I was also wanting something to fill my time. Skip had been tying a few years at that time and he had a jig deal going, I'm thinking it was a 30 jig deal so I ordered a set. Never really fished any hand tied jigs for crappie but every once in a while I would tie on one of those jigs. Once I finally caught the first fish on a tied jig I thought, OK so they will catch fish. So I thought this jig tying would be a great way to use my time on those cold winter days.
So I ordered around a 100 dollars for a vise and materials. After the first tye I tied on the vise I was deep hooked, the hobby jumped all over me. I joined FAOL and learned how to tie flies the right way from the beginning lessons course. It helped so much to understand the materials, how to tie material in, the different parts of the fly and how to use the materials and it made me a better jig tyer.
Many years and 1000's of dollars later here I am today still tying and loving it more each day.