If you had it to do all over again.....

[mikechell 0]

Is this a hypothetical question ... "If I could go back in time and start my fishing experiences over again?" Or Is this a reality check question ... "If I was starting out in the fly fishing/fly tying hobby today, at this time in my life?"

 

Hypothetically ... There's not much I'd change. My life's been a hell of a ride and I like everything about my past, so ... the only things I can think of are:

I'd invent the internet sooner so I could get into all the neat flies tying videos and fly fishing videos earlier. I'd have done things my own way sooner, so I'd have fly fished more of the places I just fished with conventional gear.

 

Realistically ... I don't know. If I wasn't already fishing and tying flies, I probably wouldn't start at this age. I'd just continue bass fishing. I do love fly fishing for sunfish and bass, but I also love fishing with crank baits, soft plastics and other artificial lures.

 

Probably not the kind of answer your looking for. I don't have any regrets or pitfalls that I could tell some one, "Don't do this."

[Hellgrammite 0]

I have been tying for... wow, about 6 years!

 

In that time, I have improved a lot. I have no regrets, really, save maybe buying some stuff at the start I simply didnt require. I bought a Thompson A vise - I now own 2 of them, and use them and nothing else. I own some griffin bobbins. I tie only what I use. I learned to tie 20, 50, 100 of a pattern, and then I'd begin to understand it, grow used to it.

 

I only had such an easy time because of the internet. Videos, blogs, this site, and all made my journey SO much easier than if they werent available for me.

 

I guess I'd tell myself "Hey, weight and beadheads. They exist for a reason!" because it took me a while to get used to reeeeally weighting nymphs.

 

That, and the USPS WILL lose that fly vise youre shipping to the buyer, and no, they wont own it. They will deliver an empty box. Never underestimate their destructive power, and insure EVERYTHING.

 

Amanda

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I don't think I'd change much, either. Christmas day will mark my 16th anniversary as a fly tyer. I started out with some very basic, inexpensive tools, chenille, marabou and saddle hackle in two or three colors, and Skip Morris' book Fly Tying Made Clear and Simple. I've bought a lot more stuff since then (like most fly tyers), and while I probably have more right now than I can ever use up, I am also comforted by the presence of a lot of different materials because it lets me experiment and substitute materials freely. I used to make a game sometimes of picking 3 or 4 materials out of the drawers with my eyes closed and then seeing what I could make out of them. That taught me a lot about the versatility of various materials. I have continued to learn mostly from books, even in the Internet Age. I do watch fly tying videos and have even bought a couple of DVDs, but I find it much easier to have a book open in front of me with the pictures holding still so I can refer to them over and over as needed. Plus, I just like books. I probably would have learned the basics faster from a live teacher, but then I get anxious when people watch me try to do something, especially something new, so I tend to make more mistakes and get more frustrated under supervision than when I'm left to my own devices.

I guess, when I think about it, about the only thing I would do differently is start tying sooner.

[TTD 0]

Nothing. I tie well enough for my own standards, the flies I tie catch fish, and I enjoy what I do.

[Steven Wiersma 0]

At the start, tie less & fish more. Later, tie more & fish more. Then, during the winter, tie fewer/better flies & during spring , summer, fall, fish more.

[Piker20 0]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Steven Wiersma" data-cid="571600" data-time="1386362541"><p>

At the start, tie less & fish more. Later, tie more & fish more. Then, during the winter, tie fewer/better flies & during spring , summer, fall, fish more.</p></blockquote>

 

^Yep that^

[netabrookie 0]

If I had a chance to start over from the beginning I would change a few things. I first started tying somewhere around the mid 1970's but had little to work with and only a few books from the library to go by. I should have bought fly tying and fly fishing items instead of loosing interest in it and spending every dollar on motocross and then hot rods and girls. I have never strayed from the fishing all those years but it wasn't with a fly until I got back into it about 7 or 8 years ago. One set of forks or the latest, have to have it, swing arm for one of my motorcycles could have bought me a LOT of tying materials back then. I have always heard that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" so maybe that's why that I really love to tie so much. If I would have stayed away from the hot rods then I would have had more money to invest in materials and all of those speeding tickets was money wasted also. After thinking about it, I don't really regret the girls....well, maybe one or two....