Hey, I'm Erin

After one successful-ish session at the vise, I was hooked (literally and figuratively), and when one is hooked on a new craft, one (if one is me) must amass a collection of materials entirely disproportionate to the amount of time one has been practicing.

Fly tying materials can be expensive and so I took to Facebook Marketplace in search of used feathers and hooks and weights and threads and just about anything else I could get my hands on. I happened upon a post for some good-looking materials and messaged the seller who, as it turned out, was a recently retired fly fishing instructor and guide. He’d just hung up his captain’s hat after 30 years, and let me know that he’d even invented a fly that Orvis sold in their catalogue for seven years! A deal was struck, and his box of materials made their way to me with some extra goodies inside. Upon discovering his thoughtful additions (some more feathers and materials that weren’t in the original listing), I set out to make his fly as a thank you.

Alex has been creating and editing videos personally and professionally for over 13 years, and thought it would be great to capture the fly tying process to send as a nice gesture. I’d realized after a couple of hours behind the vise that fly tying had a calming effect – it was almost hypnotic – and some of the natural tinkering of tools and materials bore a resemblance to the ASMR videos that I love to watch in the evening, so bringing an ASMR twist to the video was my idea.

We posted the first video without much thought, hoping that we could add more and create a portfolio of shared projects. Really our combined love of fishing and our individual artistic inclinations led to this collaboration, and from that first video onward, the reaction has been unbelievably amazing. Our followers have been overwhelmingly supportive and it’s been the most incredible wild ride so far!

Backing in to fly fishing by tying flies first is admittedly…unorthodox. I’ve drawn inspiration from pioneers like Megan Boyd, whose dedication to fly tying transcended the act of fishing itself and who famously said, “Now to disappoint all my customers, I do not fish, have no interest in fishing, and cannot even tie a fly to a cast.” This, despite her exquisite flies and her 4-year customer waitlist. Unlike Megan, I’m happy to report that I’ve bought my first fly rod and reel, and have been practicing my cast. It’s going….decent. Alex now has help dunking my flies to make sure they behave as they should in (or on) the water and I’m already day dreaming of fly fishing retreats.

We live in the Tampa Bay area with my 9-year-old son, a red lab, a siamese cat, two Gouldian finches, and a leopard gecko. If there are more, I don’t know about them. We film in a small third bedroom, and I cherish the memories we’re making with me behind a vise, and Alex over my shoulder, headphones on.

Under the name She Ties Flies, Erin Hyde and Alex Burnett create collaborative art by combining fly tying and digital media. Erin and Alex can often be found fishing their local Tampa Bay waters and their combined love for angling – along with their individual artistic inclinations – led to this collaboration. Erin ties fishing flies, Alex captures video of the process and edits, and the result is an immersive experience of visual/auditory stimulation and relaxation that can result in an ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) sensation for many.

While fly tying is her newest foray, Erin has been knitting, weaving, sewing, spinning, felting, and competing for over a decade. She uses natural fibers most and enjoys an unabashed love affair with wool, in particular. Somewhat unusually, fly tying came before fly fishing for Erin. While she has enjoyed fishing spinners most of her life, she recently bought her first fly rod and reel and looks forward to a new angling adventure! Alex has been creating and editing videos personally and professionally for over 13 years. He finds inspiration in nature, and enjoys capturing the unique fishing culture of Tampa Bay.