What do you do at the vice?

[Izaak]

dd,

When I am planning a particular fishing outing I tie patterns that will generally imitate the expected hatches, or attractor patterns that I have had success with in the past. Most of these patterns will be pretty standard and well-known. I have more confidence fishing them and feel I will be using my fishing time most efficiently. If I have caught a satisfactory number of fish I will sometimes tie on a pattern of my own design and try it out.

[daringduffer]

dd,
If I have caught a satisfactory number of fish I will sometimes tie on a pattern of my own design and try it out.

Seems reasonable. Shame I rarely come to that point. But I remember one time when I sat for four hours, waiting for the fish to show, then caught two fish in two consecutive casts and was satisfied. I had another cup of coffee and watched the sun set behind a mountain far away. A friend picked me up eventually and we returned to the cabin. It was a very peaceful day I'll never forget.

dd

[William Anderson]

dd, I like this thread. The long answer is both...yada yada. The short answer is me trying to produce something that helps me resolve issues I had on the last outing. Sometimes expanding something that worked, but usually trying to find a solution to a particular species or water condition.

[Old Hat]

I'm right at 50/50. I create a lot of my own patterns but I also enjoy re-creating history by getting as close to classic patterns as I can. Part of the fun is collecting the materials to re-create those old patterns. I have waited a few years sometimes to get a certain material to be able to tie a certain pattern. I don't normally put a lot of effort into retaining a certain material as I know I could go looking and probably find whatever I needed. It is fun to see if it finds me along whatever road I'm on.

[DUBBN]

If fishing ended tomorrow, my vise and material would be in the dumpster tomorrow night. I did not take up tieing to save money. I took it up to tie patterns the way I want them to look. Rarely do I tie a pattern exactly the way the originator did. If the pattern fails I have only myself to blame.

Some store patterns have tails too long, or wing cases too narrow etc... I could have kept on complaining about them or tie flies myself. I chose to tie. I have fun tieing them, but first and foremost the patterns that come out of my vise must produce fish. I tie as fast as I can and still be some what effecient. That being said, I am still not as efficient or as fast as most tiers on this forum. Photographs do not lie.

I suppose I create by taking ideas from other tiers patterns.

I just remembered something. There is a category of fly patterns that I tie which are not meant for the trout. Upon each one of my granchildrens first haircut,a lock
of hair is saved for me. I then use the babies hair to create a fly just for that child. The flies are given back to the parents and are then placed in the childs baby book.

[Johnno]

Depends what I'm drinking at the time. if its Tullamore Dew, or a good New Zealand Pinot Noir or a Californian Zinfandel I create. If its coffee or herbal tea, I recreate....

[narcodog]

dd, Howdy;

I do things best when there is a deadline. Most of my tying
has been done when I'm involved in a swap.
Lately, I've become interested in the smaller flies.
Just finished reading "TyingSmallFlies" by Ed Engle.
Got truly interested this past Sept. when I went fishin'
with DUBBN. Then at the San Juan the bitty flies
were also the fly de Jour. Gotta admitt when you can
glue 2 32's on the head of a pin that alone takes some skill ,
I don't expect to go that small, 22 or 24 might be nice.

hank

Tying small flies is something I did a few years ago.Size 30 and 32's and I have used them on the Davidson River in NC. Those trout are attracted to red and I tied several different patterns. Now, I have not caught anything on them yet but I have had them taken. That was a thrill in it's self. I have also given many away just the heck of it. The look on someones face when you hand them a 30 or 32 is priceless.