Troutenhosen 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 Somewhere around 30 years. I can't pin down when I exactly began. In junior high I remember putting hooks in my dad's metal vise and using scrounged feathers to make crude flies that I may or may not have actually fished with. In college is when I bought "Mastering the Art of Fly Tying" by Dick Talleur. Excellent primer for anybody who is serious about getting started. I got to meet Talleur years later, when he did a slide show at our local TU banquet. Anyway, from college on is when I was serious about tying. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flat Rock native 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 Welcome to the forum, we have huge numbers of great folks here! Very observant and helpful Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Decisions 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 About 2 months before I joined this forum, (Dec 2015), the same time I quit smoking. I have always tied my own bucktail jigs and dabbled in to a few of my own cheesy woolly buggers. with the help of this forum, I feel as though I have greatly improved my tying skills. I definitely know the hinge on my wallet has lost a few years of wear and tear! Who in their right mind said "tie your own flies, it will be much cheaper"... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 Who in their right mind said "tie your own flies, it will be much cheaper"... It's all in why you tie flies. If you're like me, and tie flies to fish with, you can indeed save money over buying flies. I recently bought a Whiting "Fly Tier's Variety Pack" for a little over 17 bucks. I also bought a grab bag of stuff from SteelDrifter for $10.00 I think that brings my total cost to a little over $500.00 ... for more than two decades (three decades, if you count the off and on beginning) of tying flies for fly fishing. As much as I fish, and as many flies as I've lost, I have spent WELL below what it would've cost me to buy flies. If you tie flies ... and sometimes use some for fishing, then you will spend a lot of money, because there's always some material you need for the next pattern. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
utyer 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 I am a card carrying member of the Wild Old Tyers Club. Started messing about with my dads Herters materials and tools in 1955. I would do the math, but I keep running out of fingers and toes. Yes there were some gaps, but for the last 55 years, I have been tying steadily. I once tried commercial tying, and gave that up after my first order of 36 dozen of the same pattern was finished. I did tie "custom" orders for almost 30 years, but since I have retired from everything else, I now just tie for myself, and my fishing buddies. Now that I have about 600 Salt water flies stocked up, I don't tie as much as I used to, I haven't tied a fly yet this year, but will have to start getting ready for my spring trip to Idaho soon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
