Do you keep it until it simply doesn't float or do you try and use new ones every outing. I am almost embarrassed how old some of my flies are yet I continue to keep tying.
Printable View
Do you keep it until it simply doesn't float or do you try and use new ones every outing. I am almost embarrassed how old some of my flies are yet I continue to keep tying.
If you're talking about flys I use them until they fall apart then I strip the remaining stuff off the hook and build another.
If you're talking about fly line I'll have to let you know when I change it out. I've been using the same one for years now. I clean and dress it before and after the season and every couple of weeks during. When cleaning I inspect it and it has not let me down yet.
Assuming you are talking about flies and not fly lines, I do not change a fly on a particular outing unless it just unravels totally or won't float. If it keeps getting hammered I hate to lose the "Mojo" it has. Probably wouldn't use it on the next outing though. If you have a good quality fly a little of a "disheveled" look doesn't hurt it, most insects that get ate don't look perfect either!
Sorry, thought you asked about fly line!
I usually end up breaking flies off in trees before they get to the point of being destroyed. However on the times when the fish are hammering hard at the local still waters I use the fly until they don't hit on it anymore. Then I put the remains of it in my chest box for recycling at the tying bench.
I will change patterns until I find the one they want to bite on.
I don't think I have ever worn a fly out. I lose them first. :lol:
when it unravels then i recycle it.
I use them until the fish won't eat them any more. Some flies, especially small CDC ones, are on for one cast (provided I am so good at that particular instant that a fish eats the fly on that cast), then I clip em off, put em aside to dry, and replace them. Sometimes I use one fly for days, especially for bluegill or small trout in lakes, when I troll buggers behind the toon.
But at some point, the fly is dead, and must be treated accordingly.
I usually keep and re-fish flies, until they are comming apart. You know, if the hackle has been bitten through and it's unwinding, or sticking out from under the ribbing, or the tail or wing is a shambles and falling out, the fly gets replaced and the hook recovered for a new version. More "fuzzed up" dubbed bodies are ok, and often work better. Mind you, like others have mentioned, I usually end up losing the fly before it gets to this.
- Jeff
Since I tie more than I fish I guess I haven't gotten to that point but I recycle if the hook is still usable. Some are decorating trees around Arizona. lol.
I use them until they fall apart, (often before the first fish)
or
When I look into my box and say to myself, "what was I thinking, I can tie better flies than that". They then go back for hook recycle and starting over.
store bought flies stay until lost or destroyed.
Eric