions above are associated with 5.01c (non-profit) and you could get a tax write-off on taxes....
 
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RCF said:
Ever since I retired, I have been downsizing my fly tie materials. The last couple of times I just posted stuff on the "Pay it forward - Free Stuff Only" thread. It worked great, stuff moved quickly and did not have to ship anything either.

With that being said, sounds like you have a lot of stuff. Have you considered giving it to a charity that is associated with fly fishing so they can provide it to those that can not afford items. For example, @Northern is associated with the Mayfly Project. @Jerry Daschofsky is associated with veterans. I am sure there are others. Not everything needs to go to a charity, e.g. OMJ's vises, but to move larger quantities of common stuff, it could help a lot of others in need.

Edited to add: I believe both suggestions above are associated with 5.01c (non-profit) and you could be a tax write-off on taxes....
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Yeah, I just gave a haul of stuff to Jerry a week ago. Just didn't have time to get the fly tying stuff ready.
 
Salmo_g said:
I like the eager young angler/fly tier alternative. Not sure how to find or pick that person though.
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I'm really hoping for a grandkid to get interested, but the odds seem long. Something like 10% of people fish occasionally. About half of that contingent fishes frequently, and about a third of them fly fish. Among the fly fishers, only about half (or is it even that much?) of us get into tying our own flies...

Pretty small playing field, and apparently shrinking.

It's hard for me to imagine why anyone wouldn't enjoy catching fish on flies they tied themselves, but considering the paltry percentage that enjoys catching fish period, it just goes to show how much of a biased sicko I truly am. It's probably a good thing there aren't TOO many weirdos like us running about, but when I really think about it, fly tying and fishing is about the best thing I have to offer in terms of a legacy.

Despite the odds, I hope we all find someone to follow in our footsteps. After all, the very future of the pursuit we so love depends on it.
 
Shad said:
I'm really hoping for a grandkid to get interested, but the odds seem long. Something like 10% of people fish occasionally. About half of that contingent fishes frequently, and about a third of them fly fish. Among the fly fishers, only about half (or is it even that much?) of us get into tying our own flies...

Pretty small playing field, and apparently shrinking.

It's hard for me to imagine why anyone wouldn't enjoy catching fish on flies they tied themselves, but considering the paltry percentage that enjoys catching fish period, it just goes to show how much of a biased sicko I truly am. It's probably a good thing there aren't TOO many weirdos like us running about, but when I really think about it, fly tying and fishing is about the best thing I have to offer in terms of a legacy.

Despite the odds, I hope we all find someone to follow in our footsteps. After all, the very future of the pursuit we so love depends on it.
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Agreed. And despite having as many kids as I do, I'm not seeing any who are likely to pick up fly tying. But who knows?? But instead of crossing my fingers and hoping for the best, I want to take the bull by the horns now before it all just ends up in a garage sale or estate sale in 20 years or so...
 
Phil Fravel said:
Donate project healing waters
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What he said👆

Last year I donated three boxes of stuff for friend with cancer. The guy from the JBLM branch was super easy to deal with and even offered to drive up to B’ham to pick it up.
 
Shad said:
I'm really hoping for a grandkid to get interested, but the odds seem long. Something like 10% of people fish occasionally.
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Chadk said:
Agreed. And despite having as many kids as I do, I'm not seeing any who are likely to pick up fly tying.
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While the kids in your lives might not be fishing focused (lord knows my kids aren't), I also know a PILE of kids who are nuts for fishing. My 16 year old nephew is as gonzo for fishing as anyone I know and has a group of friends who are the same.

Also, that 10% number appears to be wrong according to this study. in 2024, 19% of folks (57.9M people) in the USA went fishing at least once (with 32% of those being in the "more than once a month" bucket). Kids 13-17 participation rates have risen from 18% to 24% in the past decade. And according to their numbers, 3% of the population (8M people) went fly fishing. It's worth noting that is the same number of people who said they have gone mountain biking in 2024.

Overall, at least based on the studies I see, fishing participation is generally growing in the USA.
 
Phil Fravel said:
Donate project healing waters
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They won't, for the most part, accept it any more unless it's new. They wouldn't take my donation items that belonged to PHW that I had picked up. So forwarded it all onto other non profits. Now I'm helping start up another fly fishing non profit for combat wounded SOCOM members.
 
RCF said:
Ever since I retired, I have been downsizing my fly tie materials. The last couple of times I just posted stuff on the "Pay it forward - Free Stuff Only" thread. It worked great, stuff moved quickly and did not have to ship anything either.

With that being said, sounds like you have a lot of stuff. Have you considered giving it to a charity that is associated with fly fishing so they can provide it to those that can not afford items. For example, @Northern is associated with the Mayfly Project. @Jerry Daschofsky is associated with veterans. I am sure there are others. Not everything needs to go to a charity, e.g. OMJ's vises, but to move larger quantities of common stuff, it could help a lot of others in need.

Edited to add: I believe both suggestions above are associated with 5.01c (non-profit) and you could get a tax write-off on taxes....
Click to expand...
Yup. The new program is a 501C3. Dealing with combat wounded SOCOM and their Gold Star families
 
Josh said:
While the kids in your lives might not be fishing focused (lord knows my kids aren't), I also know a PILE of kids who are nuts for fishing. My 16 year old nephew is as gonzo for fishing as anyone I know and has a group of friends who are the same.

Also, that 10% number appears to be wrong according to this study. in 2024, 19% of folks (57.9M people) in the USA went fishing at least once (with 32% of those being in the "more than once a month" bucket). Kids 13-17 participation rates have risen from 18% to 24% in the past decade. And according to their numbers, 3% of the population (8M people) went fly fishing. It's worth noting that is the same number of people who said they have gone mountain biking in 2024.

Overall, at least based on the studies I see, fishing participation is generally growing in the USA.
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As you can now plainly see, the 10% figure originated in my bowels and slipped out my posterior. No reliable source to be cited there. Total WAG. Looks like a poor one, too, until you dig down a metric and find that only 32% of that 19% who tried it (about 6% overall) went back monthly or better. That's the one that matters. It's about a percentage point higher than I estimated, and I suppose that's encouraging, but I'm not quite convinced we're at the dawn of a Fishing Renaissance.
 
Shad said:
until you dig down a metric and find that only 32% of that 19% who tried it (about 6% overall) went back monthly or better. That's the one that matters.
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I guess I'm just not at all confident that those "once in a while" people haven't existed for generations. An uncle who was out on opening day and maybe labor day camping, but nothing more. The guy down the block who bought all the gear, but never seemed to actually fish much. And so on. Unless we dig up more numbers from decades back, I'm not sure that we can make too much out of those stats. That said, I do suspect that most hobbies are seeing a downward trend in "average days done" even if they are growing in terms of total participants. Even if just because we live in a world where there are more available options than there used to be as far as hobbies. And sadly, often fewer places to do some specific hobbies like fishing.

And for me, it's kinda all in how you look at it. Fishing isn't a full-year activity for lots of folks, weather, seasons, regulations, preferred species, proximity to lakes/rivers, other hobbies, etc. So even if someone only goes 10 times a year, but they fish from May to Sept, that's twice a month. And while many of us would prefer to go fishing far more often, I'd have a hard time not calling someone who fished that often every summer a fisherman (or woman). Even if they don't match up to the days on the water the most dedicated of us put in.
 
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