I never had any photos, hence waiting for the comp to finish, but the first fly I tied was when I was perhaps 8 or 9. I lived in Essex and had never seen a trout fly, let alone a trout. However, I did have a book, a paperback, and in it there was some rough, hand drawn pictures of trout flies. I was mesmorised.
Now, living in Essex in the 70's I did not have access to fly tying materials or equipment so I had to hunt out stuff. First stop was my fathers shed where I found a mini metal working vice. This was used to hold a pair of forceps in which went a size 10 hook.
Next stop was my mothers needlework box where I found thread and wool.
Lastly, the budgie cage was raided. We had a blue budgie, so naturally, my first ever fly was blue. The fly itself was my version of a Greenwells Glory. It had a blue body, blue "hackle" and the wings were whole budgie feathers.
To me it was the most glorious thing I had ever made (except of coure, an Airfix Mosquito).
I would love to tell you of the huge Thames trout it caught, or the Brownie from the River Lea, but alas, that fly never saw the water. It was placed in a box and forgotten about.
It was not until I was 14 that I picked up my first fly rod. The flies I bought were Sweeny Todds, Missionarys and Zulus...none of which shared the glorious blues of my first fly.
