bench or field whats more important?

[JSzymczyk 0]

I would say for most it is simple, fish whenever you can, but when real life interferes you tie. i would always rather be fishing but being responsible for your family takes water time to a minimum.

 

well said.

 

I started tying as a kid around 1980. First it was bucktail jigs, because my Dad and his friends apparently couldn't find the bucktail jigs they had been using since the late 50s for walleyes and bass. I figured I could do it, and he bought me a cheap vise and some materials and I went at it. By the way, this whole modern "Hair Jig" and "Float and Fly" bass fishing with bucktail jigs is about as modern as a Model T Ford. Anyway, fly tying was a quick progression from there. Trout flies at first, but learning on my own, I very quickly realized every species of freshwater fish around me could be caught on flies. I was blessed to be a kid in a time and place where I had trout streams, smallmouth bass, panfish, walleyes, a couple mediocre largemouth places, and crappies, perch, pike, rough fish, and everything else within a bike ride of home. Hell we used to catch carp in local creeks just because we got bored trying to catch bass and trout. Now it's a fad.

 

I guess I went through stages, although I've never been a trout-snob. I've gotten to be proficient at just about every fly tying technique I cared to explore, short of classic atlantic salmon flies. I have boxes and boxes of stuff I'll probably never use. At this point in my life I can sort of tell what will work, and tie to fit that need. I don't get any real enjoyment from solving a chain of 25 riddles to catch a few foot long stocked trout. I went though some time, like most fly fishermen, when I thought catching a fish on fly tackle was somehow more of an accomplishment than catching a fish on any other tackle. After lots of places, lots of time, and lots of fish, I finally realized that is BS. It's just another method. Sometimes it's the most enjoyable method and I won't stop, but sometimes other techniques are the most enjoyable.

 

Because of the way I started tying, I really have never understood fly fishermen who do NOT tie their own flies. I have purchased exactly ONE fly in 35+ years of fly fishing. Thankfully I lost it in a tree.

 

As for someone thinking they need "lessons" to begin fly fishing, I'm sorry you feel that way. Just get out there, get your flies in the water, and you will catch fish. Teach yourself.

[Freddo 0]

I too tried as a kid and gave up.Then at 53 started again and made up for lost time. I've always loved fishing and the "dream" of fly fishing became a reality for me this year. "This" forum's people made a major difference in my success (MANY thanks to ALL of you). So bench or field. You can go purchase flies but personally I love the crafting part as much as the fishing so it's win-win. I get so much enjoyment out of each that it inspites me to progress more and more. This will be the first winter I'm on the water with a fly rod and I came here looking for the best winter patterns for trout. Now I need to get to tying! It's ALL good!

[deerhairdan 0]

Both go hand in hand. I get bored easily and like to change things up....tying is more then replacing lost flies...its a challenge. I enjoy the challenges of both fishing and fly tying. Fly tying to me is an escape from reality, much like fishing is. When im not fishing, im tying flies. When im not tying flies, im fishing.

 

 

 

or eating fried bologna sandwiches.

[rstaight 0]

I know people that tie and do not fish. Must of my tying is done during the winter, that's when I refill the fly boxes. Anything tied during the summer and fall is to replace what I have left in a tree somewhere.

 

Ya know, a fried bologna sandwich does sound good about now.

[WVUontheFLY 0]

I don't really have an off season per say. Right now is musky prime time, so every weekend I am on the water regardless of weather in pursuit of them toothy critters. But once May rolls around I switch it up to bass, carp, drum, and other warm water inhabitants. I tie in my evenings once the sun goes down. I find more enjoyment in fishing when I catch a fish on a fly I tied, so other than trout fishing, I don't buy flies any longer. I also spend hours on youtube learning new tying techniques so that I can incorporate them into my future ties to make them better. Then with all the different prototypes I make, I fish them and see how they react in the water and how the fish react to them, and then back to the vise to make them better. So my tying is evolving to the fish's likes and dislikes. I love tying though and like the challenge of catching personal bests on flies I tied. Finally, depending on the day I get more satisfaction from fishing than I do tying and other days the opposite.

[Adam Saarinen 0]

Is that you Freddo?

[retrocarp 0]

Hi Joe .... In answer to the that question,

For me fly tying was a natural progression from the sport / art of fly fishing

Also why buy when I can tie......

I tend to tie at night late after work.... In general.

It's my down time ..... Fishing has taken a back seat of late due to work being off the chart.

For me .... Both are equally important

Streamcraft ..... To get to know ones target species , and food stuffs

Bench craft .... To hone skills to present something enticing to the fish.

It's a wonderful feeling when you catch that first fish on a fly you have tied .

[Freddo 0]

...

It's a wonderful feeling when you catch that first fish on a fly you have tied .

I totally agree with this. Especially that FIRST trout. After catching untold numbers of trout during my fishing years on salmon eggs, my first trout caught on a fly I tied, with a fly rod, trumped them all! 'Nuff said!

[BBBruce77 0]

I've been tying since my 11th birthday and I'm now 70. Fishing was a serious addiction at an early age in my life and because of it I quit fishing for 10 years but still tied flies almost nightly as my way to unwind from the stress of the daily grind. Some folks have a drink or two, I tied flies. I'm retired now with little stress in my life but still tie flies almost daily and fish far less than I used to in the past but still enjoy it when I can.

[fishingbobnelson 0]

For me time has made the decision, at 70 I tie more and fish less. When I was a kid I probably used as many store bought flies as the ones I tied myself. Some where along the way I wanted to tie better flies so spent winter months tying so I had lots of flies for the trout season. Bad hips and a shoulder have limited my fishing, as I can't crash the brush like I used to do. Now I enjoy this site and all the virtual friends I have made. I consider my life well fished.

[utyer 0]

I started fishing in 1950, and tying in 55. I wasn't fly fishing yet, that came in 57. Dabbled with both off and on until 65 when I started working in Jackson Hole. Since I didn't have my tying stuff with me, I bought all my flies the first summer. That fall and winter (1965,) I rebuilt my tying kit, and started relearning to tie. Spent the rest of the winter and spring of 66 tying. The next summer, I had boxes of flies. They didn't look nearly as nice as the once in the shops, but they were catching just as many fish. Better yet, I was able to sell some flies to other river rats.

 

I haven't stopped tying or fly fishing since. I tied for others for about 30 years, but since I am retired, I gave that up, and now only tie for my self, family, and a few friends.

 

I moved to Florida, and that opened up and unexplored world of new fishing and tying challenges. The flies are easier (they are bigger than trout bugs, and there aren't that many different ones you need. Catching is still the bigger challenge, but it coming together. I still travel out west to fish for trout, so I really have no down season for either fishing or tying.

 

I will agree with all those who say that proper fishing skills are more important than perfect flies. I don't think I have ever tied a perfect fly, but when I get a good presentation, they work more often than not.

 

I enjoy both tying and fishing equally, and will stop when they pat me in the face with a shovel.

[josephcsylvia 0]

Utyer your not to far from me. Im in port Richey I agree most saltwater flies are easier I think because the hooks are actually visible!!! Lol

[utyer 0]

Yes, the hooks and patterns are bigger, but there are a LOT fewer types of patterns to deal with. Imitations of bait fish, crabs and shrimp pretty well get you covered.

[Ed Gallop 0]

Well UTYER... There is someone here that is almost as old as I am and we have a little in common. I have my 75th birthday coming next month. Been fishing since a little boy and introduced to fly fishing before becoming a teen in about '54. I began fly fishing and tying from a few old men that took me under their wing at a boat dock and fishing store where I hung out whenever possible. I rode my bike most every Sunday nearly 3 miles one way to monthly summer fly fishing competitions where I first saw fly lines gracefully flying and placing flies in small floating rings. It was beautiful. I was hooked. They sold (almost gave) me my first fly fishing rig and eventually got me tying flies. I made good money trapping muskrat and mink before and after school, no matter the cold and rain, and liked it. As an adult, I had my own plane and managed a float plane flying service on the side (Big Reds on Lake Hood in Anchorage) for 3 years in the mid 70s. That, and my 3 days off weekly from police work, allowed me to fish Alaska a lot in the 70s thru the 80s, until I retired and moved to Virginia's Blue Ridge in the early 90s. I tied for a fly shop and lodges all over Alaska for a couple winters but it became way too demanding. They advertised as "locally" tied but some lodges were several hundred miles away, west of Kodiak to north of Denali.

[Orvis4wt 0]

What I do is try to tie in advance of the season, When fall comes I am tying winter patterns, when winter is here I'm tying spring patterns..when spring comes i'm tying bigger spring flies.. never need to tie on the road cause I can take my time and change with the time..