Taking lessons

[Wednesday Caster]

$20 is cheap for therapy. That's probably comparable to 10 minutes on a leather couch.

[Padron]

Many thanks for the comments about this. I'm really looking forward to trying this out. It just looks like a lot of fun to do, as well as a great way to meet more people. I haven't had the time to fish in quite a while, as I opened a new business a year and a half ago. Just no time. I figure this gives me a good excuse to get away from watching the idiot box at night, ya know? Like the one poster said, this should be cheap therapy for a few days. If I get addicted to it, though, then "cheap" will go right out the window. I'll have to get internet service at home instead of just here at my business, just to join the tying chats you folks have.

Somethings tells me I'll be spending lots of money on this. Better than burying it in the backyard

Thanks!

-Padron-

[Ray Kunz]

My teaching motto is, "Keep it simple and cheap but do your homework." The ability of newbies to work at home between class sessions is vital.
In my town the Park & Recreation agreed to purchase 12 sets of really basic tools so they could be taken home for practice (after a $25 deposit).
Our fee is $50 for materials they keep and a copy of Dave Hughes Fly Tying Manual. By asking around I also got a 30% discount on supplies. My efforts were volunteered. WHAT A GREAT PAIR OF BREAKTHROUGHS FOR RUNNING A CLASS. After 5 (2 1/2 hr.) sessions for beginners with 10 people, 8 asked if we could keep going for another 5 sessions. My learning experience was that beginners MUST be able to practice at home. ~ Ray

[Padron]

The first class was this past Tuesday, and it's the only one I went to. Got sick on Wednesday and snowed in on Thursday. The first class was fun, but I found out that I am clearly the WORST tyer around. We made three flies...a Wooly Bugger, and Egg Dot and something else. The only way a fly would take any of them was if the fish was blind, stupid and had no taste. Darned ugly things I made. All the same, it was lots of fun. Thanks for the inmput, folks.

-Padron-

[mr. blur]

I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone here when saying that we all started out that way. proficiency comes about after hours and hours and hours time invested at the vise.

keep it up and good luck.

[Litehen55]

For a number of years a good friend talked about FF and tying with me. About 5 years ago I started a new career that involved flying every week and staying in hotels 3-5 nights a week. I realized pretty quick that the TV or books don't keep me occupied very long in the hotel room a long way from home. And working on the computer after 8-10 hours of work is mind numbing. So, I asked him to give me private lessons. We negotiated a series of classes (6) with a bottle of his favorite scotch to cover the materials he gave me, and spent about 3-4 hours each session with homework before the next session of 6-12 flies. He taught classes at the local art center and at the community college in FF and tying, so he had a curriculum and format to go by.
Along the way, I found FAOL and went through the Al Campbell tutorial as well. I tied 2-4 days a week for a couple hours each time for six months while going through the classes. The best parts of taking classes are these in my opinion:
1. Learning the tricks and techniques by seeing them done is the quickest way to tie decent looking flies.
2. Materials to learn being provided allow you to decide what is needed for your own type of tying.
3. A good instructor can critique the end result so you improve faster.
4. You build on success.

[Eight Thumbs]

I started tying in 1955 and had few books, no fly tying classes and a dollar a week budget. The few available books were all ink and pen diagrams. In drawing 4, the tyer was pinching the wings to the hook and in drawing 5, the wings were sitting on the hook perfectly aligned. I had so little available instruction, that I thought dry fly hackle fibers were tied on individually. Needless to say my first dry flies were very lightly hackled and had extremely large heads. I don't feel so dumb any more because I recently found out the Slyvester Nemes (Soft Hackle Flies)was under the same impression when he started out. I wouldn't trade my learning experience for anything but I wouldn't want to do it again. A couple of classes could have saved me a lot of time. You seem to have found a good program at an excellent price. Go for it! Enjoy it! 8T

[okieflyfisheman]

Padron - I am not a seasoned tyer by any means but have been tying for a while. One thing I have learned is that although I am always trying to improve - the trout (or your WW fish of choice) will be a lot less finiky about your flies than you will be. My suggestion is to take the ugliest fly that you have tied to your favorite honey hole and catch a fish with it. After catching that fish on the fly that you tied you will be hooked. For me, flytying is the best therapy in the world - I get absolutely lost in it for hours at a time AND you will find the members here on FAOL to be the most helpful and, I might add, some of the finest folks you will ever meet.

[Padron]

Padron - I am not a seasoned tyer by any means but have been tying for a while. One thing I have learned is that although I am always trying to improve - the trout (or your WW fish of choice) will be a lot less finiky about your flies than you will be. My suggestion is to take the ugliest fly that you have tied to your favorite honey hole and catch a fish with it. After catching that fish on the fly that you tied you will be hooked. For me, flytying is the best therapy in the world - I get absolutely lost in it for hours at a time AND you will find the members here on FAOL to be the most helpful and, I might add, some of the finest folks you will ever meet.

Well, maybe a fish might try one of the ugly ones. Who knows? I can see how this would be good therapy, especially at this time of year. Ice fishing just won't cut it, I don't think. Having been around FAOL for a number of years, I can certainly attest to the quality of people around here. Time to get more familiar with the tying bunch. I'm thinking of getting the Danvise from the fellow around here as a decent starter. Possibly a Griffin. Start small and go from there. I finally got internet access here at my house, as opposed to just having it at work, with one of the reasons being able to be around this site more often. Makes sense, right? Anyway, thanks for the thoughts.

-Padron-

[hazmat]

Keep at it.. you only get better with practice. I just started tying in November and my first Wooly Buggers are something of an eye-sore. Since then, they've gotten better.. but only through doing it. Once certain techniques become second nature to you(and I am far from that, but a few have become that way) and you're just tying as opposed to thinking, it gets easier. Hang in there!!!