You will no doubt notice this is not a Dee style and yes I have a hard time with following patterns to the letter. I tied up a few of these and then proceeded to carry them around in fly boxes for almost three years. It seems that each season I keep using the same patterns over and over no matter how many different flies I tie. Are the rest of you guys doing this too? I like making flies and it's cool when everyone says how much they like a new creation but I just keep using the same one that caught fish the last time I was out. When I camp sometimes the same fly is on the line for 3 or more days unless I lose it on a snag or fish.
Last year I fished the following flies; Santiam Spectrum, Skykomish Sunrise, Thor, Freight Train, Sol Duc, Bush Doctor, Ard's Nine Three, Double Dare, Red knight, & the Chartreuse Amnesia, I think those are the only patterns I fished with although I tie at least 100 different salmon and trout flies every year. I am beginning to question my carrying all these flies I don't use. I will use some of these Ackroyd patterns this year I hope. I am such a creature of habit when it comes to tying a fly to a leader but I have to start mixing it up a little more.
I always carry some proven patterns, but I like to keep trying new ones as well. If I tie up a few new ones and don't get anything on them, I look to improve the pattern. If I don't feel I can do this I scrap that idea and hit the drawing board. Again.
Besides the picture, that looks awesome, Ardy, i think everyone has the same "problem" (if can it really be called like that).
I myself carry at least 20 patterns when i just go to fish flounders here at only 30km from home, and guess what... i never really used more than three of them. My pocket flybox for stream fishing has around 200 flies, not more than 3 of a same pattern, still i think i never used more than 10 different flies... Not to talk about the collection i plan to bring to the patagonian rivers in april, and i bet i wont use over 6 or 8 of them....
But you know what? i think that opening our flybox and seeing all those flies, colors, shapes, etc is one of the things that contributes to our happiness when we are at the river, so i plan to keep carrying a ton of flie i will never use but they look so nice that when i look at them i forget that they probably will never be used. :smokin:
I to do the same damn thing, very frustrating, but if the flies work why worry. I sometimes just tie a fly because I like the way it looks and I like to see it in my box of flies.
You know it's weird but I do the same when I nymph for trout as well and I have thousands of different flies for that!
Maybe we should start thinking outside the box and trust other patterns?
Would love to hear more thoughts on this question.
I carry one Whetley with me on the river. I have flies from size 8 to 3/0 and no two are the same. I have confidence in all of them and if one breaks off I just grab the next one in line. With that one box I can match pretty much any fishing condition. My tube box is set up the same way.
Same here to all of the above. I have long lost count on how many full fly boxes I have ... mainly because I (with rare exception) only carry one on the river. That box (it revolves over the course of a year) will have maybe a half dozen patterns in different sizes and a few 'ah hell, why not's' I've 'created' at the bench.
One of these days I'm going to pull all these out and have a sorting party. As an example of 'Geeze, I'd forgotten all about those' was two fly boxes full of stuff I purchased in New Zealand .... and that would have been in the mid-90's.
I too have a huge problem ---neophobic---with fishing new patterns. Heck, I even have a tough time changing out whatever I have on the leader. I rationalize and tell myself that the Jedi's say the pattern doesn't matter, it is the presentation that counts.
To make my eccentricity worse, it seems I just have to buy some sort of fly every time I walk into a shop. Souvenirs, I guess. Anyway,too many patterns and not enough time to fish the ones I love!
It seems that we are all on the same page here. I like Marty's explanation, it pretty well describes how I choose a fly to use. Last year when my last Skykomish Sunrise began to lose some wing and the body was frayed and tinsel trailing I took it off and changed to a Bush Doctor. The Skykomish as you know is red / orange with white wing, the Bush Doc. however is silver and blue. As soon as I located more fish I was back in the game, so carrying the different flies is a good thing. I forgot to mention that I also used the old Canadian Killer for fishing silvers on the Kenai and did well with that.
I don't intend to stop making flies and I agree that opening a box and seeing all those pretty hooks is all part of the pleasure of fishing. I guess that what I do is that I keep using a fly as long as it is still together and catching fish. When the fly that is catching fish is done for it is then that I must make a choice. I could reasonably say that this is how I seem to find at least one more favorite fly every year
I do the same thing carry at least 2 boxes of wets and 1 box of bombers and split wings but fish the same half a dozen or less every outing because they are proven and feel more confident and when you are you seem to fish harder and pay more attention
Hey Ard, really like that Bush Doctor, pure class and would do well here for sea trout. Like you I sometimes wonder about all the flies in my boxes and how many of them I will actually use, but ya know what?..........they are still things of beauty to look at, even if they are not stuck in a salmon's lip!
I like it Ard, I like it. I have gone to two boxes also. One for regular stuff and one for Dee and Spoon Wings. I may have a bad habit of changing flies in each new run so I go through quite a few
My fly box will have at most 2 or 3 copies of 2 or 3 flies, the rest are all a little different from each other. Lots of "prototypes". I really enjoy putting something new on and seeing if anything approves. Sometimes if something looks really nice in the water to me I'll tie more of them even if they haven't produced fish. That dee looks great, Ard.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Spey Pages
877.1K posts
23.9K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to Spey casting, fishing, flies, and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about trails, licenses, fishing, game laws, styles, reviews, optics, accessories, classifieds, and more!