Also called: Fly Tyer, Custom Fly Tier
Ties fishing flies by hand from feathers, fur and thread, selling them to fly shops, guides and anglers who chase trout, salmon and saltwater fish.
Clamps a tiny hook in a vise at your bench and wraps thread, elk hair and pheasant feathers into a dry fly that floats like a real mayfly. A good tier finishes several dozen a day. You fill orders from fly shops and guides before the spring hatches, and post new patterns online.
Estimate; most tiers work part-time; a few full-time tiers sell their own patterns or run shops.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. No degree; learned from classes at fly shops, clubs, videos and lots of practice.
Ways in: Self-taught, Apprenticeship. Training cost: Under $15k.
Growing slowly. Much mass-market tying is done overseas; custom and specialty flies hold value.
Low risk for 10 years. Hand-tying flies is fine motor craft machines cannot do cheaply; AI only helps with online sales.
Classes: Art, Biology (insects), Business.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.