In article ,
"Wolfgang" wrote:

The bad news:

There is no good answer to your question without knowing where, when, and
for what you intend to fish. Even with that information there are so many
variables that necessary qualifications would make an answer horrendously
complex and of little worth. For example, your selection would depend in
part on whether you intend to fish dry flies and/or wets, nymphs, streamers,
terrestrials, etc. Are you interested in matching hatches more or less
precisely? Are widely popular favorites suitably effective in your area?
Or are there local patterns that the fish tend to favor? How important is
catching versus fishing? What size fish will you be pursuing? The list of
considerations goes on literally forever.

The good news:

It doesn't really matter all that much. A season of two of practice and
advice from those who fish frequently where you do will provide you with all
the information you'll need.

Meanwhile, any information you get here will probably be worth taking
seriously, but if ROFF responds true to form, you'll get so much varied and
contradictory advice that sorting it all out will be a lot more trouble and
work than figuring it out for yourself. Either way, good luck.

Wolfgang

the even better news:
Some fisherman just say phoeey to the whole match the hatch business and
only use two flies, a size 16 adams and a size 12 prince nymph. And
they do well too.