Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

On Oct 13, 11:48 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:
David, if you are going to be serious about tying, you should purchase
Ted Leeson's and Jim Schollmeyer's book "The Fly Tier's Benchside
Reference". Anything you ever wanted to know about fly tying is in
this book. It's a wonderful reference manual with step by step
illustrations on hundreds of techniques and dressing styles.

When it first came out in 1998, many of us rushed to the book store to
buy it for $100. Today you can buy it on Amazon.com for $63. I saw
it in a fly shop recently for $60. Great buy.

Dave

That is a good suggestion. Right now I have "Fly Tying For Beginners"
by Peter Gathercole and another book by him "The Fly-Tying Bible". I
also have six patterns that I was taught to tie by a local fly
fisherman. Those six patterns caught a lot of fish for me. He told
me that they were his favorite for around here. I'm not wanting to
tie a zillion more patterns for next season, but just expand a bit.
After thinking about this (and reading all of the good feedback here
in ROFF) I think I'm just going to add 6 or so patterns to the ones
that have already served me well, my first season of fishing. That's
all I need for now.

One "downer" for me is the fact that locally we have no trout. I do
fish for trout on vacation. But 98 percent of my fishing, by
necessity, is for warm water fish in Central Illinois. My trout flies
seem to catch plenty of panfish around here, and I have a lot of fun
doing this (my children have had a lot of fun too........I've taught
both of them to fly fish this year). But I also fish for
bass.........and they haven't been too good about taking the trout/
panfish flies. For them I've tied some other flies (large streamers,
terrestrials and wooly buggers have worked best for the bass). Also,
I fish a lot of different waters around here including small rivers,
ponds and lakes. I have one small lake that I fish over my lunch hour
(it's real close to where I work, and a co-worker and I pile into the
car and fish as often as we can).

Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for the help. I deeply appreciate
everyone on ROFF helping me through this first year.

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

"Willi" wrote


Attractor patterns catch LOTS of trout.

Willi


Absolutely true.

However, I tried ( apparently without success ) to suggest an approach to
"pattern collecting" that would work for most streams/fishing styles, not
just the type I prefer.

For instance, I wouldn't tie Humpies in vast arrays of variation.

I believe that sizes, shapes and, lastly, colors are going to work best when
they suggest something the fish sees and eats regularly, even if that fish
has never had a selective second in his life.

Thus, I personally, am far more likely to fish an "average" freestone with a
#16 Yellow Humpy than a #2 red one ... although both would catch fish.

I just went and looked up Humpy in a Jack Dennis pattern book ... it lists
sizes as 2 -24 and suggests 6 different thread/body colors. Most of those
possibilities are going to be less effective, day after day, than the ones
in sizes/colors that suggest natural food forms. So even with attractor
patterns I'd suggest limiting the silly glut in the fly box suggested in
many pattern books ... that was the point I tried to make ...

Tie in quantity only what experience has proven,
have a SMALL corner in a box for experiments,
ruthlessly cull the failures and the common.

I DO suggest a beginner tie the #2 Fluorescent Green humpy suggested in the
book
above, but NOT to "populate" a fly box, only to try, test,
and learn from ... it may become a personal favorite, may not.

P.S. I fished mainly freestone "attractor" type streams for over 30 years
prior to my retirement.

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for nextseason?
 

Larry L wrote:

I believe that sizes, shapes and, lastly, colors are going to work best when
they suggest something the fish sees and eats regularly, even if that fish
has never had a selective second in his life.


Where do the big, garish, cartoony, improbable and successful foam flies
fit in with the above?

Willi

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for nextseason?
 

Larry L wrote:
"Larry L" wrote

... imho



Another thing that came to mind.

I don't think anything has improved my fly fishing as much as one simple
rule I came up with and try to follow.

"Don't open a fly box UNTIL you know what fly you are looking for."

In other words try to avoid posing for the classic fly fishing photo of the
guy looking at his box hoping some magic pattern will attract him.

Hey, you've been spying on me. ;-)

Russell

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:16:51 -0000, mdk77
wrote:

But 98 percent of my fishing, by
necessity, is for warm water fish in Central Illinois.

Watch out, there. Lots of mean spirited people in Central Illinois.

d;o)

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

On Oct 13, 5:24 pm, Dave LaCourse wrote:
On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:16:51 -0000, mdk77
wrote:

But 98 percent of my fishing, by
necessity, is for warm water fish in Central Illinois.

Watch out, there. Lots of mean spirited people in Central Illinois.

d;o)

Hey, I have Ken F. to watch my back. He's just a hop, skip & a jump
East of Bloomington where I live :-)

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

"Russell D." wrote

Hey, you've been spying on me. ;-)

Russell


Thinking about you too, Russell .... this year I made a special point one
day of fishing a Renegade ( fly you often pitch in threads similar to this
one ) to Firehole trout .... yep they ate it .... but don't tell Willi I
admitted it G

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

"Willi" wrote \


Where do the big, garish, cartoony, improbable and successful foam flies
fit in with the above?

Willi


... it seems I see more use of "big, garish, cartoony, improbable and
successful foam flies" at the times of the season that the naturals are "big
and garish" if not foam and opportunities to eat come very randomly ...
terrestrial time

Newbie Question: How many fly sizes & colors to tie for next season?
 

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:57:32 -0000, mdk77
wrote:

Hey, I have Ken F. to watch my back. He's just a hop, skip & a jump
East of Bloomington where I live :-)

Oh no! You have gone over to the dark side! Beware, beware! Strange
things happen in that neck of the woods.

Dave

Hot flies (was Newbie Question: How many ...)
 

Larry L wrote:
"Willi" wrote \


Where do the big, garish, cartoony, improbable and successful foam flies
fit in with the above?

Willi



... it seems I see more use of "big, garish, cartoony, improbable and
successful foam flies" at the times of the season that the naturals are "big
and garish" if not foam and opportunities to eat come very randomly ...
terrestrial time

There's always a "hot fly." It might be a Chernobyl Ant, or a Desert
Storm, or an AK47, or a WD40 or whatever. Suddenly, everyone is catching
tons (not literally) of big fish on that pattern.

They always have catchy, macho names.

It's brilliant marketing. It's a function of fly anglers wanting to be
"in the know," so they spread the word.

No one wants to admit that they got skunked on the hot Chernobyl Ant, so
they reinforce the legend.

When fish are going after big ugly dry flies, they'll go after any big
ugly dry fly. It's a great time to be fishing.

In heavily fished water, like the San Juan, I can believe that a
radically new nymph pattern could really work, for awhile at least.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.