On 18 Oct 2004 21:11:46 GMT, Stephen Welsh
wrote...:

"riverman" wrote in
:

How much of your tying time do you spend inventing flies, modifying
flies you invented vs. trying to make nice replicas of known patterns?

More and more tinkering ... probably 80% now ... though usually
fiddling with a "standard". The last few seasons caddis have drawn most
interest: colour variations to the standard range LaFontaine Emergent
Pupa (LaFEP) and CDC & Elk (try one with 2 strands of pearl crystal flash
for a short tail). The latest being a flurry of hectivity around the
LaFEP tied with a Snowshoe Rabbit foot wing. Started fiddling with them
late last season we could finally get the foot downunder. Field testing
is fun and the flys work.

Invention? Naaah ... just variations on a theme.

Nail... hammer... head! Good fun though. Especially when it works well,
and a maggot drowner asks for pearls of wisdom... you can smile humbly
and say, "Just something I threw together." :-)


John
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail."
-- Abraham Maslow