So what is a Flyswap?
A fly swap is a process whereby the participants each get to practice tying an individual pattern which they send off to a swapmaster. The swapmaster then divides all the flies up and sends back to the individuals one fly from each of the participants.
An example
The Swapmaster decides a theme, closing date and max no of participants eg Barra Flies, 15 March and max of 4 participants
Each individual nominates on the post for the flyswap saying what they will tie.
4 participants (A,B,C & D)
A (who is also the swapmaster) decides to tie a clouser
B decides to tie a pink thing
C decides to tie a deceiver
D decides to tie a bush pig
All of them tie 4 of their fly and send to the swapmaster.
The swapmaster sends back to each one each of the flies that they did not tie eg C gets a clouser, a pink thing and a bush pig. The extra fly left over is for the swapmaster. In this case the swapmaster is also a participant so he gets 2. The swapmaster does not have to be a participant (and in that case only gets one of each fly).
When sending your flies to the swapmaster it is vital that you pack your flies correctly, and importantly ensure you send a stamped self addressed envelope so your flies can be returned to you. Make sure the packaging you send is going to be sufficient to return the swapped flies. Buying express post or parcel post bags seems to be the best way to send and receive the packages.
If everyone has done the right thing and got their flies off by the due date the swapmaster should be able to package the flies for return within about 2 weeks where you can kiss your postie, unwrap your package and go fishing.
If you have any problems along the way (eg struggling to get them completed on time) just contact your swapmaster and have a chat.