Mike Connor wrote:
In view of recent threads, I thought it might be interesting for some
of you to hear this;

For many years now, since I was a small boy, I have been more or less
obsessed with making things myself. When I first started fishing, it
was not possible to buy a lot of things anyway, even if one had the
money, and so one was obliged to make most of one´s own tackle.

Just as catching a fish on a fly one has tied gives a lot more
pleasure and satisfaction than using a fly one has purchased, ( you
have to try it, before you fully realise this of course ), the same
applies to many other things.

It is not always ( indeed, actually not all that often!), cheaper to
make things yourself, but you gain insights you could otherwise not
possibly obtain, and you also ( eventually, in most cases!), end up
with an item which is tailored exactly to your needs and wishes, and
can not be bought anywhere. This is actually also the main reason for
tying one´s own flies. It has nothing to do with money.

Many of the things I have built and tried out over the years, have
cost far more in terms of time, money and application, than they
would have done if I had simply gone out and bought the best
available, but in the process, I have gained absolutely priceless
knowledge, and a great deal of even more priceless pleasure. ( I know
I know, priceless is merely priceless!).

For me, this is now an integral part of the game. Even though I have
built, modified, and optimised a great deal of my gear, and am a very
successful angler, I still keep looking for better ways to do things.

Nowadays I am not quite as extravagant with my time and effort as I
once was, and I have learned that it is not always a good idea to try
and make "everything" oneself, ( although one can get close if one
really tries!). But I still make a large number of things, and I
still experiment a lot with various things, ( quite apart from
fishing tackle as well).

These are valuable lessons in their own right, but I have the added
advantage of knowing exactly what I want, and how to make it, or
whether I would be better advised in buying it, and what I then have
to buy.

For this reason alone, it was all worth it, and I had a great deal of
pleasure, and gained a great deal of knowledge almost as a by-product.

It all depends on what you want, and how you wish to go about
achieving it. How much time and effort ( and money of course) you
wish, or can afford to invest, in what after all is merely a hobby,
despite the almost religious fervour shown by some.

Fishing, and everything to do with it, was ( and still is to a large
extent, even if I don´t fish all that often just now), my life, and I
do not regret a single moment of it. It has made me happy in a way
that is quite impossible to explain, it has taught me many things I
would otherwise never have learned, and despite all the trials and
tribulations in my life to date, I will nevertheless die a happy man
as a result of it.

Very hard to express, but should even one of you be fortunate enough
to experience such, ( and quite a few of you obviously do), then you
must consider yourself blessed. I know I do.

Exactly. The more you can make things yourself, the more self-sufficient you
become - even to the point of knowing what you don't want to make yourself.

Whew!
--
TL,
Tim
http://css.sbcma.com/timj