I started tying decent flies in 1961, when I obtained a vice, but was taught tying large bass flies by hand a few years earlier while in the Navy. In my younger years I fished Virginia's eastern lakes with dreams of living in the majestic west. In mid 1970 I moved to Alaska where I was employed by the Police Department in Anchorage and also managed Big Red's Flying Service (air taxi wheel and float service). I had my own personal airplane so managed to fish extensively throughout Alaska's remote areas in my free time.
After retirement I lived and fished a year in western Washington State (Issaquah) and then moved to Carbondale, Illinois to teach law enforcement at Southern Illinois University for a professor on sabbatical. While there I fished the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas, and several lakes in Kentucky, and Illinois.
I moved back to Virginia a year later to be near family. I now live and fish mostly for trout in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Native brook trout in rugged spring creeks are my favorite pursuits. It takes a toll on my old worn out body but it is worth the pain.
I enjoy tying a wide range of traditional flies and experimenting with unusual materials. Besides tying and fishing, other hobbies include breeding chickens, beekeeping, shooting/reloading, and building this web site on rainy days.
I tied production flies for a year in the mid 80s. It became a burden with quotas and low profits, no matter how fast I became, so I gave it up. It was two years later before I returned to the vise for pleasure. I had picked up the bad habit of tying fast and it took a long time to slow down enough to enjoy myself.
Anyone considering tying production flies should know you will likely enjoy it less and profits will be low. Your competition are imports from foreign countries where tiers earn pennies an hour. Fly shops and other outlets (Orvis, Cabelas, etc.) can't resist the low prices so it has eliminated production fly tying businesses in more advanced countries. It is a consequence of world trade and corporate political control.
