A few flies, Mr. Rapidan, Red Squirrel Tail Nymph, etc., I tie in accordance with the pattern but I sometimes tie them a little sparser or thicker than the original. I change the color of the post on some parachute flies (pink vice yellow or white) just to make them more visible to me. I don?t think of these as new patterns, just minor variations and still call them by the original name. One pattern shown to me didn?t have a name, so I gave it one - the ?minibugger? (http://www.nvatu.org/2008_Feb_TLine.pdf), just to keep things straight in my head. It too was just a variation on the Woolybugger but was fun to play around with by varying colors and materials. I thought I invented a new pattern once only to find out that I really reinvented it, but at least it was new to me. I try to give the originator credit even if I make minor variations; like someone said there is nothing new under the sun. If it catches fish then I?m happy!

Enjoy,
John