Fly Tying: "Share Everything You Can Put Your Hands On"

It’s no secret that fly tying is emerging as the craft that may keep the fly fishing business afloat in 2009. If you’ve attended any of the recent shows in California, Colorado or New Jersey, you saw tying demonstrations that were packed to the gills, while the destination and high-end product booths were (with some exceptions) unusually quiet. Is it only about affordability? Or, as Jay Buchner says at the end of this Nick Cunkelman profile, is there something in the art of fly tying that, by bringing folks together, makes it one of the richest parts of the sport?
“‘If you’re not used to tying with the hook up,’ he says during the shrimp fly demonstration, ‘then you might stab yourself several times. I’ve done this many times, and I’ve even managed to stab myself just now.'” In the Jackson Hole News & Guide.