How often to change flies?
I do a lot of fishing with a friend and if the fishing is slow he will have changed flies maybe 8 times to my 2.
I begrudge the time involved in changing and often it seems I'm about to change and get a take.
Are you a change often believer or stick with it type...why?
Do you do it different for stillwater or moving?
I always tell people you can tell how well I'm doing fishing by the number of flies on my patch, (Fly Trap).
If there's one or two, I figured it out and I'm doing great; if there's lots, I'm having a slow day.
I usually find that my problem isn't my fly, but rather where (depth, seam, pocket, etc), or how (twitch, dead drift, swim). So most of the time I change flies it is to switch from nymph or dry.
Adam
The rule of thumb is every 15 minutes, but in reality it's all about fishing a fly you have confidence in.
The simpler the outfit, the more skill it takes to manage it, and the more pleasure one gets in his achievements.
--- Horace Kephart
I usually change "something" every 20-30 minutes... amount of split shot, position of strike indicator (assuming I'm fishing the same type and depth of water, otherwise I make an adjustment as soon as I switch holes), or flies. If I'm fishing dries, then I switch after about my 3rd or 4th refusal.
after about 3 passes and no fish in the same area ... but that's 3 passes multiplied by the number of places from your casting position ... seams, surface, bottom, weeds, structure, varying retrieves ..... danged it - I hate to say it - but ... depends on the water, weather, fly.
but - like taoski noted - its about every 20 mintues I change something on the line
darrell,
To minimize the number of changes I spend the first 15 minutes to 1/2 hour of my fishing ritual studying the insect in and around the water. I will do this at different times of the day to best understand what the fish are feeding on. But, there are those times when nothing seems to work and in addition to changing flies frequently, I have to tie on more tippet as well.
Trout don't speak Latin.
If I have not had a fish hit in about a dozen casts then I am on to another fly.
I am in the canoe nos tof the time so I take four fly rods with me. Easy to change flies that way.
Rick
Same here too.Originally Posted by Rick Z
Its actually the last change I usually make. Assuming you make even a semi-educated guess on what the fish are feeding on...and there is not a huge hatch going off. For me its depth, angle of approach, and presentation. Then I will usually switch sizes. After that its the fly itself.
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