Got a slow hand?

[Eight Thumbs]

Hey Folks,

I've been hard at work at my tying table all day getting my flies ready for the foam fly swap. I've knocked off about 24 size #10 chartreuse Gurgle Pops. That's about 17 or 18 flies for the swap and half a dozen for an old friend. It's taken me a good part of the day between bathroom trips, dog walking, snacks, drinks (nonalcoholic), TV glancing, wandering around the house, looking out various windows and pondering deep philosophical questions. As you can see, I'm a roaming fly tyer by choice. I enjoy a slow leisurely pace to my fly tying. Anyone else out there a slow, leisurely, roaming fly tyer? For me, fly tying is an activity to be savored not rushed. How about you? 8T

[ohiotuber]

Hey Folks,

I've been hard at work at my tying table all day getting my flies ready for the foam fly swap. I've knocked off about 24 size #10 chartreuse Gurgle Pops. That's about 17 or 18 flies for the swap and half a dozen for an old friend. It's taken me a good part of the day between bathroom trips, dog walking, snacks, drinks (nonalcoholic), TV glancing, wandering around the house, looking out various windows and pondering deep philosophical questions. As you can see, I'm a roaming fly tyer by choice. I enjoy a slow leisurely pace to my fly tying. Anyone else out there a slow, leisurely, roaming fly tyer? For me, fly tying is an activity to be savored not rushed. How about you? 8T

Same here! I tie lousy flies, but....
1) They catch fish, &
2) I take my time savoring the lousiness of my efforts!
Mikey

[ducksterman]

I'm with you guys...tying a fly is an "event" for me....and often I don't know how the event will turn out

[DShock]

My tying behavior was always very slow. I would tie a fly and "Admire" it! I thought it was pretty weird that I did that. When I witnessed a commercial tier, tying with commitment and speed, I was always humbled.
Doug

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

I'm a slow tier. I already have more flies then I need, but I enjoy tying. So, I take my time and try and maximise the neatness. Mind you, looking at some of my results, that maximum could be increased a tad!

- Jeff

[dubbinfly]

Yep, tying is my therapy. I have built many and varied things in my work shop and have many hobbies, but tying is my minds way of getting away. Most mornings after coffee and the paper read I go to the basement to tye a few flies. I get up every now and then from tying and look out the patio door facing the woods around my house and watch the deer and fawns eat their corn I put out about 20 feet out the door. Every now and then the squirrels try to bluff the fawns so they can steal some corn, it gets pretty intertaining at times.
This is my time of day to give thanks for the day and tye a flie that takes me back to a mountain stream or fishing some where with my 2 grown sons. I have more flies than anyone has a need for but give many to some young as well as not so young people to hopefully get their interest up as well as supplying my sons and grand kids with flies. With my health being what it is I know I will never get back to the mountains again and tying is one way for me to go in my mind. I am gratefull that I did get to go and have memories to fall back on, I have no compaints. There is decent fishing here close and some very secluded and hilly country with some fast streams in places with small mouth and rock bass as well as several lakes and ponds with all the other warm water fish. But it is just not the mountains... : (
The posts some of you have posted and the pictures and stories of the likes of John Scott and so many others are my other means of going to the mountains and I thank all who have shared there trips and stories. They take me along, and many others I'm sure.
In short, yes tying is so much more than tying if you slow down and let your self roam. I couldn't agree with you more. Maybe I should have just stuck to the short version, but I never seem to be able to do that, ask my wife.!! One other short note, the longest time I spent tying 1 fly was well over 2 hours on a #14 Adams, but I was many miles away and fished some beautyfull places while I was tying it. I remember because my wife came down to see the flies I had tied. when I showed her the almost completed fly she just smiled and said thats what I figured.
The very best to you all, Jesse

In old age walking on a trail of beauty, living again may I walk

[perch]

If my tying were to get any slower I would have to think in terms of the speed of a glacier. Another way to think of it is that if my livelihood were dependant on my tying speed , that diet I have been considering would rapidly become my reality. Been trying to tie up some flies for some of my buddies and I for the Mo. fish in . Ok, have about 75 done so far but that aint nearly enough since none of us are what might be construed as "casters extraordinaire" . Sure enough, Al & Grechen Beatty are not going not get any competition from me.
Perch

[Skip48]

Hey Folks,

I've been hard at work at my tying table all day getting my flies ready for the foam fly swap. I've knocked off about 24 size #10 chartreuse Gurgle Pops. That's about 17 or 18 flies for the swap and half a dozen for an old friend. It's taken me a good part of the day between bathroom trips, dog walking, snacks, drinks (nonalcoholic), TV glancing, wandering around the house, looking out various windows and pondering deep philosophical questions. As you can see, I'm a roaming fly tyer by choice. I enjoy a slow leisurely pace to my fly tying. Anyone else out there a slow, leisurely, roaming fly tyer? For me, fly tying is an activity to be savored not rushed. How about you? 8T

Kind of depends on how many jigs I have to tie for orders, but usually if I pull out my fly tying stuff I do slow down. My bad back also will not let me sit here too long without moving around a bit. So I to go into the rest of the house and maybe step out on my back deck to look at the lake and birds, and the pesky squirrels.

My preference is to take my time. However sometimes it is not possible like last last October I ran a special on jigs with about 34 jigs per special and after one day I had 29 orders so the speed trap was set and triggered, LOL! It didn't stop there as the rest of the year and into spring was way more busy than I like.

With flies I can't rush them like I can jigs though as I don't tie near as many so I have to think and go slower or I will miss something and then I am mad as self.

Skip

[James Smith]

Count me in as well. I've never been one who enjoys "crunching out" flies as fast as I can. It takes all the enjoyment out of it for me. I tend to "putz" around a bit at the vise. I'll tie half dozen of one pattern then get to looking at materials and see if I can experiment with a new pattern or variation of a pattern. Like others, I have more flies than I can ever use so tying is usually a relaxing time tying a few flies and dreaming about future trips.

The last thing I'd want to do is have to pump out a gross of one pattern at time like the commercial guys do.

Jim Smith

[Wild One]

I guess I'm one of the odd ones out here.
I don't tie because I enjoy it (although that is why I started to). I tie because I've already invested a lot of money into materials; don't want the hassle of selling it all and having to buy flies; and because I like to be able to get flies whenever I want (even if it's 2 am!).
Tying is a means to me and not an end, so the quicker I can get through it and get what I want, the better. I prefer to tie flies with limited numbers of materials (2 and 3 max) if I can so that I can just get a bunch done and go on to something else.
I get bored extremely quickly with just about everything I do except actually fishing. I can't tie for more than an hour without getting antsy to move on to something else.