flies. I think there is generally a positive correlation with how much someone fishes and how much time they spend tying flies. Not always though. Some people just don't like to tie flies or are not good at it so they'll have friends tie them or they'll just buy them. I have mostly bought flies for many years because I wasn't fishing all that much due to my location. Now that I'm in Utah I'll probably start tying more often. If you are tying bulk flies it's cheaper than buying. If you only need a dozen flies on occasion it may be cheaper to buy them.