"JR" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Mike Connor wrote:

"Joe McIntosh" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Interesting post from Henry Komesota on FF@ that you might enjoy

Very interesting. Still, I hope it is not "the future of flytieing"
(sic).

Why do you hope not? (Quite apart from its already being the present,
rather than the future, of fly tying).

Because that is not fly-tying, it is fly-manufacture. Flydressing is an
integral part of the flyfishing experience for many, and this is one of the
things which makes it great. Practically all innovations and "progress"
have been made by dedicated and gifted amateurs. One of the last "hobby"
bastions where this is possible. Flies are tied for specific purposes. to
imitate specific creatures or have specific properties, which the angler has
observed or eruiert. Some developments have taken place over decades. Often
the effort of an individual, or a small group.

The internet synergy here has caused massive and short term leaps in
knowledge, tackle and techniques. This adds to the anticipation and
excitement, and adds very considerably to the enjoyment of fishing, as did
the making of all the other tackle, many years ago, (of which, those who
made it, were inordinately proud, and rightly so), and still does for for
some very few. This has however, now become the almost exclusive domain of
large manufacturers. The "best" is no longer a personal effort, but a matter
of a well filled wallet. At least, so we are continually led to believe.

If you can not do it, your children will not learn to do it either, you
simply can
not show them. All you can then do, is hope they also have enough money,
and the opportunity, to do all these wonderful things. That is not at all
the same thing

The commercialisation of fly-fishing generally is already well advanced, and
things like this detract even more from it. The commercialisation of any
sport or pastime invariably has very unpleasant side effects. Money becomes
the driving force, and passion fades.

If one is able to buy "perfect" flies, at mass produced prices, then many
will simply do so, thereby losing out themselves, as they will never know
the joy of making their own, and also thereby undermining long tradition.

Standardisation is also the inevitable result of such developments.
Innovation and ideas are often discouraged as a result.

If "cheap" fishimg is your aim, then there are other and far better ways of
doing it, than relying on commercial products.

Somebody who buys all this stuff, manufactured flies, high end manufactured
rods, reels etc etc, is missing out on a great deal, and also shifting the
perspective of others who might otherwise take a different path. Angling,
amd especially flydressing, are contemplative pastimes. Commercialising them
to the nth degree, removes a great deal of the contemplation, stifles
discussion, and gives people entirely the wrong idea of what fishing is all
about.

TL
MC