Why do you always use 'Tyer'?A fly swap is a just that: a group of people tie some flies and swap them with other tyers. The person who starts the swap is called the Swapmeister. All the flies are sent to the Swapmeister, who sorts the flies and sends some back to each participant. Usually each tyer gets one of each of the flies tied by the other participants. So, for example, if seven people are in a swap, you tie seven flies, send them to the swapmeister, and get back one of your own, plus six other flies tied by the other participants. Of course, the rules can be different, like if everybody ties multiple flies, or if there are lots of tyers maybe everybody will only tie a dozen flies and you get back a randon selection of a dozen flies.
How do I join a swap?Because "Tier" is a layer on a cake. Tyer just seems better even though it looks unusual and only fly tyers use that spelling.
How Do I Start A Fly Swap?You can always check here to see if there are any active swaps. I may or may not be on top of the situation though. Your best bet is to monitor ROFF and watch for a swap announcement. To join, just post a message to the thread on ROFF or email the Swapmeister. If you make the cutoff size and time limit, you will be accepted. None of the Swapmeisters to date have excluded anybody except for a full swap or the time limit. Don't worry about your tying ability - all tyers are welcome (unless the Swapmeister specifies otherwise).
What does the Swapmeister have to do??Anybody is welcome to offer to run a Swap. Just post a message on ROFF announcing a swap, the kind of swap (particular fly pattern, material, or whatever), a cutoff date for entry and a target maximum number of tyers. Frank Church is getting into the habit of running a swap every winter during January and February, so it would be sporting to not compete with that (unless Frank agrees, of course). The rest of the year is wide open. Feel free to get one organized. Contact Stan Gula to get your swap listed here. Be aware that if people on ROFF or ROFFT don't know you they might be suspicious about joining your swap...
You should be probably state any special rules that must be followed when you make your announcement. Generally, after the signup period is over, the Swapmeister takes the messages to private e-mail to avoid wasting bandwidth on ROFF.
What does the tyer have to do??
Announce the swap, the theme, the maximum number of tyers, the signup cutoff date, and the date when all flies are due.
Have a message prepared with the detailed rules. For example, you should be specific about what kind of fly is being tied, the signup and end dates, any special requirements for packaging and shipping, etc.
Make periodic announcements on ROFF until the signup is closed off due to the time limit of number of tyers. When signup is over, a note should be posted with the names of the tyers and the fly pattern they will be tying.
Make periodic email reminders to the tyers reminding them about the due date. Weekly reminders will help the procrastinators get their act together.
As the flies come in, you should be sorting them so that you can ship them out at the end of the swap. Several Swapmeisters have mentioned that they got a set of paper cups and labeled them with the names of each tyer, and as flies arrived, they were distributed into the cups.
As the deadline approaches, you might need to get into frequent contact with the stragglers. Be prepared to be firm (but flexible<g>). It's only fair to the other tyers to enforce the deadline.
When all the flies are in, you should make sure they are all distributed fairly. Then just ship the packages out. Making an announcement on ROFF at this time is appropriate.
That's it. Aside from dealing with leftover flies, your job is complete. In the past, we have had the problem of having extra sets of flies due to last minute dropouts. The Swapmeister has final say over how to dispose of these flies. Asking for opinions from the tyers is always appropriate. Reasonable things to do are to contribute a set or two to the next Clave as a raffle item, donate a set to a local fishing club, or just keep them.
What are some good rules for a Swapmeister?Tie your flies on time and send them in! If you are going to be late, or if you have to drop out, give the Swapmeister as much notice as possible. It's always a good idea to send an email when you ship your flies (unless the Swapmeister asked you not to... when in doubt, follow the Swapmeister's rules). Be sure to follow the Swapmeister's instructions for shipping and postage. Including some extra cash to help the Swapmeister cover postage for foreign tyers is a good thing, as is throwing in a couple of extra or special flies for the Swapmeister for his efforts. (This is of course optional and as in all tipping situations, be aware that some Swapmeisters might be offended).
This is easy. The Swapmeister makes the rules.
Joe Fleischman wrote the following after the 2001 Dog Days Fly Swap. The comments agree with similar comments offered by other swapmeisters.
DDFS recap. From my perspective, it was fun (in the way that interesting and challenging work can be fun <g>). All youse guys did a great job as far as I'm concerned. The flies were great, the communication was great, and your promptness was (mostly) great. You couldn't have made it much easier for the swapmeister, and that made it possible for me to turn the sets around as quickly as I did. Thanks to all.
For reference in future swaps, I want to list a few things that worked well (or didn't) so any potential swappers (or swapmeisters) out there can make the next one even better.
Timing (signup): I allowed 15 days for signup. That actually seemed much more than necessary. Most of the participants signed up early anyway.
Timing (tying): 30 days was plenty, except for the procrastinators and those who had unanticipated schedule problems and just couldn't get started early.
Mailing: My use of a P.O. box proved a problem in one case where the flies were sent via overnight courrier. They wouldn't deliver to a P.O. box and I had to drive to the distribution hub to pick up the box. No big deal for me, but the delay in finding the lost package almost kept me from getting his flies into the swap.
Packaging: By far, the most efficient way of packing the flies was the VCR box and Priority Mail. For the swappers that used this method, an extra thank you. A few swappers sent nice little boxes that held their flies nicely, but didn't account for the size of some of the other flies and tags. Note for future swaps - use a bigger box <g>.
Return mailing: Okay, a few guys took the lazy route and made me address their return packages and lick the stamps. No big deal; but if I had to do it for 25 guys it would have been quite a chore. It is better for the swapmeister if return packages are pre-addressed and stamped. Again, no biggie this time, it was only a few and I didn't mind. In the future, however...
(A note from Stan: The VHS tape sized priority mail boxes are available at most post offices for free or very cheap. You can buy a Priority Mail kit which includes the $3.50 stamp and an address label in the vending machines in most Post Offices - in the USA... Put your labeled flies into a plastic bag (so they don't get stuck in the box), and put them into the *unsealed* box. Put a stamp and a return address label on the box. Wrap the box in brown paper, and add a stamp and the address label for the Swapmeister. Then the Swapmeister has your return box ready to mail.)
Quantity: We started with 25, and all but one made the deadline (with one dropping out for good reason). IMHO, that was a very manageable number, and I could have done more from both a tying and swapmeister standpoint. It is also definitely easier as the swapmeister to be able to set up the right number of cups and just sort the flies without regard to who's set was who's. I think it's nice to get one of your own back as part of the set.
Tags: There was quite a variety in the approaches taken here - some good, some not so. In general, the thin paper tags were very prone to coming loose (one set had more than half fall off on the way here). Thicker card stock worked better, the plastic laminates worked well, and the tied-on loops were excellent from a durability standpoint. A drawback of the tied on tags is that they were a bit difficult to untangle in some instances.
Courtesy: These guys couldn't have been better. Without exception, everybody did their best to make the swap a little better and make my life a little easier. Thanks especially to everyone who sent a few extra flies or a contribution to the "postage fund". As soon as I get around to it, I'll be putting together a raffle prize or two from the surplus. I'd gladly do this again.
Ye DDFSwapmeister,
Joe Fleischman