"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message
. net...
Tom Nakashima wrote:
I just received my order of flies for the McCloud River that are well
tied, but not the greatest in aesthetics. I've paid 55 cents per fly,
which I thought was a pretty good price, and they do match the patterns I
wanted. I recently saw some very nice tied patterns at $2.80 per fly,
but they were near perfect and very aesthetically pleasing. I've never
fished with beautiful flies before, but was wondering if they do make a
difference in appearance to trout?

I'm not quite sure how a fly could be both aesthetically
lacking and well tied at the same time. But having said
that I've tied some awful looking things that caught fish.
A lot depends on how picky the fish are at the time you're
fishing for them. Sometimes they'll take just about anything,
other times they want exactly the right size and color.

In a commercial tie one way to judge quality is by how long
the fly lasts. If one fish trashes it so bad it becomes unusable
it doesn't take long for the 55 cent flies to become more
expensive than the buck/buck fifty flies I usually buy. If I
spend $2.80 for a fly I'll put it under glass and frame it. ;-)

--
Ken Fortenberry

Ken, I think Peter gave me a lot to think about when he wrote:

Less important than its looks are how it performs in the water. What I
mean is, do the dry flies float? Are their wings upright in the correct
position? Do the streamers sink properly, right side up, and retain
that attitude when stripped in, rather than spinning? Do the nymphs
sink right side up? Do they sink at the proper rate? Are the hooks
strong and sharp? Can the fly take many strikes before falling apart?
You can have a ratty looking fly that catches them fine.
Peter Collin

Ken to answer your question about how your quite not sure how a fly could be
aesthetically lacking and well tied at the same time. The flies I purchased
are well tied in that they won't come apart when I cast, but as I said they
look good enough to match the pattern, but they're not aesthetically
pleasing as in the $2.80 flies that I've seen. Peter brought up a good
point when he mentioned, can the fly take many strikes before falling apart?
I am looking forward to finding out.
-tom