The truth is, sometimes tying flies doesn’t go smoothly, and occasionally it goes sensationally badly. This fly was one of the tough ones. I’d had a particularly rough day at work so I wasn’t in a great headspace to start, and it seemed like every step of the way this fly fought me. It seemed especially fitting that I was tying a HELLgrammite. In the end, we had something worth posting, but there won’t be a YouTube video this week because so much of the footage was me sighing loudly or grumbling (or worse 😅). It was a good opportunity to remind myself that my mood at the vise is consequential, and that giving myself grace on the hard days is just as important as celebrating the good ones. The vise will be there tomorrow, and so will the joy of tying when the timing’s right. 💙

Fly: Hellgrammite
Tied by: Erin Hyde
Inspired by hellgrammite flies from: House of Fly and Flymen Fishing Co
Target Species: Bass, trout, panfish, perch