Why did you start tying ?

Just kind of curious as to why everyone started tying, be it jig or flies.
For me i can blame it on my brother who bought me a fly tying kit for my birthday, when i was about 14 or so, and that was many,many moons ago.
If i can remember right, being it was that long ago, i think the first thing i tied was some kind of white fly, for crappie, and to my surprise it did work, and i caught crappie on it. But the lake i was fishing, was chock full of crappie, and even caught them on a fly rod. Brother had a Shakespear fiberglass rod, that had the metal ferruls on it, and it had a automatic fly reel to- boot.
Since then i have tied every thing from panfish jigs and flies to deer hair bugs for bass. Learned to tie the hair bugs from Dave Whitlock, via Field and Stream magazine, yea they worked too.
Have tied jigs and flies for sale, but that was because, my brother-in-law, had a bait shop for 3 years, but he went out of business, and so did i. That was fun for awhile, but that got to be a pain, after awhile. Glad those days are over.
Only time i tie now is when i need something, or when i see something that i think will catch fish, and half to try it.
Well thats my story, your turn. Mike

Needed something to do other than watch TV when not fishing. Am Disabled and quit trading stocks after 15 years so needed something to do. That is it, but then found I really like it.

Skip

:eekReading crappie.com and watching you tube, I said I can do that. Now I am a jig tying junkie. I have tied 60 or more haven't been on the water yet.

same as jug head saw it here thought it was a good thing to get in lord knows i buy enough of them tried it its a good feeling knowing you can make these jigs then go out an catch a fish on it.Its the little things in life i guess but tats my story. next.

Short story... Almost 3 years ago I got sick. Was kept in the bed 17+ hours a day. Went to my local doctor, had MRIs, CAT scans, EKGs, the works. Went to every kind of doctor you can imagine except a heart doctor, because they did the initial blood work that would send me there and it was fine. $30,000 and a few years later, I'm diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Now days I sleep a minimum of 12 hours straight. I think I'm doing a little better but still not 100%. I grew up fishing and am a DIY person, so I picked up a fly tying kit and went from there. It really helps having something fishing related to do when you're not able to fish.

Some info on chronic fatigue if anyones interested. It's not just being tired like the name implies. If you've never lived with anyone with it, you couldn't imagine it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_fatigue_syndrome

Started tying jigs because I couldn't find any purple jigs to buy anywhere. A year later my 4 year old grandaughter wanted to learn how to tie. We've been tying together since that time and she's 11 years old now. If I quit fishing I would still keep tying because she loves it so much

I started tying for three reasons.

1) I could not find what I wanted at Wal-mart and if I found it they wanted too dad gum much money for the quality it was.

2) I was a school principal and it was an easy way to get students hooked on fishing and was a nice after school activity for them.

3) It was a challenge to me personally to see if I could do it. I know my limitations and stick to just tying jigs and not flies. I am a crappie fishing person so I tie for what I fish for.

To give me something to do to help me quit smoking and because I couldn't find any like I wanted.

When I was a kid I took a trip to Yellowstone National Park and saw an old timer tying some flys. He looked so darn cool in his little shop with his gear on tying flys in a Montana setting. That picture stuck in my mind. Now years later, I'm the old timer tying flys. I love catching a fish on something I made. I love coming up with differant fly/jig designs and selling them. I love shopping to find the materals at a super deal, including finding lead to pour my jigs. Most of all, I love talking to differant people and hearing from them on how well they did using my special hand tied morsels. To me it's a form of art work and a mark in time!!

it gives you something to do when you can't go fishing. and i enjoy the time factor that goes into powder painting, painting eyes, baking and tying. it is just a good use of time.

Mine was all about money. Got a friend that tied and sold to me for about 10 years and he decided to quit selling (took up too much of his time). He sold me his jigs for almost what it costs me now to make my own and his were the best I'd ever seen before or since. When he quit and I started, I kept track of costs and it now cost me about .12 to .20 cents to make a jig as compared to almost $2.00 each buying them elsewhere. It's all about economics with me (and they work as good as any body else's.)

I used to bass fish a lot. Back then I made my own spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, and carved a few topwater baits. After I started crappie fishing I thought I would try my hand at tying jigs. Well--- I fell in love with it!!! I now have enough supplies to last a lifetime !!! Its a lot of fun and it soothes my nerves after a hard day at work. It's addictive !!! Almost as addictive as logging on to Crappie.Com every day !!! :) :) :)

Started tying when I could not find a jig someone gave me while trout fishing. Caught over 50 Trout that day before I broke it off. Now I tie them for myself and friends.

Randy

I bought a card of 25 popeyes from a guy and I pulled the feathers out of every one of them up trying to get them out of the package.:mad: That was 18 years ago.

I tried to imitate a maraboo lead jig when i was little with sewing thread, superglue and cheap red feathers out of a broken feather scarf. Then recieved a tying kit for my 13'th b-day and went from there... I just recieved my rod building book yesterday and soon ill be making my own pole to fish with.

I started out of necessity. I wanted a paticular color pattern for a lake i fish and could not find anything, so I tied a few up, tried them out, and caught fish on them. History after that

Its called cabin fever. Do alot more wishing I was fishing in the winter. Its a good inexpensive little hobby, even if your as bad at it as I am.