How Long

[Bruno]

So how long did it take you to feel proficient as a fly tyer ? I have been doing this for seven years now and I am just beginning to feel proficient in my skills. Which means I can notice the mistakes I make as I make them .

 

[jayL]

Within the last year or two, after tinkering with tying off and on since I was 13 or so.

I didn't become confident in my ability to tie until I took a step back and tried to demystify the whole process. Instead of trying to mimic stuff I saw, I started thinking about what makes a good fly and figuring it out on my own. I began to enjoy it more, and I began to start standardizing the way I do things, so my flies are overall better now.

Copying a pattern from a book or the internet is absolutely mind numbing for me.

 

[sandfly]

I can't remember that far back, to much info over the years. to many fly patterns, to many methods.I would have to guess after 10 years I felt good enough.

 

[osprey]

When is started landing fish on the ones that I tied. When i started having confidence enough to go out and know what they were feedin on and be able to feel good enough about my tying that if i could figure them out i'd have the fly to match. I still to this day unwrap things and then re-tie till it looks "right" so............my answer would be a long time ago and Never. This year will be 50 years of doing this for me.

 

[Hopdemon]

When I stopped worrying if mine looked as good as the store bought ones.. cause mine were catcing fish..,not as pretty but effective

 

[MKern]

Mine was a little over a year.

I tied a lot of crappy flies (that I thought were great) that first year. Now, I did tie constantly that first year, probably a few thousand flies.

The big help for me was not to follow someone else's step-by-step directions, but figure out what worked for me. Sometimes how they did things wouldn't mesh with what my fingers could do.

It's one of those things, like with many sports, that once it clicks you just got it and it seems to happen over night. Then like riding a bike you never loose it.

 

[dryflyguy]

My flies worked very well the first year I tied my own.
But I only concentrated on dries

 

[djmyers]

I would say it took me about two years to feel confident in my tying and making decent flies. But I have a friend that was a great critic that knew what they were to look like so I think that sped up the process in learning. It has only been the last year that I have started to "create" on my own and that is when it gets really exciting especially when the patterns work.

 

[David]

I still don't feel proficient.
It always takes me a couple ties to get the feel for even a familiar pattern before I can get into the flow.
There are too many problems I face that I don't have the proper procedure or dexterity to make it easy / efficient / durable / etc.

 

[gfen]

Proficient? Not. BUt, what I make generally works. That's important enough.

Sometimes, I make something pretty but generally they look like *** but what do I care, no one will see it when I leave it left up in a tree, anyways.

 

[beadhead2]

I'm still learning ,but thanks to my friend ,he lets me look at his flies and then I just use a diffent color of thread ,so he can't say I am copying his !!!!!

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I started flyfishing seven years ago and began tying six years ago. The last couple of years I have felt good about the flies I tie. They seem to catch trout which in the end is the objective. Two years ago I came home from work and tied several new size 14 Cream Cahill drys. That evening on a local unstocked limestoner I caught several nice browns and my once in a lifetime 14" wild Tiger trout. At that point I knew I was starting to figure out this tying thing. Alot of it is confidence in your ability.I also think we tend to tie flies that look good to us. I experiment alot more now with different materials and have modified patterns to my own tastes and likes.

 

[whheff]

I have been tying for 8 years and I probably started to feel proficient about 2 years ago. The guy who got me into fly fishing and tying is one of the best tiers I know and he told me that hardest part of tying was being consistent.
I finally reached that stage but I can only tie 4 or 5 flies at a time before I start to loose it. Then I have to walk away form the vise for a while.

 

[ryguyfi]

I'm confident fishing my flies, and that's all that matters to me. Not all of them "look" great, but they work for me. I've been tying for around 4 years now. I tie just to fill my boxes, and create things here and there. I mostly find patterns that work and crank out a few dozen. My dries just started to get better last year. It's amazing how good hackle makes a difference. Now working on using alternative materials for dries... cdc, hair wing, etc. I'm by no means proficient, but have no problem giving my flies away either. They're not embarassing anymore lol.


Ryan

 

[surveyor06]

Im def. confident in my fly's ability to catch fish, but I have a long way to go before I consider myself proficient. I can tie most generic patterns well, but I cant spin deer hair or do some of the more fancy things. I make a mean PT though. I tie alot of patterns with soft hackle and have become pretty good with them.

 

[flyfishermanj]

Within the last few years, hard to pin-point exactly when though. Not too many patterns that I don't have confidence that I can't tie anymore. I think it has more with learning to do the basics first and letting the more advanced stuff later come later.

JH

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Sometimes, I make something pretty but generally they look like *** but what do I care, no one will see it when I leave it left up in a tree, anyways.

Ive pulled a few a$$ flies out of the trees over the years. They have worked when I used them but I always wondered.......