Old Fly Box SB

I have this old, plastic fly box. Pliable plastic, of a sort, it smells of petroleum and the faint scent of mothballs, which protected materials from ever present moths decades ago. This fly box has been stored away in the garage, in a drawer. Every year, I open it and gaze at the contents. I never remove the contents of this box because, frankly, they are terribly tied flies.

These were my original flies, tied early on after a class. I am talking 30+ years ago. And, in this box is a fly, which heretofore, I have never shared with anyone. SwittersB’s Very First Tied Fly.

First Fly SwittersBI remember tying the fly in my beginning fly tying class. Not a Bi-Visible or Spider. It was, I s’pose, an effort to teach one how to palmer hackle or wrap hackle. Tied on a too heavy  Mustad hook, the fly doubtless would not have floated, let alone danced upon the surface for long.

The fly has never exited the fly box, until now, let alone been tethered to a tippet. Much like an entrepreneur’s first earned dollar bill framed up on the wall and unspent, my First Fly will not be kissed by a fish. I bet your first fly looks, or would look, better than the mess above.