Most fly-tyers will recommend that you purchase the “most expensive” or “best vice you can afford” and this is in many respects true, however, I thoroughly recommend getting the cheapest vice you can find before you invest too heavily in fly-tying. As a hobby and an art form, fly-tying is not for everyone. It requires patience and no little amount of dexterity to become a successful fly-tyer, and many people I know never got on tying flies after spending more than a few pennies on expensive equipment. I really do recommend a cheap and cheerful starter pack for beginners, and then progressing, or graduating, to some high quality equipment, not least because you’ll appreciate it all the more when you do!

As with most of the items we talk about at Fly-fishing.in, most of them are available to purchase online – so we’re going to do a little run-through of the fly-tying vices you can buy on the internet for delivery to your door.

Naturally, there is more choice out there in local tackle shops, and good ones will even let you have a little go with bits and bobs before you buy – you should try to seek out these hidden gems near you as the good quality tackle shop may well become a thing of the past pretty soon.

Delrin Rotary Vice – £59 Orvis

At £59 from Orvis, the Delrin Rotary Vice isn’t hugely expensive and it does everything you would want from a mid to high-range vice, at a price which is not excessive (unlike some items I’ve found in Orvis over the years!).

The jaws can take a hook from a tiny size 28 up to a whopping 2/0 so your average trout man will never need another vice no matter how fiddly or giant he makes his flies.

Importantly, indeed the vice’s main feature, this vice rotates, which allows one to varnish or touch up otherwise difficult to reach sections of the flies undercarriage – some flies are easier tied “upside down” due to the requirements of the pattern.

The vice also incorporates a thread bobbin rest, which, when you don’t have one, you appreciate the need for!

Our score 8/10 – comprehensive, all you need in a vice.

Click here to visit Orvis and order this vice online.

Price £59.00

Turrall Fly Tying Vice – £13.19 TackleShop

I started fly tying with a vice much the same as this one. It won’t do much more than holding a fly in place, just about, but these entry level vices are perfect for a beginner because they are not expensive. Lets be honest, who, at the age of 12 or 13 has £60 to spend on a vice when you could buy a whole setup rig for the same money that would be perfectly adequate for a couple of years or so, at least until you learn whether or not you want to continue with fly-tying as a hobby.

This vice will not hold your thread bobbin (but you can fashion some way to do this for free – I know because I used to!) for you, and neither will it rotate, but you can make most patterns adequately with a vice like this one. If you can afford better, then get better, but this will do.

Our score 4/10 – minimal but effective

Click here to visit TackleShop and order this vice.

Price £13.19

Turrall Lever Fly Tying Vice – £9.89

This vice is largely the same as the one above, except that it comes in at under £10 and is black rather than chrome finish.

Again, this vice is far from perfect, but it would make an affordable entry into fly tying for a novice or young tier who wanted to test the waters before purchasing a more expensive and comprehensive vice for the future.

It is likely that the vice will wear out a little with use too (I had a similar design which did) and it will have difficulty controlling hooks with long shanks or gripping particularly small hooks without distorting them slightly, however, for the money, this is adequate, and it will at least hold a hook while you practice imitating aquatic life with feathers and thread.

Our score 4/10 – minimal but effective

Click here to order this vice from TackleShop

Price £9.89

We shall add to this list over time as we discover other vices which are available online – feel free to leave a comment below on these vices, or another vice which you use. If you discover any other gems online let us know and we’ll link them up too so that we have a useful starting point for all tiers to find a vice for their needs.

Orvis Whip Finisher Tool

This is a little tutorial video that novice fly-tyers might find useful – particularly if you got a box of fly-tying wquipment and can’t work out how some of the bits and pieces work!

This is the “Whip Finisher” and the video below shows you pretty much how it is used to finish off flies – usually to tie the “head” (final) section of the fly before you cut the thread and varnish or otherwise finish your design.

The whip finisher serves two purposes: it makes a nice “head” shape, while also securing the thread that you have used to tie the rest of the fly. If the worst comes to the worst and the whip finish frays or comes undone, the rest of the fly won’t completely unravel while you’re fishing… at least in theory!

Watch the video below to see how to set up and use a Whip Finisher to complete your fly designs.

You can purchase whip finishers online if you need to buy a new or replacement one from the following links:

• Orvis Whip Finisher – IRO £10 for a good quality whip finisher;
• TackleShop – a basic Whip Finisher for £2.75