I just started fly fishing last June, with a set of ancient flies my father tied back when men were men and had to wrestle their catch of the day from the cave bears , and only started tying a few months ago. Given that, I've been trying to build up both skills and a basic set of classic, proven flies to fill my boxes with. Gold Ribbed Hare's Ears, Pheasant Tails, Buggers, etc. in the various sizes I'm going to need. I'm also trying to fill a couple of boxes for him since my enthusiasm has dragged him back into this wonderful obsession/sport. In the course of this, I've been buying various "bread and butter" materials and learning how to work with them, which has been very fun and often exciting, although my first attempt at tying an Adams had to be dragged out behind the wood shed and shot.