With a basic fly tying kit I received as a Christmas present from my parents, I started tying flies some twenty years ago. As I was self-taught, I started with simple trout patterns and over time, I progressed into hairwing salmon patterns. A few years later, I purchased Poul Jorgensen's classic book, Salmon Flies, and fell in love with featherwing flies. I couldn't believe in the myriad of different patterns, styles and materials. I just had to learn to tie those flies. Since those early days, I have acquired many of the materials needed to tie traditional flies as well as a lot of books on the subject. Among my favorite tiers are Megan Boyd, Belarmino Martinez, Syd Glasso, Michael Radencich and many of you on this website! I enjoy all styles of flies and my goal is to be proficient in tying many different styles including featherwing, strip wing, topping wing, whole featherwing, shrimp style, etc.. My current interest is in Spey and Dee flies.

Over the years, I have had great success in catching salmon and trout on fully dressed salmon flies. For me, it is the ultimate in fishing satisfaction to catch and release a salmon caught on one's own fly. I am strong supporter of live release angling and I belong to great conservation organizations including The Atlantic Salmon Federation and Salmon Anglers Online.

In recent years, I have tied flies at fly fishing shows, I have participated in fly tying contests and I have led courses on tying featherwing flies. I have met countless friends through this hobby. One very important lesson I have learned in my 20 years of tying is that with passion and support, one never ceases to grow as a tier. Good advice to beginning tiers is to practice, to read books and articles on the subject and to ask lots of questions. If you would like to contact me, I can be reached at FLIES@CANMAIL.COM. Also, I would like to thank Don for building and maintaining this growing community. What a wonderful site.

Thanks,