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lostnwilderness

Levels of Fly Tying

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What do you think separates a beginner from an intermediate fly tier? Quality? Proportion? Speed? Number of patterns, number of varying species you understand well enough to tie? Lets take the question a step further, what makes a beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert tier? What sets each apart? I am not meaning this question from an ego based standpoint, far from it. Rather, I am wondering what some of the folks with massive experience on here see change as folks progress in their tying abilities.

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As a self-proclaimed intermediate tier, I don't believe speed is a factor. Speed only matters to commercial tiers.

 

The different techniques one knows is one indication. For example, there are probably 4 or 5 different ways to tie in the hackle on a soft hackle. Someone who has mastered all of these would be an expert.

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With the numerous styles of tying in the craft and the different sets of skills required, it's impossible to label tyers and stick them into neat little boxes. Some of the best tyers I know have never used dubbing or tied a dry fly in their lives, and others would be lost in the world of ten-inch streamers and epoxy heads. People tie for all kinds of reasons - the guy who just wants all the action he can find and does it with woolly buggers and ugly nymphs is getting his job done as much as the guy who ties complicated Atlantic salmon flies that'll never get wet. That said, IMO, anybody can learn the mechanics; the best tyers are the ones who never run out of ideas and keep looking for new ways to tie materials onto a hook. They're the ones I admire the most, and again, it's strictly my subjective opinion. Trying to categorize fly tyers is like trying to figure out who's the best singer. Just my $.02 worth.

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Lets take the question a step further, what makes a beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert tier?

 

And who gets to decide who should be in these categories?

 

I've been tying 30+ years. Where would that put me?

 

I don't tie full dress salmon flies, steelhead flies, saltwater flies, deer hair flies etc.

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I think it also depends where you are as a tyer. I think we all have a pattern or style of fly that is our sweet spot. When you see someone tying flies that you struggle with you always think wow, they're good. I think that the advanced or expert tiers have fewer patterns that they struggle with. The intermediates probably have one or two styles they dislike (deerhair seems popular for that) and beginners just need to learn everything :lol:

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Lets take the question a step further, what makes a beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert tier?

 

And who gets to decide who should be in these categories?

 

I've been tying 30+ years. Where would that put me?

 

Me! I proclaim myself King! You may address me as "Your Royal Flyness!" I will decide who is what from now on! :ph34r: :D :lol: :lol:

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The thing I see change the most in a persons tying, as they progress, is their consistency and attention to detail. The more time they've spent at the vice, the more uniform their creations and more refined the finished fly looks. Proficiency comes with practice, speed comes with repetition, expertise comes from experience (good and bad).

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Lets take the question a step further, what makes a beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert tier?

 

And who gets to decide who should be in these categories?

 

I've been tying 30+ years. Where would that put me?

 

Me! I proclaim myself King! You may address me as "Your Royal Flyness!" I will decide who is what from now on! :ph34r: :D :lol: :lol:

 

Ah, a man after my own heart. Kudos to a fellow tyrant. I wonder if Genghis Khan started out on an internet forum? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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I catch my target species on flies that I have tied and that's all that really matters to me.

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The thing I see change the most in a persons tying, as they progress, is their consistency and attention to detail. The more time they've spent at the vice, the more uniform their creations and more refined the finished fly looks. Proficiency comes with practice, speed comes with repetition, expertise comes from experience (good and bad).

WORD!

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If you want to tye a fly and can't quite figure out how- you are a beginner. If you tye a fly and it doesn't fall apart before it catches a fish- you are intermediate. If the fly in your vise looks exactly like you wanted it to look- then you are an expert. Most days I find myself in either category I or II. (Sometimes both in the same tying session.) No matter how much you have learned there is always room for improvement.

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The thing I see change the most in a persons tying, as they progress, is their consistency and attention to detail. The more time they've spent at the vice, the more uniform their creations and more refined the finished fly looks. Proficiency comes with practice, speed comes with repetition, expertise comes from experience (good and bad).

 

Ditto, nuf said.

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Shoebop you being from Canada or Michigan (same place) you could be king.

 

I think how the head of your fly looks is very telling on what stage you are as a tyer. No matter what type of fly you tye. Is the head crammed against the eye or is it neat and well spaced.

 

Needing to know where you are in the fly tying hierarchy reminds me of a favorite quote by Henry David Thoreau. "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."

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