Fly Tying - Part 1 - Introduction

This little series introduces a fly-tying vise that is so impressive that I am already recommending the Nor-Vise -- even though I do not own one. It is so obviously superior to the one I own now that I won't have the conscience to sell it or even give it away when I do get a Nor-Vise. And I have to say that Norm Norlander seems so nice a gentleman that I'm glad it was he who invented this ingenious tool; I'm looking forward to doing business with him.

The Nor-Vise is AWESOME!!! There is a little learning curve, but what skill doesn't have one of those? After tying roughly 500 flies on this vise I can say it is a truly innovative way of tying that saves a lot of time and also ties bulletproof flies. I ordered mine directly from Norm, a very nice gentleman and he hooked me up nicely. Ever have peacock herl you've wrapped blow apart after a fish or three? Not if you use the nor-vise.

I recently landed a tiger muskie on a prince nymph, and while it was a total fluke that I hooked up on a 30" freshwater barracuda with a size 14 fly, the herl body was rock solid, had no problems even after being inside a hall of razor blades and the next day that same fly caught 6 nice big brown trout without so much as a single herl fiber coming out.

Can you rotate ALL of your materials...no. Some things, like tails and wings need to be hand-secured, but for things like larva lace tubing, mylar tinsel bodies, peacock and ostrich herl, wrapping pheasant tail and simply making your thread base you cannot beat the Nor-Vise. The brass tarnishes but who cares? Are you planning on entering your vise in a beauty pageant? Norm, great job creating this amazing little piece of hardware. I've used many other rotary vises, and there's no comparison

The downsides to the Nor-Vise are that it can be a little cumbersome tying in tails and other items on teeny weenie little hooks, but it can be done and they turn out great. As well, since the Nor-Vise grabs so efficiently, sometimes you bend your hook if you pull too hard. A vise that grabs too hard...bummer, huh? :) If you tie a fly here and there, this may be too pricey but if you tie regularly, give a crap what they turn out like and want to tie 2-3 times faster, this is your vise.

I've now had my vise for nearly two years. I have three others in various brands but now find them cumbersome to use. Somewhere I saw an unfavorable comment about the Nor-Vise and had to wonder how long the person had actually used it. After a few thousand flies - f/w as well as s/w - this is the best vise I have ever used and would recommend it to the novice as well as the professional. I will be buying a second one for our other location. You cannot go wrong with this vice.