Fly Tying...

I gave in... After several years of buying my flies with which I fished, I gave in to the temptation to learn how to tie my own. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the whole romance thing about catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself. Right, I get it. I have come to the conclusion that, even with all the different places I've fished over the past two years, the flies I use that consistently are successful only add up to about 6 or 8 in total. I can learn how to tie these few flies, right?

I purchased an inexpensive beginner's kit and set it up on my desk. Well, I hope I'm not premature in my opinion here, but I am surprised by how fly tying looked so difficult but really isn't that bad. The kit I purchased came with a handy-dandy instructional book with the basic information/skills you need, plus detailed instructions on how to tie 8 of the most common fly patterns (only three of which are included in the 6-8 that I regularly use).

So, I just spent 30 minutes fiddling around with it (taking a break from reading canon law all day, mind you...). I figured: what the heck, let's jump in the deep end of the pool and try tying a pattern that I know I'll use, but isn't one of the ones in the book with the step-by-step instructions and all the pictures. I can figure this out, right? Well, I'm surprised by how well it turned out. Not perfect, by any stretch, but not bad for a first attempt. Check it out: