I am going to dissagree with almost everyone here and go back to my origional answer. Learn to tie the flies you fish the most. The problem I see with leartning "simpler" patterns is that many people never progress to other patterns. I have talked to tyers who have been tying a lot for over a year who still think that an adams is too complicated for them. It may require learning more techniques quickly but it is still just a matter of applying some standard methods with maybe a unique twist here and there to tie just about any trout fly. Raiderhunter , what are the five flies you fish the most? If you list them we may be able to suggest an order to learn them in to let you master the fewest new techiques at a time When you have mastered them you should be confident you can tie any fly, not just very simple ones.