Farm Dogs and Flytying

'Tis the season for fly tying. For months the vise sat there in isolation like a hermit. I'd think about it on occasion, but the vise and I had not yet connected this winter. Finally last week I brushed off the dust and just like that had switched into fly tying mode. One at a time, the flies started turning out of the vise. I started by tying a few general flies that were just invented on the spot. They have no name, no recipe and for the most part no direction. I switched on the tv and flipped through the channels after tying about six of these flies. I stumbled across the Eukanuba National Dog Show on some channel. Dog shows are a crazy sight where the dog owners prance their prized animals around the arena while spectators clap. I thought it was funny and as far as I could tell it's a beauty contest for dogs, where only the prettiest dogs get awarded prizes. Forget about the dog's personality. Forget about its compassion. Forget about whether or not it crapped on the rug that morning. What's most important in a dog show is that the dog looks pretty. As I went back to tying flies again, I realized that my flies would never win any shows for looking pretty. In a way my flies look more like farm dogs than anything. They are a mixture of a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and the more you stare at them the stranger they look. My flies won't be competing in any contests any time soon, so maybe I shouldn't be judgemental. I think I'll add them to the fly box and let the fish decide.