I consider myself a lurker, though I have made a few comments over the last
year, and participated in a few swaps. I believe that this is just where I
fit into this list. I would like to offer a few observations that have been
a theme in several of the recent threads. Fly Fishing and Fly Tying are
diverse activities, and I believe that this is the reason that they attract
so many folks. I have been fishing and tying for the last 34 years. My first
flys were actually salt water flies- yellow feathers lashed on to a mustad
snelled hook and cemented with model airplane glue- that my brother and I
used to catch snapper blues with our metal telescoping fly rods. While is
school in central PA i became somewhat of a trout fishing bum. I once spent
2 weeks learning how to catch one particular brown deep in the cress above
the meadow, while Mr. Fox and his dog looked on. During the same time I was
privileged to meet John Shollenberger, who rarely fished, but taught me to
tie real 32's with wings. At that time I always tied at stream side,
something I never do any more. Then after "the movie", as the streams became
more crowded, I switched exclusively to smallmouth and saltwater. Then 5
years in the Midwest, during which I concentrated almost exclusively on
tying, and became heavily involved with presentation flys. Arthritis in my
shoulders keeps me away from the big rods most of the time now.
Living in North central PA, however, I now carefully follow the progression
of hatches. There are a multitude of excellent tiers in this area, all of
whom have there own special approach to mayflies. I try to tie and carry all
of them! I tie flys with wings, and flies without. Sometimes the fish seem
to prefer one over the other, and some days I just prefer one over the
other.
Next year, who knows what will interest me. What I do know is that the
ability to expand and contract, to focus on one aspect or another, keeps me
going. It's like a backbone with different tendrils that can be emphasized
or ignored. There's always a new fly to learn, a new stream, an old stream
I've neglected, or something else to get excited about. And then there's the
folk. The guy who tells you where he saw fish rising, and gives you a fly,
as well as the guy who still believes that he who catches the most fish
wins.
Well- I know I did not say this as eloquently as Don O, or with as much
enthusiasm as Allan Fish, or with literature to back me up like Jimmy- but I
tried. Maybe this is a project for 2003.
Thanks for everything- especially to Byard for his support and bandwidth.
Tight lines in the new year- Tom Aufiero
