Too many flies?

A place to discuss the collecting and tying of classic flies, the tyers who made them famous, the tools, materials and techniques they used as well as the waters they were designed for. While classic is generally used to describe old things, classic is also used in the sense of first class or in the highest form. Therefore a fully dressed Salmon Fly, or a Carrie Stevens Streamer are just as much classics as a Chernobyl Ant would be. Enjoy the forum.

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gaddis
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Re: Too many flies?

#21

Post by gaddis »

I’m usually skeptical of new patterns, particularly if they are too heavily based on synthetics. I focus on classic patterns, and they work for me. When trout fishing, I carry a lot of flies. I like having the choice. My whole stock of trout flies comes with me on every trip, in a bag in my vehicle loaded with about a dozen Myran boxes. I keep a couple of examples of most everything in my vest.

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Peales
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Re: Too many flies?

#22

Post by Peales »

I guess I don’t believe in too many flies. I have an evolving set of patterns that I use. I infrequently add a totally new pattern. But there are times when the older stuff just doesn’t work as well today as it did yesterday. On local waters, during our biggest hatches, you almost have to develop new variations in your patterns once in a while. Some fish, in my experience become wary of familiar patterns, seemingly due to repeated exposure. I love tying variations for these technical fish, bringing three or four new prototypes to the stream. Carefully fishing each, and seeing what works, what almost works, and what doesn’t work at all. I then refine those that work… until they don’t, and I start the prototype cycle again. During my annual trips out west I’ve used the same prototype/test/refine process. As I’m sure many of you are discovering the same, these new variations become new standards as they end up working better than the original patterns. And so it goes…

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flyfishingpastor
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Re: Too many flies?

#23

Post by flyfishingpastor »

I confess. I am a fly-aholic. I have boxes in all my vest pockets and I have small boxes in my shirt pockets for the flies I tie for the stream I'm fishing. The problem for me is this; I usually only fish from the flies I tie for the stream I'm going to be fishing. So, 85% of the time, I could leave all but the small Altoid box, because they are flies just for THAT stream. The other 15% of the time, the fish want something else and then I reach for the boxes in my vest. Honestly, I could easily fish all day with the couple of small Altoid boxes, some nippers, a couple spare leaders and a couple spools of tippet.

Sadly, the couple of times I fished "fly lite" I regretted not having the other boxes because the fish didn't want what I thought they'd want. Go figure. :)

Pat
P.S. Yes! I think there are too many flies, especially the knock-off patterns. But, I figure, it's your fly box so fill it up with what you want. Well before the fly catches a fish, the fly has to catch the fisherperson - or those of us that tie them ourselves.

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Brooks
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Re: Too many flies?

#24

Post by Brooks »

About 10 years ago, on the fourth of July, myself and three buddies got together early in the day, with the plan of, basically, drinking beer together all day, in preparation for the evening barbecues, fireworks etc. "What are we going to do today guys?" We decided, "let's do our own version of the Jackson Hole *One Fly* fishing tournament. Lets all drive up to X Creek, just out of town. We can take as much beer as we want, but we only get one fly each. Whoever catches the biggest fish wins bragging rights. If your fly gets broken off, you're done".

My three friends all worked for Idaho Fish & Game, and all were fisheries biologists. And all were expert beer drinkers. We drove about 20 minutes to the targeted creek, bailed out, rigged our rods and took off with no vests or packs--just one fly tied on our tippet. We scrambled down a heavily wooded, steep cascading canyon--the creek, maybe 6 to 8 feet at its widest parts. Fallen timber over sections, lots of brush. Tough fishing.

We all aggressively fished the little creek, and we all caught several fish before losing our flies. The winner was our friend Jamie, who caught a 28" Bull Trout. It ate his fly, took off rolling and tumbling down thru the little rapids, went under a log, Jamie threw his rod under the log, jumped over, grabbed his rod as it came out the other side, then his rod broke. . . .but eventually Jamie landed the monster. Talk about whoops and hollers.

Boy did we have laughs around the barbecue that night with friends and family. And to this day, the fishing story that always comes up when we get together, is laughing and reminiscing about our 4th of July One Fly Tournament.

Take a break from all your boxes and have some fun with your good buddies, with one fly. You'll have stories for sure. I need to do it again soon--it's been 10 years!

snorider
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Re: Too many flies?

#25

Post by snorider »

Well Pat you have made the first step! Admitting your addiction takes spine my friend, well done.

Myself I have caught fish on (and tied on) exactly 8 patterns this year. A Scud, The Sleestack ( An all Grey CDC post, biot body, para-mayfly), a Last Chance cripple #12 in callibaetis brown, Olive Comparadun, PMD comparadun, Olive x-caddis, The Professor, And a hopper.

That said I CARRY 3 fly boxes with 16 different patterns each, why other 40 patterns(and a bunch more on the foam sheets as well)???, you just never know. I laugh at myself when I am digging thru the used fly pocket on my bag to salvage one of the patterns I "use" with all those others staring me in the face.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

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flyfishingpastor
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Re: Too many flies?

#26

Post by flyfishingpastor »

Michael;

Well, I have admitted it but I haven't changed either! :)

Pat

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mcflyfish
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Re: Too many flies?

#27

Post by mcflyfish »

This was AFTER I did my inventory and gave a bunch away!


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Norm Frechette
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Re: Too many flies?

#28

Post by Norm Frechette »

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billems
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Re: Too many flies?

#29

Post by billems »

Canehosts, "How many different things can I attach to one hook," is the truth. The magazine patterns stipulate brand names for each of the materials. To tie so-and-so's caddis you need Enrico Pulisi's, etc. I understand the need to advertise, but the recommended materials would have you running to the shop everytime you wanted to try a pattern.

ted patlen
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Re: Too many flies?

#30

Post by ted patlen »

billems wrote:
10/01/21 11:31
Canehosts, "How many different things can I attach to one hook," is the truth. The magazine patterns stipulate brand names for each of the materials. To tie so-and-so's caddis you need Enrico Pulisi's, etc. I understand the need to advertise, but the recommended materials would have you running to the shop everytime you wanted to try a pattern.
Bill, That is why I don't tie flies when asked by people who want a specific pattern. May I add, that substituting "this" for "that" put's a negative vibe into the buyers mind.

After more than 2,000 years of fly tying is there a new way of binding something to a piece of steel that averages less than 1" long? Aside from some brand new manufactured material, which is typically a different spin of an old material (synthetic versus natural), can there be something new ?

Lupalupa
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Re: Too many flies?

#31

Post by Lupalupa »

I would like to propose that the responses to the query of if there are "Too many flies?" will differ depending on the subforum asked. Since this was asked on a subforum with a strong focus on fly tying, the question would be answered differently than if you put it in a fishing subforum.

In my opinion, and it was expressed a few times above, it is possible for fish to become aware of a pattern that they have seen and perhaps have felt the sting from. The common remedy for this situation is to show them something a little different than the standard pattern.

Well we as fly tiers each have our own interpretation of standard patterns, so naturally we are showing the fish something slightly different than they have seen previously. This can take the form of different materials, different shades, or slightly different proportions. Or to put it another way, my parachute adams is different than your parachute adams.

The fisherman who purchases flies does not have the same opportunity to show a slightly altered version of a standard pattern, so for him to show something different, he would need a new pattern to use, so a purchaser of flies may look more positively on the ever growing selection of new patterns offered as he would need the variation to show something a bit different.

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