I have been fly fishing for a few years now for everything from bluegills to smalmouth to tiny native trout and I almost prefer it to using casting gear. I am looking into tying my own flies as a winter project when i'm not trapping.
I don't have a ton to spend so what are the basic materials needed to tie beginner flys? I have access to lots of fur and feathers because I hunt trap and raise chickens but I'm not sure what I should keep or purchase.

A hook vise and thread bobbin are must have tools.
Local shops often offer classes cheap.

I agree with Wright Brothers, the two tools you really need are a vise and bobbin.
Classes are nice, some also do Beer Ties which can be fun social events as well as learning experiences. Or, if you're more like me, and want to teach yourself, I recommend reading "An Introduction to Fly Tying" by Peter Cockwill.

Don't buy one of the cheap tying kits as most are junk. Go to a good fly shop and get a good vise and a few tools like a few bobbins, hackle pliers, scissors, hooks etc. Start with effective but easy all around flies flies like Wooly Buggers. You Tube has lots of good videos on how to and tying different flies. Don't get frustrated right of the bat if they don't look perfect. The fish don't care. It takes time to perfect your technique. Just have fun.

I get a lot of materials from here www.jsflyfishing.com

A home made hair stacker was another tool I used a lot.
21 walleyes on 21st B-day from jigs with my bucktail.
Glad there were no beer classes then lol.
Stonefly nymph and yellow jacket were my first good ones as a kid.
I miss it.

I have tied 1000's of flies on a cheap Griffin vise and just recently updated to a rotary vice which is very nice. My advice is to get a basic vise setup with basic tools to get you started. You will learn what you like and don't like and can upgrade over time. Same for materials get some basic materials to get you started with basic techniques which carry over from fly to fly. If you start tying take your first few flies and put them away somewhere, then after you have tied for awhile pull those old flies out and you will be amazed at how much you have improved.

For a hair stacker I used a lip balm tube after you empty it out and remove the internal parts .
Buy a cheap whip finisher at first also because later on you will realize you can finish off a fly or streamer quicker by just ushering your fingers doing the same movements ha ha
A friend of mine made a fly fishing tray that I can mount my vice to and place any and all tools needed for fly tying all it needed was a garbage bag I used plastic grocery sacks .

As for feathers buy saddle hackles to start with and a mid grade Metz #2 to start with in what ever color needed a grizzled , Brown and Black will be good to start with , mono cord in black is good as are a quality pair of fiskar small scissors that have a sharp point and good size holes for your finger and thumb .

For thread buy some black mono and A mono cord the second works great once you start making hair flies and jigs it's much thicker and stronger .
Well this is a good start and maribou feathers you can get a bag full at a craft store a small hair comb is also good to have to help remove the under fuzz when using hair in you flies .
Be carefull this is as addictive as trapping after you catch your first fish with a hook you made it gets worse ha ha !

I started tying several years ago. A mid-priced vise, a premium bobbin, good scissors, a whip finisher, and premium hooks are what I use today after several upgrades over the years. I also use Veevus thread almost exclusively - it's strong & tough!
I was fishing for bluegill several years ago and had some cheap eBay flies with me. I would catch 2-3 fish, then get hits, but not hook up? lost the fly and tied on a new one. Same results. It finally hit me, check the hook sharpness! Dull, almost a blunt point. Switched to one of my hand tied flies (not as pretty, but a premium Daiichi hook, and caught 15-20 more bluegill on the same fly! Hooks are not the item to try to save money on!

X2 on premium hooks. Also, get good threads (from a flyshop). Start with uncomplicated flies like hares ear, caddis larva, and woolly bugger...they're easy to tie, the components are cheap, and they are proven fish slayers

To bad you are in VA. If you were here, I could have you come over and I could teach you some cool stuff.

Lots of good info here. I will put in my two cents. Most materials are pretty cheap. Spend your money on a good vise. This is the backbone of a tying setup and if its marginal, everything else follows that way. Im not a fan of rotary vises. I would recommend this one. Vise. It’s cheap and has a good vise mechanism. Similar to something i tie with which is everything from 24 royal wolffs for no good reason to 4/0 trevally and pike flies. Get a good vise. Everything else can be cheap. Have fun with it

Bud Guidry is a master fly tyer. He has made some of the most beautiful flies I've ever seen. You might want to pm him for advice.

Keith

I’ll repeat what others have said about putting your money into good tools. Your bobbin, vise, and shears should be well made. What I ended up doing, so as not to buy every color of every material, was to research the best patterns for my area. Seemed to be clouser minnows and any variation of Lefty’s deceivers in only a few colors were top picks. I bought mostly materials for those and a few other items to practice on a new pattern here and there.

Don't scrimp on a vice - and buy good hooks. (You won't be sorry) +lead weight that looks like string.(or a sink tip fly line)

Forget the fly shop head cement and get some "Hard as Nails" clear nail polish.
(Bluegills, panfish, stripers and bass will hit anything no matter how bad the tying job is - Trout are another story.
(Been at this since my brother took me to AR in '85 - came home and sold all my bass fishing stuff and started tying flies and building rods - I've never looked back. LOL)

Here's a couple of good places to shop - but there are tons of others.
Hook and Hackle - https://www.hookhack.com/
Anglers Workshop - http://www.anglersworkshop.com/

Rotary Peak . Great vise for everything. Bobbins and scissors are next important... after that its just fun with materials.

Got new dubbing for ants and beetles that I'm loving.

Buck. Ive been using some of that stuff for minnow patterns for bass. Good stuff. Hope you guys dont mind the photos. I like looking at others. Hopefully it spurs some motivation. Been tying a bit in the evening between watching my newborn boy

Laker season is soon. Match the hatch. Perch clouser

Big fly for salt demons and pike


Micro wolf. I dont know why


Pike are hard on top round these parts. Trying to fix that


Standard parachute. I dont get caught up in patterns. Light med dark and different sizes. Flies carch fish regardless of there name

Grasshopper pattern ive been tweeking for years


Baby Fat. A brushed dubbing minnow pattern with a bead hidden inside. Deadly on smallies

D.T. that perch clouser is a really good looking fly, nice job.

I fish clouser pattern often, but it seems to me a more sparsely tied body gets more hits. Maybe that is just my luck, but the more "whispy" flies work better.

Thanks. I find that true for smaller closer for sure, but for lakers I fish for starting in march they are generally no smaller than 24". Largest so far is a 16lber around 38"? i think. For that purpose i like a fuller body. Plus big eyes and sinking line gets it down. Also use hair toward the tip of the tail which isn't as hollow, hence not as buoyant. And with a few fish they'll get sparser anyhow, lol. That is another thing I have been doing is recycling flies and sharpening some hooks that need it.