About

The Fanatical Fly Tyer - An Introduction

When I first picked up a fly rod in the summer of 2012  I did not have the faintest clue that it would lead to where I am today. I was fascinated with fishing and the outdoors from a young age, in part due to the efforts of my loving Mother who took the time to introduce my sister and I to fishing. I remember as a child going out for hours drowning worms at local bass and panfish ponds around the area with the two, always amazed at the fierce tugs of scrappy bluegills and bass taking the simple offerings we had put forth to them. As most children do I started with a cheap push button rod and reel, big red and white bobbers, a hook and some worm. As I grew older I progressed to spin casting and lure/soft plastic fishing. I do not recall the age at which I lost interest in fishing...but for many years it was the furthest thing from my mind.

When I was around 16 I overheard a few friends at work talking about a recent fishing trip out to a local river system and my curiosity was sparked again. I asked if they minded taking me out and helping me get back into the swing of things after so many years away to which they obliged. I purchased a fishing license, a cheap spinning reel all spooled up and ready to go, and a few assorted in line spinners to get me started. My first time out in years left me on the bank wondering how to tie a knot again and curious to see if I could still cast well enough to put things where I wanted them. I could not for the life of me remember how to tie a fishing knot so instead of doing the smart thing and asking one of my friends I simply tied the spinner on as best I could. Fishing is like riding a bike, once you get back on and get the kinks out it all comes flooding back. After a while I made a cast and while retrieving the spinner back through the water I felt a strong pull and was into a nice bass. After only 20 seconds or so the fish got off to my dismay...disappointed and a bit let down I reeled in my line only to realize that the half assed knot I had tied had let go and a bass was now swimming around with my $5 lure attached to his lip...one of the many lessons you learn as an angler...needless to say I then asked my friend to show me how to tie a proper fishing knot and continued on fishing.


That one trip catapulted me back into fishing and for years and years I fished hard targeting mainly panfish and river small mouth bass. The spring of 2012 I really started getting into ultra light spin casting for panfish. The fight of crappie, bluegill, redear and pumpkinseed sunfish on ultra light tackle was an amazing amount of fun and I spent many evenings at the pond messing around with micro soft plastics, gulp minnows and other panfish lures. Most nights I had ok success, a good evening was 15-20 fish, slower nights may yield 2-5 caught and released. Then something started to happen a fair bit that I began to take notice of. A fly fisherman would show up on a slow night, walk over to the bank and proceed to hammer off 50-60 fish in an hour or two and then leave. Night after night this same thing would happen and I began to get a little jealous of the constant action and fish catching abilities that these fly anglers had. After a few weeks of this I had enough and I made a decision that has forever changed my life, that being purchasing my first fly rod.


$150 lighter in the wallet I traveled home with childlike excitement waiting to try out my new toy. I had purchased a 6wt 9 foot Okuma combo, a cheap trout leader, and a small handful of maybe 15 flies that the guy working at the shop helped me pick out. After fifteen minutes on youtube watching a casting introduction video I was off to the pond to give things a go. Casting at this point was very hit and miss but it only took me a few minutes to start getting into fish with small wooly worms. I did not keep count of how many fish I landed that night...but can easily say it was way more then normal. After an evening of excitement I was walking back to the car and looking at my depleting fly box. Having lost several flies to the tree's surrounding the pond and a few to breaking off I started to count up the dollar value of the flies that I had lost that night...what an expensive hobby I thought. Well clearly the solution to the problem of spending hundreds of dollars on flies only to lose them is to start tying my own...that will save me money for sure! Oh how I was wrong.

What was left after the first outing.


Here I am a little over a year and a half into my fly fishing journey and I can stand back and be amazed at the things I have accomplished and the progress I have made.It seems that fly fishing has opened many new doors for me, allowing me to grow as an angler and as a person. I have targeted and had success fishing for many new species of fish, from steelhead and salmon to resident brown and rainbow trout. I have hooked and landed more fish since I started fly fishing then I have in the past 5 years of spin casting. On the fly tying side of things in a short period of time I have become very proficient and comfortable in tying, moving from simple bass and bluegill bugs to intruders, classics, and spey and dee style flies. Within the first 6 months of tying I even won 3 1st place awards in a local fly tying competition. From a simple 6wt trout rod my collection has grown to include many different flavors of rods and fishing including two handed rods used for swinging flies for Great Lakes steelhead, and even an ultra light compact tenkara rod used to deliver flies to small trout and panfish. Like with anything else my addictive and obsessive personality has allowed this passion to grow in leaps and bounds in a very short period of time.

Be it fly fishing or sitting at the bench tying up offerings and creating new flies I am 100% addicted, obsessed and in love with the hobby and sport. I intend for this blog to be focused mainly on fly tying but obviously some fishing will spill over from time to time onto these pages. Having progressed through the learning curve very quickly I would like to offer ideas, thoughts, and insights from my fanatical mind that seems to revolve around the sport these days. Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to 2014 being another year filled with firsts both at the bench and on the water!

Tight Lines!

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