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I have been a fly angler for 3 years now, and a tier of flies for 1 year. I
haven't master any of the above yet, by I am definitely beyond the beginners'
stage, and somewhere into the intermediate level.
One thing that bothered me for a long time, is why I could not progress on my
fly tying, to a level of professional quality. I have averaged, tying 6 flies
per day, every day for a year, some are okay, others are offered up to the
"Zippo God," for reincarnation. Just this last weekend, I saw the light, and
the truth, behind the lie.
Some fly tying books call for a certain hook for a fly, and when you tie the
fly, it ends up not looking anything like the picture, no matter how many
times you tie it. Well, they lied about the hook.
Holding the called for hook (in a tweezers), between my eye and the picture I
adjusted the distance of the hook until the curve gap of the hook matched the
picture. What did I find? The picture was showing a hook that was 2 to 3
eye lengths longer, than the hook called for in the recipe.
As far as I know, FAOL has not been guilty of this tactic, yet many a
respectable book on the market has, intentional or not, committed this lie.
So in the future always compare the hook to the picture, before you start
wrapping thread!
~ Steven H McGarthwaite (aka ParnelliMN)
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