I've been tying flies for about 10-12 years, and serious fly fishing for around 8 years or so although I dabbled in it some 20 years back. I enjoy both aspects of the sport.
I did catch about a 20# tarpon on the fly (more luck than anything as that was in my very early stages), and also caught a small 4# roosterfish off the coast of Cabo. My most memorable catch was working a rising fish that was about 60 feet away, and there was no way for a back cast. I was using a 4 weight rod and a blue drake. All I could do was roll casts due to the trees behind me. I swear it took me 20 minutes to finally get that fly in the right seam, I was sweating my ass off, and he came right up and took it. Landed it: nice native brown trout about 17 inches. (Private stretch in Pennsylvania about 1.8 miles long that hasn't been stocked in over a decade). Even though I've caught 15-18# steelhead, that fish seemed like a great accomplishment.
I like that wooly worm you tied up, charlie. Looks "buggy".
Most of my fly fishing is geared towards upstate NY where I chase salmon, steelhead, and brown trout. Its not the most elitist of ways to fly fish, because getting any one of these species to take a dry fly is next to impossible. So, it requires that you put a little B or BB split shot about 6 inches up from your presentation in order to get them to cooperative. No different than nymph fishing in local rivers and streams here in NJ.
I guess the real fanatic fly tiers will say "here's how you do this fly", but the thing I really like about tying my own is that I can change it up, add or take things away (like wings or appendage), do a color that's out of the norm, etc. And it really is an awesome feeling when everything comes full circle: tie my own fly, put it on the line, and then catch a fish. Pretty awesome to be able to do that.
Sometimes people will wonder or question why a trout (say a 10#er) would ever "eat" a tiny little fly. The way I explain it to them is its like people eating M&M's. You walk by a bowl of them, why not grab one? Not exactly a fulfilling meal, but a great snack.
No pictures of my flies available (I'm no pro anyway), but thanks for sharing those Charlie.