This is a great thread. Some years ago I was buying my flies from an older gentleman who was selling his hand-tied flies at a flea market up in the mountains. I paid a couple of dollars apiece for them. Over the course of time his eyesight began to fail and his flies were messier and rougher. The Elk Hair Caddis didn't look anything like those I had from a store. I still remember casting that fly and seeing two trout jump for it. I caught the first fish and released it. Cast again, caught the second, and and released that one too. The fly is now in my box and will stay there. In spite of its chaotic appearance it became a priceless work of art once I saw what it could do.