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

As some of you already know, this is my first season of fly fishing.
I tie my own flies so I'm beginning to put together a list of flies to
tie over the winter, for next season. So far I have a list of 25
patterns that I'd like to fish next year. This is a lot compared with
what I tied for my first season this year (I had about 10 patterns
that a local fisherman recommended for my area, and they were very
effective for me). For this past season, I tied roughly two sizes and
two colors of most of these patterns, and tried to tie 6-12 of each
variation.

I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

- Dave K.

"mdk77" wrote in message
ups.com...
As some of you already know, this is my first season of fly fishing.
I tie my own flies so I'm beginning to put together a list of flies to
tie over the winter, for next season. So far I have a list of 25
patterns that I'd like to fish next year. This is a lot compared with
what I tied for my first season this year (I had about 10 patterns
that a local fisherman recommended for my area, and they were very
effective for me). For this past season, I tied roughly two sizes and
two colors of most of these patterns, and tried to tie 6-12 of each
variation.

I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

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

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

...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.

For a somewhat different perspective:

"The trout-fly does not resemble any known species of insect. It is a
'conventionalized' creation, as we say of ornamentation. The theory is,
that, fly-fishing being a high art, the fly must not be a tame imitation of
nature, but an artistic suggestion of it. It requires an artist to
construct one; and not every bungler can take a bit of red flannel, a
peacock's feather, a flash of tinsel thread, a cock's plume, a section of a
hen's wing, and fabricate a tiny object that will not look like any fly, but
still will suggest the universal conventional fly."-Charles Dudley Warner.

Wolfgang

mdk77 typed:
snip
I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

There are a few places you could go that might help. One would be a local
fly shop where someone could steer you in the right direction. Another would
be one of the conservation/fly fishing groups that may meet in your area.
Personally, I tie about three sizes of most of my flies - small, medium, and
large. Of course, exactly *what* size that is depends on the pattern.
Personal experience is probably the best teacher, unless you have someone
like George Adams handy; then you just look in his fly box and copy it. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:37:56 -0000, mdk77 wrote:

As some of you already know, this is my first season of fly fishing.
I tie my own flies so I'm beginning to put together a list of flies to
tie over the winter, for next season. So far I have a list of 25
patterns that I'd like to fish next year. This is a lot compared with
what I tied for my first season this year (I had about 10 patterns
that a local fisherman recommended for my area, and they were very
effective for me). For this past season, I tied roughly two sizes and
two colors of most of these patterns, and tried to tie 6-12 of each
variation.

I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

- Dave K.

The answer is either 42....or 2.

/daytripper (I'd go with 2 - but that's me ;-)

On Oct 11, 10:44 am, "Tim J."
wrote:
mdk77 typed:
snip

I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

There are a few places you could go that might help. One would be a local
fly shop where someone could steer you in the right direction. Another would
be one of the conservation/fly fishing groups that may meet in your area.
Personally, I tie about three sizes of most of my flies - small, medium, and
large. Of course, exactly *what* size that is depends on the pattern.
Personal experience is probably the best teacher, unless you have someone
like George Adams handy; then you just look in his fly box and copy it. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Thanks Tim. I live in an area where there aren't too many fly fishing
mentors. I have one though. It's definitely "Death Valley" for
resources locally. But hey, I did catch a lot of fish this season by
simply tying the 2 sizes of most of my fly patterns. It was probably
"beginner's luck" all the way. Maybe I'll just branch out and add a
size or two more (the small, medium and large seems like a good "next
step") and just see how I do fishing. I did fish a ton this season,
and am still fishing a lot. So maybe this trial and error thing will
work for me.

Thanks again.
- Dave

On Oct 11, 10:17 am, "Wolfgang" wrote:
"mdk77" wrote in message

ups.com...



As some of you already know, this is my first season of fly fishing.
I tie my own flies so I'm beginning to put together a list of flies to
tie over the winter, for next season. So far I have a list of 25
patterns that I'd like to fish next year. This is a lot compared with
what I tied for my first season this year (I had about 10 patterns
that a local fisherman recommended for my area, and they were very
effective for me). For this past season, I tied roughly two sizes and
two colors of most of these patterns, and tried to tie 6-12 of each
variation.

I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

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

Thanks for the advice. I am definitely going to take your advice from
"The good news" section of your post. I think a season or two more of
practice will be a huge help. I'll simply tie a wider variety than I
did for this season and go from there. I do notice though that the
flies that "worked" for me didn't make it through the season and I
tied more. The flies that didn't work are still in my boxes and will
probably last me decades........I lost faith in those and simply
couldn't bring myself to fish them after a while.

I did have a HORRIBLE experience on vacation. I was fishing on Prince
Edward Island in Canada (in the middle of nowhere) and I had a crazy
hunch that one particular fly would work that day. I hooked a rainbow
that was huge (my heart just about stopped when I saw him). I had him
close enough that I could almost touch him, and he broke my tippet. I
had brought every fly I owned to Canada -- except for THAT pattern. I
really felt sick when other flies simply didn't work that day. I
learned my lesson. I will NEVER again let myself get down to the last
fly of a given pattern and size. Never.

"mdk77" wrote in message
ups.com...

Thanks for the advice.

You're welcome.

I am definitely going to take your advice from
"The good news" section of your post. I think a season or two more of
practice will be a huge help. I'll simply tie a wider variety than I
did for this season and go from there. I do notice though that the
flies that "worked" for me didn't make it through the season and I
tied more. The flies that didn't work are still in my boxes and will
probably last me decades........I lost faith in those and simply
couldn't bring myself to fish them after a while.

If your experience follows the normal curve, you'll experiment with tieing
ever more patterns for a few years while at the same time relying more and
more on a few favorites. You will collect an astonishing number of flies
that you will have no faith with, and you will carry them around with you
for the rest of your natural life. This is a sort of penance for taking
pleasure from what is, after all, an unnatural act.

On the other hand, you will learn which patterns produce consistently and
circumstances will conspire to prevent you from ever making/taking enough of
them.

I did have a HORRIBLE experience on vacation. I was fishing on Prince
Edward Island in Canada (in the middle of nowhere) and I had a crazy
hunch that one particular fly would work that day. I hooked a rainbow
that was huge (my heart just about stopped when I saw him). I had him
close enough that I could almost touch him, and he broke my tippet. I
had brought every fly I owned to Canada -- except for THAT pattern. I
really felt sick when other flies simply didn't work that day. I
learned my lesson.

Be prepared for a lifetime of heartbreaks for which the cure is
obvious......and useless.....as conditions will never be the same, and next
time the disaster will result from some other mistake which, in retrospect,
will be seen to have been easily predictable and preventable.

I will NEVER again let myself get down to the last
fly of a given pattern and size. Never.

Heh, heh, heh.

Wolfgang

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:37:56 -0000, mdk77
wrote:

As some of you already know, this is my first season of fly fishing.
I tie my own flies so I'm beginning to put together a list of flies to
tie over the winter, for next season. So far I have a list of 25
patterns that I'd like to fish next year. This is a lot compared with
what I tied for my first season this year (I had about 10 patterns
that a local fisherman recommended for my area, and they were very
effective for me). For this past season, I tied roughly two sizes and
two colors of most of these patterns, and tried to tie 6-12 of each
variation.

I realize this is a general question and that patterns may vary the
answer - but - in general, how many sizes of a given pattern should I
tie? An example would be an adult midge pattern in sizes 20-28 or a
given nymph in sizes 16 to 28 -- how many sizes would be adequate to
populate my boxes for the season? I did the math and about stroked
out at the number of flies I would have to tie to do ALL of the sizes
for ALL of the 25 flies. Especially since I am a slow tier at this
point in my experience .... I think I'd die of old age before I got em
all tied :-)

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me on this.

- Dave K.

If you give patterns, it would be easier to help you. Lets say you
are tying a Pheasant Tail nymph: I would tie sizes 16, 18, and 20.
Hares Ear? 14, 16, 18
Elk Hair Caddis (dry)? 14, 16, 18 (Two colors?)
Wooly Bugger? 6, 8, 10 (Three colors?)
Grey Ghost? 2, 4, 6
Midge (buzzer)? 20, 22, 24

I would initially tie a dozen of each size, enough to populate any fly
box. Do you have a recipe book? If so, it should tell you what size
a particular pattern should be.



Give us some patterns and types of flies (nymph/dry/midge/streamer).
List the 25.

Dave

In article .com,
mdk77 wrote:

Thanks Tim. I live in an area where there aren't too many fly fishing
mentors. I have one though. It's definitely "Death Valley" for
resources locally. But hey, I did catch a lot of fish this season by
simply tying the 2 sizes of most of my fly patterns. It was probably
"beginner's luck" all the way. Maybe I'll just branch out and add a
size or two more (the small, medium and large seems like a good "next
step") and just see how I do fishing. I did fish a ton this season,
and am still fishing a lot. So maybe this trial and error thing will
work for me.

Hi, I am just a dumb gurl, but why dont you look under rocks and see
what the bugs look like? What size are the caddis larva? Are they tan
or olive? If they are olive it would probably be better to be fishing
olive caddis dries and nymphs than tan
And during a hatch make sure you catch a couple of flies. Dont be all
big egoed on us, if you look like a butterfly catcher in the middle of
the river it is no big deal. Are the flies size 20 with olive bodies
and instead of fluttering they behave like helicopters? If they are
probably tie a bunch of small blue wing olive. Are they similiar but
bigger and with a orangish color? Might be a pale morning or pale
evening dun.