TJ-
All great advice so far.
If you're interested, there's a great book I used to learn to tie flies when I was a kid-"Western Trout Fly Tying Manual", by Jack Dennis. Talk about making a guy feel old-I got my first edition copy as a teenager in the mid 70's, I remember the foward was written by Curt Gowdy about what a fine "young man" Jack Dennis was. I looked on Amazon to see if it was still available, and I see that Mr. Dennis is now retired!
Anyway, it's a great book to introduce fly tying. Don't let the "Western Trout" part of the title put you off, the pictures and instructions are excellent, and there's very good information about materials, tools, basic techniques. My first creations looked like mutated hummingbirds on #8 hooks, but I could tie credible #18s after a couple months of dedicated effort-when I could afford the #18 hackles, that is.
