Fly Fishing Vise Review (2026): Worth It?

Colorado Anglers 102 Supreme Rotary Vise — Fly Fishing Vise Review

At $22.99 with 594 ratings this is the cheapest vise on the shelf and the largest owner sample in the group, and it is also the lowest-rated item here at 4.0. It scores 7.4: a reasonable way to find out whether you enjoy tying, on a listing that never publishes the one number a vise is bought on.

This comparison is research-based. We did not physically test these products; specifications, ratings and prices are taken from the live listings on the date shown. This review belongs to our round-up of the best fly tying tools, where it is ranked fifth of five.

Key Specifications

Every figure below is taken from the live listing for this fly fishing vise on 12 October 2026.

594 Ratings at 4.0 Is Worth Reading Carefully

This is the most-rated product in the group and the lowest-rated, and both facts matter. 594 ratings is a real sample, so the 4.0 average is not noise. On this shelf the price ladder and the evidence ladder run the same way: the two dearest items carry 4.7 and 4.8, and the cheapest vise carries 4.0.

That is a change worth naming, because this site has repeatedly found the opposite — cheap products carrying the best averages while expensive ones rode on small samples. Here, paying more buys better published information and better owner evidence at once.

A 4.0 on 594 ratings is still a working tool rather than a bad one. It is the shape of a product that works for most buyers and misses badly for some, and the likeliest reason is the next section.

What This Fly Fishing Vise Does Not Publish

There is no jaw range on this listing. No jaw opening, no closing force, no wire-diameter guidance. It says instead that the vise is “designed for small hooks” and, in the same bullet, that “it can accommodate most hook sizes, as well as saltwater hooks”. A jaw ground to grip a size 18 dry fly hook is not the jaw that holds a 2/0 saltwater hook.

What this fly fishing vise does publish is a tensile strength of 1000 psi. That figure is not useful for a vise, and it is twice the 500 psi published by the $239.95 vise at the top of this page. Two products, one meaningless field, two different answers, and the cheap one claims double. It is the clearest price inversion in a published specification this shelf offers.

The rotation claim, by contrast, is specific and credible: 360 degrees with the hook clamped, stated twice. The listing also says it provides access to the rear of the hook, which is a genuine functional point — that is the access you need to whip finish without fighting the jaws.

A Vise Sold to Two Different Crafts

The description’s use cases are not fly tying. The bullets name “24oz jigs, 8oz bottom jigs, bucktail jigs, crapple jigs and more”, and “teasers and jigs” appears in the product title itself. A 24-ounce jig head weighs about 680 grams; a size 18 dry fly hook weighs a fraction of a gram. One vise is sold to lure makers and fly tiers at once, and specified for neither.

“crapple jigs” is a misspelling of crappie, published in a bullet on a listing with 594 ratings. On its own it is trivia. Read with the jig weights, it tells you which craft the copy was written for, and it was not this one.

The brand fields are their own small puzzle. “Brand Name” answers Colorado Anglers and “Manufacturer” answers Sportsman Supply Inc. On other fly tying listings from the same operation, Colorado Anglers appears as the manufacturer while a different name is given as the brand. Two names, two fields, and which name sits in which field depends on the listing you happen to be reading.

Limitations of This Fly Fishing Vise

It is a C-clamp vise, so it needs a table edge, and that is a real constraint rather than a quibble. The clamp is cast iron, but a deep apron, a drawer under the top or a thick rounded edge will defeat it, and there is no pedestal option.

The specification block has the usual problems. Published dimensions of 8.5 by 4.5 by 0.8 inches describe the flat packet rather than an assembled vise, because nothing with a cast iron C-clamp is eight tenths of an inch thick. The colour field answers “Berry”, which is not why anyone buys a vise, and the style field answers “Modern”. There is no warranty field at all. The item weight of 16 ounces is at least plausible, which puts it ahead of the 2 ounces published by the vise at the top of this page.

What the listing gets right

• Largest rating sample on the shelf at 594 ratings
• Cheapest vise here by a factor of ten at $22.99
• Full 360-degree rotation with the hook clamped, published explicitly
• Cast iron clamp rather than cast aluminium
• Stated as holding a heavy gauge hook well enough to flare out bucktail
• Provides access to the rear of the hook, which matters when whip finishing
• A real model number, 102, matching its manufacturer part number
• Low enough in price to be a genuine try-before-you-commit purchase

What it does not tell you

• Lowest owner average on the shelf at 4.0, on the largest sample
• No published jaw range or hook-size range anywhere on the listing
• Publishes a tensile strength of 1000 psi — double the $239.95 vise’s figure
• The description’s use cases are jigs up to 24 oz, not flies
• “crapple jigs” is a misspelling of crappie in a published bullet
• Needs a table edge: a C-clamp has no pedestal option
• Colour field answers “Berry” on a tool nobody buys for colour
• Published thickness of 0.8 inches describes the packet, not the vise

Setting Up This Fly Fishing Vise

Find the clamp position before you do anything else. You want the jaws at roughly the height of your resting forearm with your elbow on the desk, and the clamp tightened against bare wood or a protective pad rather than veneer. Cast iron on a soft desktop leaves a mark the first time you lean on the vise.

Because there is no published jaw range, establish your own on day one. Clamp the smallest hook you own and the largest, and note where the jaws either will not close or will not hold. That takes two minutes and tells you what the listing does not.

Keep the rotation and the jaw screw clean and do not over-tighten. The commonest way a cheap vise dies is a jaw forced closed on a hook far thinner than the gap it was opened to, which springs the tips. If the jaws start slipping on hooks they used to hold, that has already happened.

Who Should Buy This Fly Fishing Vise?

Buy this fly fishing vise if you are finding out whether you enjoy tying at all. $22.99 is the right amount of money to risk on a question like that, 594 people have rated it, it rotates fully and it gives access to the back of the hook. Twenty dozen flies from now you will know what you tie, which is the knowledge you need before spending $239.95.

Skip it if you already know you tie small dry flies, or if your desk has no usable edge. The 4.0 average is the lowest here on the largest sample, and with no published jaw range there is no way to check in advance whether your hooks are the ones it suits. In that position the Peak vise at the top of this page is the purchase, and the gap in price buys a published number.

The Verdict

A $22.99 vise with 594 ratings behind it is a reasonable way to find out whether you like tying, and it scores 7.4 because the 4.0 average is the lowest here and the listing never publishes the one number a vise is bought on.

Fly Fishing Vise — Frequently Asked Questions

The questions buyers ask most often, answered from the listing.

Is a $22.99 fly fishing vise good enough to start on?

For finding out whether you enjoy tying, yes. It rotates, it clamps, and 594 people have rated it. What it will not do is tell you in advance which hooks its jaws suit, and the 4.0 average — the lowest on this shelf, on the largest sample — suggests that for some buyers the answer was the wrong one.

What hooks does this fly fishing vise hold?

The listing does not publish a range. It says the vise is “designed for small hooks” and that “it can accommodate most hook sizes, as well as saltwater hooks”, which are two claims pulling in opposite directions. A jaw ground for size 18 dry fly hooks and a jaw that holds a 2/0 saltwater hook are not the same jaw.

Why does the description talk about jigs?

Because the same tool is sold to two different crafts. The bullets name “24oz jigs, 8oz bottom jigs, bucktail jigs, crapple jigs”, which is lure making rather than fly tying. A 24 oz jig head is a deep-water lead weight; a size 18 dry fly hook weighs a fraction of a gram. The listing is addressing both and specifying for neither.

Who actually makes this fly fishing vise?

The listing publishes “Brand Name: Colorado Anglers” and “Manufacturer: Sportsman Supply Inc.”. Colorado Anglers also appears as the *manufacturer* on other fly tying listings where a different name is given as the brand. Two names, two fields, and the fields swap round depending on which listing you are reading.

Check the current fly fishing vise price on Amazon

Listing figures last read on 12 October 2026. We earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through the Amazon link above, at no extra cost to you.

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