The "ONE" fly...

[Buddy Sanders]

What if someone came up with 'the' fly? The ONE, the fly that caught trout everywhere under just about all conditions. Something versatile enough and easy enough to tie that anyone could use it successfully regardless of where they fished.

I know it's probably not possible.

But, what if it was?

I know it's a long shot, and I'm not asking if it's possilbe, or even likely. That discussion would be a bit too subjective, even for me.

So a hypothetical here. The ONE fly exists. You have the skills to tie it. It works on your waters and it works so much of the time and so well for your style of fishing that it convinces you that it is, truly, the ONE.

My question is:

If it existed, would you use it?

Would you basically give up your other flies to fish the one that always worked? Would it lessen your enjoyment of fishing?

How about fly tying. Our hypothetical fly is all you need to catch fish. Would you tie only that fly and not bother with others? Would that take some of the enjoyment out of fly tying for you?

Thanks for playing along.

Buddy

[Cold]

Did someone say something about a woolly bugger?

Answer: No. Variety is the spice of life!

[Normand]

the very first fly that was ever tied was the "ONE" and since then, fly tyers have been fooling around with that original recipe and still havent come up with the next "ONE".

[JeffHamm]

I know I would get bored and would generally fish other flies most of the time. I would probably fish the "one" on rare occasions though. I know this because on many occasions, after catching a few fish, I'll often change flies to try something else. It's like, once you think you've "solved it for the day", wheres the fun? I admit, catching fish is fun, I enjoy the tug on the line, I can get frustrated with myself if I go for long periods on good looking water without a strike, but in the end, I really like trying to work out what will catch fish, and I'm curious to find out how many different ways one can catch fish (nymph, wet, dry, etc) on the same water, and with how many different patterns. The "one" would end up being set aside as a "I know this works, how about ..." type thing. If I was getting no hits, I might use it to ensure there were fish around though.

- Jeff

[EdD]

If it was an olive woolly bugger, yes.
If it was a DuPont spinner, no.

Either way, it would probably end up in a tree...


Ed

[ScottP]

I was fishing in YNP last year and came upon, what turned out to be, a nice cutt-bow feeding under an overhanging willow. I tried 5 different flies before I even got any interest, then had to change size 2 more times before it took. That was about the best 30 minutes fishing I've had in a long time, a heck of a lot more fun than if I tossed the "One" fly and hooked it right away.
About the most I can tie of any one fly at a sitting before I need to change things up is 2 dozen, so "No". Anyway, what would I do with all the stuff I have now?

Regards,
Scott

[Fred H]

Interesting museings .

[Sonny Edmonds]

Interesting museings .

For the most part, entertaining!

My vote is for the Adams.

But I am very narrow minded....

[CoachBob]

The Boudreaux pattern is THE ONE fly for all freshwater.
See http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern7515.html

So far, on this fly pattern, I have caught bluegill, redear, warmouth and green bream, plus bass, catfish, gar, shad, rainbow trout, brook trout, crappie and white (sand) bass. Kinda sorta qualifies as THE ONE, huh?

It can be tied in many colors and sizes, and I would bet a large version would work for muskie and pike.

[FishnDave]

Hmmmm. I use a pattern (I didn't originate it, though) that sure seems to catch a LOT of fish for me. It is a subsurface pattern. Sometimes, it sure it fun to catch fish with topwater flies...so...no, I wouldn't use the "ONE" fly all the time.