Tyson Attempts Fly Tying

        Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that asking me if I have any hobbies can turn into an all day conversation. I undoubtedly have dabbled in way more hobbies than any sane human being should, that being said, spreading myself that thin doesn't lend itself to mastering any of them. I hope that fly tying will be the exception, to me it seems a useful skill and almost a form of relaxation and meditation... at least I assume it would be relaxing once its no longer frustrating. 


        Since I finished university I have been paying back my student loans steadily, diligently... and unfortunately. As encouragement I am rewarding myself at certain increments. The most recent was treating myself to a fly tying kit to help pass some of the down time at work. For approx $100 I bought a box of life long addiction, also known as a starter kit. It contains: all the basic equipment, a tying manual, a fly fishing tips book and some tying materials.

Everything I need to get started

            I first read both books cover to cover and then made a plan to tie my first fly. As suggested by the book I opted to try tying a nymph.

Well I tried and that's what counts!

         It wasn't pretty and it definitely did not look like the picture, but I was informed that when it comes to flies, especially nymphs, fish are pretty comfortable with flies that are a little rough around the edges. I was relieved to learn this. I then tried again.

Looks a little better if I do say so myself

       Tying my first flies I realized my kit was not quite complete. I had nothing to use to apply the necessary glue to the heads of the flies.

Points for creativity and ingenuity? 

     Having "mastered" that nymph pattern it was time to move on to the woolly bugger.

It looks sick and/or hungry 

              I tried again a few times until I realized I was using the wrong materials. Two shortcomings of this kit are that none of the materials are labelled so sometimes it comes to some internet searching and a best guess, secondly the materials are all in rather strange colours so it makes for some interesting patterns.

Maybe it will work on a nice pike

       Once I had gotten my material sorted out my woolly buggers started to look a little bit better. I posted some photos to instagram and someone asked if I could make them into earrings for them. So at the very least they're pretty right? Well I am yet to let being bad at something stop me from doing it, so I'll keep working on it and anything especially good or bad I'll put up on my Instagram. I still can't seem to figure out dry flies...

Everything I have tied so far

   This week I got an Instagram account going, come check it out for more pictures more frequently. Just look for "TysonGoesOutside"