Yeah, I tie.
I partially agree with
@FerlasDave in that you can have the prettiest fly, but might not catch with it, but while there is art in fly tying, it is more about the mechanics of material manipulation and there is definitely much to be learned from others on how to do this, how to achieve effects and do so durably.
Between age 12 and 17 or so I was pretty obsessed with fly tying. This would have been first half of the 1990s. No one in my family was into fishing or anything like that but they were encouraging and good sports at taking me places. That was a good age to absorb knowledge like a sponge. I started with some basic instruction from a neighbour, then with some books, but I was pretty bad. Then met Gordon Fraser (author of Mastering the Nymph) when he was selling flies and materials at Eyebrook. He ran weekly courses during the winter and I went to those for a couple of years.
Trout Fisherman magazine ran a competition each year for junior fly tiers and I was fortunate enough to be overall winner one year. Partridge of Reddich was the sponsor and my prize was a factory tour, and a split cane rod of my choice, marked with my name. I entered and won places in a couple of open competitions too.
Back then the Country Landowners Association Game Fair had a big fishing section, and there was a big angling fair each year at Chatsworth house. I went to all the shows I could. Partridge were heavily involved in promoting tying and there were often top tiers demonstrating at their stand at the show. Partridge also organised fly tying symposiums at the Arrow Mill hotel and I went to that a couple of times. Weekends of talks and demos by world renowned fishermen and tiers. I got to chat with the likes of Chris Helm, Terry Ruane, Taff Price, Oliver Edwards, Davy Wooton, Hans DeGroot, Mike Sugg, and even got to meet Dave Whitlock a couple of times. Heady stuff for a lad in his mid-teens!
Then came university, other hobbies and drains on time and fly tying got relegated to storage under the bed. Dug it out when I went to New Zealand in 2015 and have had it out a few times since. Actually had it out a lot over the summer and autumn of 2023, and it is out again even now.
Rather a lot has changed since I was tying back in the old lodge at Eyebrook! Nymphs have got smaller and heavier, lures have got bigger and much more sophisticated, there are countless new materials, 30 some years of additional selective breeding have created dry fly hackles that are unbelievable to 1990s eyes.
There is so much good instruction on Youtube that I think there is less reason to go to classes, but as tying is a solitary activity, it was nice to be sat in a room with others, all shooting the breeze and winding materials.
