"why do you tie ?"

Why do I tie?
 
I have been tying on and off for a little over 20 years. I am terrible but I keep at it.  The highest praise I could hope to receive for one of my miserable attempts is "It could probably catch a fish".   The other night i was in my basement committing another atrocity at the vice. As usual I am cussing and mumbling to myself, when my better half comes down the steps and asks a question "why do you tie?”
Here I sit, surrounded by piles of fluorescent fuzz, with strands of flash and chenille stuck to my zap a gap covered fingertips.
 The only thing I could think of was “BECAUSE IT  @*#%&@#  RELAXES ME!”

I do it cause my friends won't give me the ones they tie..
 
It is rewarding when you catch fish on something you created...plus It's cheaper

I do it because I can't fish everyday.

this summer i was fishing perry mounument and was hammering the bass on a fly i tyed up with foam and estaz and deer hair some guy wanted to know where he could buy some i gave him a few he started catching bass made me feel good and he said he wanted to try tying ,its  all part of fly fishing 

its  all part of fly fishing......... 

1.  creative outlet
(not sure of the order of the following...)
*  to "extend" actual fishing
*  to fish vicariously (sp?) through others?
*  great feeling catching fish on your own creations
*  great feeling when someone else catches fish on your ties

The reason I used to sell the idea to the wife was so I could save money. Ha! Anyone who ties knows that ain't true. But I agree, the real reasons are it is cool to catch a fish on something you created yourself, plus can take my little stationary vice and some materials to the stream with me and replenish or whip something else up as needed. And it does relax me too.

1. The old DIY rule applies here -- "If you want the job done right etc ..." Commercially tied flies are tied to catch fishermen, mostly beginners. (no offense intended)
 
2. You get to customize your offerings depending on situations. Murky water? Bring out the bucktail with some flash in it. Clear water? Stick with more realistic looking stuff. etc
 
3. It's cheaper -- AFTER you've amortized your invcestment in hardware. (Alternatively, it's anyway cheaper than a psychiatrist who might be crazier than you anyway.) 
 
3. Serendipity --  I used to tie bucktails with all the winging material above the hook. Then I found a Lake Erie Emerald Shiner pattern with the first wing under the hook. Brilliant! Now almost all my bucktails are tied that way. Much better, for example, than the standard Mickey Finn formula.
 
4. And tying is therapeutic, because when you're tying you can't think about anything else. You have to focus, not just on tying, but on the particular step in tying. So there may be a little creative cursing now and then, but you've cleaned a lot of free-floating irritation out of your head while at the vise.

another way to keep the economy flowing,and most of all,having someone walk up to you and ask,"what are you using", show them then reach into your fly box and give them a few,makes it all worth while.

There are a few reasons that I know of and some that I dont. But I do know that when I am in my tying mode which will last for about 2 weeks I have to buy more and more boxes in those 2 weeks. I will just crank em out and that seems to be the reason why I am accululating so many boxes. Everytime I turn around I am adding another full box to the collection, do you all have this "problem"

Out of necessity. (If I only could get my wife or daughter to do it for me.)
I do most of my tying the night before or the morning before I go fishing.

I tie because I fish a lot & need a lot of flies & it is relaxing
most of the time

right on avidangler.

Same here matsif. I get home around 3:30 and can only tie for maybe 25 minutes if any..

I don't tie because I have all the digital dexterity of a water buffalo.  But my grandson does try to tie and he's getting pretty good at it.   Side note: My son-in-law just looked over my shoulder at this post and then asked my daughter: "Hmmm know what the difference is between your dad and a water buffalo?   About 75 pounds!  But if we force feed the buffalo he might catch up!"  Ouch!
    Any how I wish I could tie.  What you guys are able to do amazes me sometimes.