I
grew up in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I began fly fishing in
the early ‘60s, and took up tying shortly after that. I learned to tie from
books in our local library, and caught some trout then with flies that I would
now describe as hideous.
One day I bought some
flies tied by Fran Betters of Wilmington, and things were never the same again.
I’ve been trying to match those flies ever since.
I like to fish dry
flies, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I currently live in Delaware,
Ohio and fish our Mad river all year. I tie almost every day, fish when I can,
and enjoy talking fly tying with the friends I’ve made on line.
I’ve been tying
flies from the late 1800s recently, the showy, gaudy wet flies that I fell in
love with as a boy. I’ve been back into the full dress salmon flies as well. I
love the challenge, but a few years back I was soundly beaten by these flies,
and became so frustrated that I quit tying for a year. Things are better now,
and they’re fun again. I will just say this, they take some perseverance. The
rewards are great however, and I encourage anyone to give them a whirl if you
become seduced by them!
Note by Ed
Gallop: Eric is one of the most talented tiers on this web site. His
flies are obviously the work of a perfectionist with a passion. Pictured
(below right) is one of Eric's shadow box display containing two of his full dry
salmon flies. |
