Actually, this fly was one that kind of magically went together, as some do occasionally. I spent a couple hours each evening for maybe four evenings, so about eight hours or so. Part of that was some dying. Actual tying time, probably seven hours. I really took this one slowly, as it's for a good friend and customer.

Kelly, you really should give these a go, they're so frustrating but so much fun to do at the same time. The slower you go, the better. I'd suggest doing some of the more advance wet flies first, ones like the Dennison or Cassard, using goose secondaries which are cheap. They'll marry to the wood duck more easily than will mallard. You've got the skills, and when all is said and done, it's not really so much about skill as it is about patience and perseverance.

I included the old article about tying salmon flies mainly for guys who already do these. It gives some great insights on things like the tag, which was quite short, shorter that a lot of guys do these days. It's not a great tutorial for someone wanting to learn, kind of tough to wade through, and it's all tied in hand. I just thought it was another perspective on how things were done back then.

Thanks everyone for the kind words about the fly.