Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side & a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
From: "Mike Morris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VFB] Newbie weighs in Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 11:30:25 -0600
All;
This whole perp thread has upset me more than a little. I have participated
in three swaps and in each I have been severly challenged and I worried
cnstantly thatI would not "measure up" I struggle on anyway. Swaps give me
an added incentive to improve my work as well as try new kinds of things I
would otherwise not attempt. I catch 90% of my trout on caddis nymphs-they
always work and I can tie a hundred different kinds no sweat. I joined the
Tom Nixon swap even though I Haven't fished for Bass for 20 years- I worked
hard on those flies and worried until the flies arrived that my flies would
"make the grade". In the stonefly swap I tried to recreate a pattern I tied
as a kid and when I tied the first few they were horrible. I had to
discover all new materials and spend a lot of time online just to get a fly
I thought was passable and compared to some of the beautiful flies I
received I felt somewhat small, I couldn't even get six legs on mine and
some of the ones I got looked like they could crawl off the table. I
continue to persist despite this.
I am currently in the life cycle swap, this was the biggest leap for me yet-
I have never been able to tie the beautifully proportioned dry flies I see
in the pictures and My first efforts are pretty poor, I worry constantly
that I will not be able to conquer this in time, but the positive feedback I
have received from some of the VFB'ers (including DonO!!) has kept me going.
My point is that I join swaps for the challenge and the pressure they put on
me to do the best I can, I hoped that I wasn't being judged and analyzed as
to whether I was worthy to join future swaps, it is difficult enough for new
tiers (which I am, I stopped tying flies in the late seventies and just
picked it up again last year) to go out on a limb and put their efforts out
in a group such as this, believe me folks this is a pretty intimidating
crowd, skill wise.
Please don't add any more pressure to the learning process than there already is or you will end up with an ever shrinking core group constantly swapping flies with each other and no new blood ever entering for fear of not measuring up!! Where's the fun in that?
Mike M.
