Troy,
Three flies in two hours...man thats painful. If you want to produce more flies in less time, you need to stick with your current theme of tying one pattern at a time and think about the steps that take too long. Chances are you are unsure of some of the steps.
I would recommend you take a class. A good instructor will critique your technique. Most of the speed in fly tying comes from efficiency in technique. There are a lot of little tricks you can employ with your fingers and the way you handle the bobbin that speed things up. A good instructor will pick up on these inefficiencies immediately. Confidence also helps efficiency and efficiency builds confidence.
That said, as the others stated, enjoy what you are doing with tying. Start with easier patterns that use each technique. A fly tying class may cost you a few bucks but you should come away with the basic techniques to tie dozens of different patterns from just those ten or so flies in the class. You will come away thinking it was the best money you ever spent. Flattening the learning curve paramont.
Personally, I am a procrastinantion fly tyer...I tie a couple doxen flies the night before a trip of what I think may be coming off the next day. When I have some free time I'll tie dozens of staple nymphs, buggers, streamers to fill my bozes.
I only tie about a dozen nymphs and hour, Fewer dries and about two dozen one and two material flies. (like caddis larvae, Weenies, SJ worms, etc) Streamers take a little longer matching wings.
A couple things to help speed up the process; Keep your thread an inch from the hook shank and the bobbin parallel to the hook when wrapping. Smaller circles shave a lot of time and give more control. Use our wrist not your arm to wrap the thread. Use just a little pinch of dubbing when spinning it to the thread, keep it sparce and thin. When securing material to the hook like tails wings or hair, measure it, pinch it, put it down to the hook and take your thread up to 12:00 and pinch it between the material and the thumb. Then take it around and to 6:00 and cinch it lightY (tug it) and go around again. Then secure it with the additional wraps.
Thread control is very important.
Also, tie all your flies and apply the head cement all at once and not to each fly you finish. Same with lacquer and other items that are wet or have lids to take on and off.
Pay extra careful attention to your proportions and don't crowd the eye. A typical tyer can generate a fly in a few minutes and then fumble around the eye for several more. (thats another fly you could have tied) This is my biggest problem.
I am all for having fun with it, I enjoy it emmensely but I think the reason is the classes I took that gave me a jump start on the efficiencies of tying.
Maurice
