I am Bob McLeod and have been fly fishing since before I was in teens living in Red Pass B.C.: a place that no longer exists on the upper reaches of the Fraser river. (About 48 miles west of Jasper, Alberta and 10 miles east of Mount Robson on the western end of Moose Lake.)
I never even thought about tying flies back then because flies were something that came in little packages that appeared on the wall of the general store and the small ones could be bought for about $0.10 each. Our main target in those days was Rainbow trout but we invariable wound up catching our fair share of Mountain Whitefish and the rare Dolly Varden Char and if we were really lucky, a Kokanee or two.
As the years progressed, I ran into a few gentlemen who tied flies. They initiated me into that hobby and I started tying for some of the local stores while I was laid off in the winters. I also got wound up in building custom rods at the same time. There is no such feeling as creating your own flies and catching fish with them on a rod that you built yourself.
I no longer build rods but I do tie flies and enjoy the creative process.