What Sort of Fly Patterns Do You Avoid?

billems · Post by **billems** » 09/28/21 07:39

We always ask fellow forum members about their favorite trout flies, but never ask about their least. I'm basically and dry and wet fly man. I have caught many fish on nymphs, but began to dislike the "work" of the method--weighting, tuck-casting, etc. When the dries don't work, I'll always pick up a few while headed back downstream on soft hackles. Dry and wet flies are what fly rods were built for. Unweighted flies offer more pleasurable and graceful casting.
Beadheads are the go to flies of this epoch. They are certainly effective, but I hate 'em, and not even sure why. My nymphs are pheasant tails, Hare's Ears and Zug Bugs. My single hypocrisy is the zebra midge, which I sometimes will attach to the hook bend of a dry. Which are your least favorite flies, or style of fishing you avoid?

davemaine · Post by **davemaine** » 09/28/21 08:02

Weighted nymphs, for the same reasons.

By now it is obvious that the best way to fish them involves super long rods and no fly line. Sure, you can lob weighted nymphs with a standard fly rod set up, but that does not make it fly fishing. It is certainly not fly casing.

PYochim · Post by **PYochim** » 09/28/21 08:14

Streamers. I don't enjoy fishing them.

kevinhaney1 · Post by **kevinhaney1** » 09/28/21 08:27

Anything that I can't see, especially tiny dry midges...

ted patlen · Post by **ted patlen** » 09/28/21 08:53

I enjoy all types of flies at times and weight some flies for special situations but dislike bead style nymphs however effective they are. I was very lucky once to have driven Lefty to a presentation. He asked me what I thought about the "new bead flies". It felt weird that he'd asked but I thought about it and replied that I think it gets the fly through the water column faster. He responded with, "Yeah, that's pretty much what I think". (Just food for thought)

What flies I really dislike are any that are complicated and take a long time to tie. Give me simple, fast thus efficient patterns.
You can keep all the indicator type fishing as well.

It is my understanding that long rods and monofilament lines reels were how the "Euro, Polish, Czech" was developed because fly lines and reels were difficult to obtain.

Long rods are quite useful in specific environments and certain situations. It is illegal to wade some of the rivers in Great Britain, thus longer rods answered the call. Spey rods were designed for the big rivers but also because a back cast was improbable. Long rods also made "casting" huge flies easier.

Great idea for a thread

redietz · Post by **redietz** » 09/28/21 09:28

I avoid beadheads like the plague.

Post by **DrLogik** » 09/28/21 09:45

I don't like the nuclear foam creations, or gaudy non-natural looking creations. I prefer flies with natural materials over synthetics but synthetics are ok as long as they aren't over the top.

I agree with Ted Patlen, I prefer simple flies over complicated flies. Easier to tie, tie more in a given time period and less frustrating.

Sash · Post by **Sash** » 09/28/21 10:07

ted patlen wrote: ↑
09/28/21 08:53
Long rods are quite useful in specific environments and certain situations. It is illegal to wade some of the rivers in Great Britain, thus longer rods answered the call. Spey rods were designed for the big rivers but also because a back cast was improbable. Long rods also made "casting" huge flies easier.

Honestly, it really is NOT "illegal" to wade in any rivers in Britain, merely occasionally against local tradition or the rules specified by the owners or holders of the fishing rights.

And this is really limited to parts of the big chalk streams; it helps that a well-kept chalk stream will/should have a neatly mown path for the angler, and a narrow verge of vegetation to provide an element of concealment!

But this has never meant (certainly in the era of decent tapered lines, and hence the ability to shoot line) that you needed a long rod: standard on the Test/Itchen/Kennet/Avon has been 8ft to 9ft for 60+ years.

Longer rods in trout fishing over here were either necessary when fly lines were untapered, or you needed to cover water when downstream fishing by "leading" the fly and line over a lie: 10ft rods are pretty standard for sea-run browns for this reason.

Apologies for the thread drift.

And, to answer the OP's question: +1 for flies too small to see. For me, that definitley means smaller than an 18, dry or wet.

jim royston · Post by **jim royston** » 09/28/21 10:29

There is an old expression "If you're not going to catch any fish, you might as well not catch them on a dry fly."
I fish to catch fish, not to pretend that I am someone from a bygone era.

bluesjay · Post by **bluesjay** » 09/28/21 11:56

Hi Guys, Foam, plastic

Jay Edwards

narcodog · Post by **narcodog** » 09/28/21 11:59

Foam, I break out in hives when near foam.

GrsdLnr · Post by **GrsdLnr** » 09/28/21 12:15

Egg patterns.

twistedtippet · Post by **twistedtippet** » 09/28/21 13:08

kevinhaney1 wrote: ↑
09/28/21 08:27
Anything that I can't see, especially tiny dry midges...

The trick to fishing tiny dry midges is: "You must become the fly grasshopper". It's a ZEN thing.
tt

Brooks · Post by **Brooks** » 09/28/21 14:12

So, a bit of a thread drift here, but I'm always looking for patterns with furs and feathers (natural materials) that fish as well as some of the modern synthetic materials.
I totally agree with the disdain for foam (being a bamboo cultist), but let's face it, Chubby's, Water-walkers, Grand Hoppers, Morrish Hoppers, etc, etc,
and foam-backed wakers for skating for steelhead, all work really really well. And often I succumb to using them, because of some weak moral flaw in my character ;-)

So look for a new thread, "Best natural flies that work like foam flies". I'd like to know what you've discovered.

Flykuni3 · Post by **Flykuni3** » 09/28/21 14:14

DrLogik wrote: ↑
09/28/21 09:45
I don't like the nuclear foam creations, or gaudy non-natural looking creations. I prefer flies with natural materials over synthetics but synthetics are ok as long as they aren't over the top.

I agree with Ted Patlen, I prefer simple flies over complicated flies. Easier to tie, tie more in a given time period and less frustrating.

Agree. And I don’t foam my flies; stopped with the rubber legs when I laid down my Zebco 66 and the Arbogast baits.

Eddie Southgate · Post by **Eddie Southgate** » 09/28/21 16:15

I avoid flies that use materials that are no longer available or are too expensive if you can find them . It's not too hard to find another fly that works in it's place so I don't see it as an issue .

I basically like all styles of fly fishing but prefer Nymphs and winged wet flies to all others . The exception to that would be Zonkers and weighted wolly buggers , don't like them and don't fish them.

AlexP · Post by **AlexP** » 09/28/21 18:08

Good question. I don't enjoy fishing streamers much. Although I would love to fish dries all the time, I fish early mornings in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in the dead of the Winter, I love fishing nymphs, most with beads. I also enjoy tying them, I am a relative newbie tier. I can see anglers in other States, that can choose the time of the day to fish, casting dries with good confidence, but not me. Obviously my favorite hatch is Tricos, I have not tried tying those yet, but some patterns at my local shop are "highly visible" and have worked great this season.

Personally, fly fishing is fishing with a fly rod, regardless of the "fly" you use. Don't care too much about that argument though.

Tight Lines

Hellmtflies · Post by **Hellmtflies** » 09/28/21 18:12

GrsdLnr wrote: ↑
09/28/21 12:15
Egg patterns.

DITTO! I've done it years ago when I was desperate but always felt guilty afterwards.

gt05254 · Post by **gt05254** » 09/28/21 18:42

Any under size 12!
Gary

St Vrain Angler · Post by **St Vrain Angler** » 09/28/21 19:05

Weighted nymphs.
But like the OP, I'll make an exception for the zebra midge: Whether trailing a dry or an orange & partridge soft hackle, it always produces--even with finicky trout on heavily pressured waters.

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