Recently my mentor has created a DVD on tying wet flies for sale that I own and love and highly stress to others to buy and own. This video provides a lot of tips and techniques and presents tying classic Bergman wet flies that no other video or book has really ever done. The closest thing to this DVD was Hellem Shaw's book Flies for Fish & Fishermen. Hellens book I feel was good, but you have to follow the book page by page and if you jump around to find a pattern you really wanted to tie, you would miss all the techniques how to tie this fly because is was presented in the pages and chapters that you skipped over and now would have to go back and read every thing. Yes Don's DVD does this a little, but with the user friendly menue you can easily go to the fly where a technique was shown. Matter of seconds vs matter of how fast can you read and comprehend. Now let's get to the heart of this post. Don's DVD presents a lot of Techniques and shows you how to perform them. Keep in mind that when going to your tying area or shop, you need to practice these techniques. Some people will pick them up quite easy and others it may take a little bit of effort on your part. I have seen a lot of people get frustrated and claim the video was good but you flies are not coming out the way they look in the video. I can not tell you how much practice I have done to get my wet flies to look close to Dons. All the techiniques and tricks I have learned from Don as well as looking at Don's DVD does work 100%. It was that you have to practice them and master them in order to tye beautiful looking wet flies. For some people out there they think they can watch any video or DVD and tie the fly and make it look exactly the same. Wrong. Osmosis will not happen here and practice and patience is what is needed. Not just Dons but Dave Brandt or Ralpg Graves videos also require practice and learning. These video's and DVD need to be sat down with and watched, and if you can play it while you tying, see what tying in a floss body looks and feel like and so on. The techniques in Don's DVD are not difficult, but they do require practice. If you practice all the Techniques presented in the video you too should be able to produce a very nice looking wet fly. I can not stress enough Practice, Practice, Practice and Patience. Don's video works, it just comes down to practicing all the techniques provided and taking your time tying these flies. After awhile, you tying speed will increase and the techniques will become second nature. I find this to be true with a lot of things in life. I know some of you will be able to pick up the techiques and tie wet flies quickly and easy, I also know that some of you will have to take more time maybe ask a question or two and be able to pick it up. Once in awhile there are a few that never gets it no matter how many times you show them or answer there questions. Lastly I have taken Don wet fly tying class twice now. I have seen a student or two not be able to pick it up because they did not take all the tricks and techniques and practice them and apply them. I have also recently at this past class seen a student or to that were just picking thing up like it was candy. From my own experience and quite a few have seen my flies know how much time and work have put into my wet flies. I am not Don's competition, I am Don's student that is following techniques and practicing all that has been shown to me from the DVD, class and questions asked. I am an example that if you follow the techniques, practice and take your time at first, your wet flies will look like mine which looks like Dons. Wet flies are a thing of Beauty and desrve a place in your fly box, your tying bench. Most important is fish them, they work quite well and the results of fish taken on them may just surprise some on this board.

Andy B