Re: [VFB] Newbie weighs in

[TroutStreamTom]

Well, i guess i'll hop in on this one a minute...I've been tying not quite a year now.  Bought one of those kits that BassPro sells.  Basic tools, materials etc.  Even included the video.  Still have the first fly i ever tied.  YECH, I say!!!  Watched the video, couldn't tye a whip finish if my life depended on it.  Packed everything away.
Month or so later, took the vise out and started to tye.  I whip finished!!  (Where the heck did that come from??)

Started taking the kit to work.  Stress builds, i tye and things flow smoother.  Tried to get in the Christmas swap but due to an email glitch, Iain never got the response.  I became an alternate.  Then the email came end of last week that someone bowed out and if i was interested, i could still get in on it.  BUT i was under the gun to tie 32 flies.  Well, i started kicking it in the butt and to date have 20 done.  Iain knows they weren't going to make it by the deadline but once i finish i'll send them along for next year, or at least to whom may be running the next Christmas Swap.  I'd tye one, then use the magnifying glass to check things out on it.  Some have subtle differences.  What are ya gonna do???

The reason I tye, in addition to being a new hobby that keeps me off the streets, is for the pure enjoyment of it.  What gets me going though, is something that I have put together from scratch , will consistently fool trout and bass.  That's the only reward i need.  If i can satisfly myself with what comes off my vise, then I'm a happy man.
I whip finish without any problems at all.  I'm constantly thinking of some new pattern i can come up with.  I'm always alert to feathers during my woods walks.  I tell my buddies to keep me in mind during any season here that will supply an amount of material.

In closing, i do strive to construct the best fly i can, given the short amount of time i've been doing it.  I am my own worst critic.   I get so much from this list and have made some new friends besides.   I , for one, will stay with the list because it always has so much to offer.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Tom-Vermont

"The woods are made for the hunters of dreams, the brooks for the fishers of song.."