1. My name is Aaron Miller

2. I’m from Brooklyn, New York.

3. I started tying flies about 5 years ago at the age of 11.

4. I developed a love for fishing very early on during  family vacations to Maine every summer. One year my parents bought me a fly tying kit for my birthday. I played around with it for a while but never really got the hang of it until I attended a workshop at my local fly shop, where I learned the basics of thread control. 

5. I started selling my flies through a local fly shop when I realized that there were people out there willing to buy them. I had a lot of time on my hands and was happy to spend time tying flies for spare change.

6. I tie mostly classic Atlantic salmon flies and Catskill dry flies. I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I enjoy learning about tying these flies. 

7. My favorite patterns to tie are mixed wing salmon flies, especially Irish style flies. I also like classic spey flies and built wing flies. 

8. My least favorite flies to tie are nymphs and streamers.

9. It’s important to me that my flies catch both fish and fishermen. On one hand, the point of flies is to catch fish so a fly that doesn’t is no good. On the other hand, a good looking fly gives the fisherman confidence, which is as important as anything else.

10. The most important parts of tying flies are repetition and critique. Repetition allows you to work out the little problems in your flies and develop new ways of doing things. Critique gives you a sense of what you’re doing well and what to improve on. If you’re not willing to accept that there are always flaws in your work and that others might have useful input, you’ll never improve. I always post my flies on facebook forums where I get lots of valuable advice. 

11. My advice for new fly tyers is to have persistence. Nobody is good at something they’ve never done before and even the best fly tyers were once beginners. 

12. People can buy my flies by contacting me on instagram at @aaronmillerflytying, or finding me on facebook.