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Is there any interest in a fly swap on this site? I just joined this site and one area of interest for me is hosting swaps! I've been participating and hosting fly swaps for 14 years now. I cut my teeth on swaps on the old FAOL (flyanglersonline.com) site back while it was still in its heyday when it was still an active on-line magazine and I've loved swap sever since! I've been tying flies for over 50 years and I have ~30 years experience as a skill-based instructor, both as a volunteer as well as a professional. I love using my swaps to help teach new tyers how to tie as well as sharpening the skills of the more experienced tyer. For those who have no idea what a fly swap is, it is simply where one person - the swap host AKA a Swapmeister - offers to run a swap. They set a theme for the swap, set the basic rules for the swap (# of participants, registration dates, flies due in by date, who can join the swap...). Participants will tie (generally) one pattern that meets the swap theme and enough flies so each member of the swap will receive one of their offerings. The host will collect the flies from everyone, divide the flies so each member gets back one of each of the other members flies and mail the flies back to the swap members. You get a set of flies back to test drive on your home waters and the swap is done! To better flesh out all that I just said here is my FLY SWAPS 101 that you can refer to if swapping is TOTALLY new to you. --------------------------------------- Fly Swaps 101 - All you'll need to know about joining a fly swap A fly swap is simply where a person - the Swap Host, sometimes referred to as the Swapmeister -comes up with a theme and invites others to join in by tying a theme-specific fly pattern (one of their own designs OR one that was designed by another tyer) and sends those flies in (enough so each other swap member gets one) to the Host. The swap's host will divide the flies so each member gets one each of all the other patterns and return mails those flies to each member. Swaps are a great way to build your personal pattern database while having a fly to test drive on their home waters. Plus, you get to see the work of more experienced fly tyers - the path that you'll want to follow as you develop! Themes can LITERALLY be ANYTHING! The Caddyshack Swap is an actual swap that I've hosted (yeah, it could have simply been called the Woodchuck Swap but I like to have a little FUN!), Flies Designed by Women Tyers (I call mine the Ladies Night Swap and when I offer it I choose March to offer it), Flies Designed by (name) - there are many famous fly tyers in history that the host can choose to honor, and one that I recently participated in - The Sports Swap, tying a fly that uses the colors of your favorite college or professional baseball/football teams! I was born and grew up in Cortland NY and designed a fly for TWO college football teams called the Cortaca Jug - feel free to Google the name for this flies unique history (oh, and my Grandfather lived in Homer!). Cortaca Jug ADDED NOTE: Congratulations to the Red Dragons for being the 2023 Div III Football National Champions! There are 5 basic things that you'll need for each swap that you join in: your flies (I know, DUH!), an individual toe tag for each fly, a swap box, a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope), and a sending envelope. Your Flies - Generally you will be expected to choose tie a single pattern and tie enough flies of that pattern so each swap member will get one of your ties. All swaps have a swap theme, this is to provide you guidance in choosing your pattern. Here's how to know how many flies to tie for the swap. All swaps have a registration time/size limit - most swaps will run if AT LEAST 6 people register and close at NO MORE than 12 people. In MY swaps if 11 people register by the closing date then you would tie 11 flies - one for each tyer and one for me as the host (I do tie as well but do not add my name on the list). Some hosts will include their name on the registration list as the last spot - in that case just tie one for each of the other swappers (10 in the above case - if you tie 11 then you'll get your own fly back OR give it to the host as a thank you for hosting the swap!). As a courtesy to the other swappers PLEASE either debarb your hooks or use barbless hooks - with my expert casting skills it'll save another piercing! Toe Tags - A toe tag's job is to AT MINIMUM - ID you as the tyer (by using your site handle) and ID the name of the fly you tied. If you designed a pattern, it is nice if you note the pattern materials list on the swap thread (where you registered for the swap - this will allow the other swappers to tie your pattern if they find that they like it! Toe tags can be made of slips of paper or cardstock or 2 MM - 3 MM foam strips, they can be typed/printed or hand written. You may also include the site where the swap originated, name of the swap. and some or all or your real-world information: name/mailing address/phone number/E-mail address and/or the name of your business (usually found on professional tyers flies that participate in the swap to advertise their flies). To attach a toe tag to the hook, the best way is to simply poke the point of the hook through the tag. If using paper, here's a helpful hint that I stole from someone else and pass it along as my own, oops, did I say that last part out-loud?! Simply leave a blank tag of paper on either end of your tag and fold it up so the paper is doubled and the SHORT part of the tag is on top, then poke the hook point through BOTH thicknesses of the paper. Now the KEY part - open the fold so it now becomes a hinge. The open hinge will lock the hook in place otherwise if you do not take this step your "barbless" hook will slip off the toe tag in transit. When you get a fly with this type of toe tag simply squeeze the hinge shut and the fly should slip out the now single hole. Boy I'm glad I stole that idea, DARN IT, I said it out loud again!! BTW, I print my toe tags on my computer using a 10 Font in bold with 18-20 spaces to account for the folded paper hinge. Swap Box - Two words can give you the simplest and most complete picture in your mind's eye - Altoids tin! Simply , a swap box is used to protect your flies in the mail. It can be plastic or metal container that is generally no deeper than 1 1/2". Boxes MAY be divided just make sure that the spaces are large enough to accommodate your RETURN flies. I have seen a Mayfly themed swap where a swapper tied these wonderful size 24 Trico dries and used a small box, and sure enough someone from Michigan contributed their state bird, the Hex, in a size 6! Ever try to park a 747 in a hanger built for a Cessna?! Also, to avoid other issues. ALWAYS include AT LEAST your screen name on your box. Why? Remember the Altoids tin I mentioned before - now put yourself in the Swap Host's shoes! You are ready to separate the flies so each member gets on (and ONLY one) of all the other swappers flies, you look down and of the 12 members, 5 of them sent their flies in Altiods tins!!!!! Need I say more! The SASE - Why an SASE? I'll answer this question with a question - Do you want your set of flies returned to you? As hosts, we will happily manage a swap from its inception to when you reach in your mailbox and find some fine flies BUT we will not PAY for that privilege. You need to supply your own sending and receiving postage/shipping. Your SASE (Self Addressed, Stamped Envelope) can be folded over and included in your sending envelope - more on that in a minute. It should include your complete mailing address on BOTH the sending and return mail spaces - just in case one of the USPS ponies try to eat your flies! Also, it should have the postage already posted on the envelope - that's why it's called a SASE!. Some hosts, including me will accept either cash or check to cover postage - check with your host before-hand if you would like to try this - I live in walking distance of both my bank and post office - not every host has that option. Also, it is fine if you re-use an envelope and not buy a new one. When I re-use an envelope I will either black out any bar codes, old address info and/or use larger sized blank mailing labels to cover and write over my new info. To figure postage you may have the clerk at your local post office/shipper to weigh the flies, the swap box and SASE to figure the postage BEFORE you seal the information or try what I'll mention next under the SENDING ENVELOPE. Oh, and PLEASE include your site handle on this envelope. Sending Envelope - Simply this holds all of the above and carries it to the swap host so they can do their magic. One thing about BOTH the SASE and the sending envelope is that they should be NO SMALLER than a 5" by 8" and larger is OK. They can be padded but an unpadded envelope will work just as well (remember, the swap box will protect your ties!) and that the larger sized envelopes are no more expensive to mail than the 5X8's. For postage, especially if you plan on swapping on a regular basis, buy and use FOREVER postage! FOREVER postage is NOT limited to just First Class stamps. Other FOREVER-type stamps include Two Ounce, Three Ounce, International, Additional Ounce, Additional Postage and Non-Machinable stamps. These with a few 1->10 cent stamps and you'll save on postage overall. And these are VERY handy especially if used on your SASE. All hosts will provide you their mailing info - some simply post it on the swap notice and others will send you a PM (personal message just after the swap registration closes so you'll have the final member count as well. Here is a way to (almost) always have the correct postage. First go to this official USPS site - https://postcalc.usps.com/, on the first page simply list yours and the receivers ZIP code and the click the "Calculate price.." (the 4th picture box) and ignore all the rest if shipping in the US, when you click the picture box a new screen will appear and simply put 3.6 in the ounce box (almost ALL swaps will fall in this weight area - if participating in a large streamer (2/0 or larger hooks or you are in a saltwater swap you may want to adjust the weight to see if you need to add more postage) and click the "Large Envelope" box to get to the next page, on this new page click the 4th box (the one that includes a ruler and click. Now your postage will be shown on this page - simply go near the bottom of the list and you'll see the Ground Shipping/1st Class cost for postage. It takes 10 minutes to read the directions and 10 seconds to follow them! Oh, and re-used envelopes can be used here and NOTE, since the PO will be covering this envelope with both a postage tag and the USPS tracking number barcode on this envelope, you will not have to cover/black-out this info on this envelope - they'll do it for you!! Remember to include your return mailing address AND site handle on this envelope as well. Why include your site handle on your toe tags, swap box, SASE, AND your sending envelope? This is how you stay on your friendly swap host's good side! You see we use that name to cross-reference all the parts of a swap. The tags to ID your flies, the box so we know where the flies are going to (remember we may have up to 12 different sets of materials unique to each swapper), so where we know which SASE to put that particular set of flies to! And the sending envelope - we use that so when we have our USPS receipt, we will be able to PM each of you with your unique USPS tracking number to keep track of your flies. We ALL just hate it when we put in this FUN efforts and a USPS pony ends up eating up all our efforts! One last and MOST IMPORTANT RULE FOR ANY SWAP -- HAVE FUN! I host these swaps as a labor of love! Plus, it keeps me busy enough so my picture does not end up on the post office walls I hope that you enjoy and learn from fly swaps and maybe make a buddy or two along the way! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There you have it and I hope this helps you out! (At least it can help put you to sleep!). Also, here's an OLD picture of me so you'll know the old fart that's making this offer to you all. WARNING: The kids in this picture have kids older than this by now! If you want to get attention - TIE A FLY! This is me (the big ugly one in the beard) doing a demo for the scouts in my hometown of Camillus, NY I was tying on a wooden, homemade vise - the floor demo (and my backup!) is on the table in front of my bucktails and pattern book. I ended up shaving the beard and lost over 100 pounds (if I knew the silver in that beard weighed so much I would've shaved it sooner!). Had to loose the weight so I could qualify for my kidney transplant. That vise is a design from one of my FAOL site buddies (and fellow author) by the name of Ed Engelman from the southern tier area of NY. So if you see an ugly, beardless guy walking down the street we can share a beer and some fish stories! Kim