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  1. #1

    Lightbulb Originals

    After watching hundreds of fly tying demonstrations by outstanding fly tiers, watching bunches of videos on fly tying, and reading countless recipe / tying sequence articles in books, magazines, and here on FAOL and other websites, I saw a technique demonstrated in a "step by step" presentation in another thread yesterday which I have never seen before.

    Another BB member suggested that an existing fly might serve the originator of this unique technique just as well as his new fly.

    Well, yeah. Just like the originator of that fly might have been as well served by an earlier fly originated by an earlier tier, just like the originator of that earlier fly might have been as well served by an even earlier fly originated by an even earlier tier, just like .... and you all know where I am going with this. Somewhere to the dark ages of fly angling with a history of untold millions of fly anglers fishing the same fly, forever.

    Something else, something more important in my view, was lost in the suggestion that an existing fly would do as well. That folks who come up with an original pattern ( and somewhere there is probably an earlier version of the same or a nearly identical fly, but unknown to our new originator ), get an unusual reward and satisfaction from catching fishies with their own original fly.

    In the past six or seven years I've designed three or four original flies - maybe not in the sense those flies had never existed anywhere at any point in time, but original in the sense that I had never seen them and did not copy someone else's fly. Those originals expanded, with minor modifications in size, color, and materials, to seven or eight flies which serve most of my fly angling needs year round.

    I don't kid myself that these flies catch more or bigger fishies than other flies would catch if I fished them instead. I wouldn't be at all surprised if other flies "outfished" my own originals, at least some of the time.

    And I don't have to kid myself that no other set of flies could ever give me the satisfaction I get from going out with a box full of my own "originals" and successfully hunting trouts. And I am sure that no other set of flies could "outfun" the originals I use.

    John
    The fish are always right.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    bozone, mt
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    518

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    I couldn't agree more. I try to fish with my own patterns at all times. I don't always make it. I mean I do still fish Prince Nymphs and Woolly Buggers too. But even then I always have my own twist on it. And that makes the whole exercise that much more enjoyable.
    Last edited by pittendrigh; 05-07-2012 at 02:58 PM.

  3. #3

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    Well said! Tying and fishing my own patterns is as much a part of my fishing experience as catching the fish itself.

  4. #4

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    For me too!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Riverton, WY
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    512

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    Yesterday was quite an experience for me on the water. I started off fishing a bead head prince nymph, dropped with a copper john. I was steadily taking fish on both flies. Eventually the Prince became so chewed that it lost its wings. From that point on the fish only hammered the wingless prince nymph. So I'm thinking I'm going to tie up a few wingless prince's for my box now. I'm sure there is a similar fly out there, but I have no idea what it would be called.

    Paul
    Life is expensive... but it does include a free trip around the sun.
    Mottled Fly Fisher - My Fishing Blog

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Chicago, Il, USA
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    1,459

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    You know how chewed up flies sometimes work better than flies that just came out of the box?

    I chew mine ahead of time.

    Got to be careful though and always debarb.
    Last edited by Steven; 05-07-2012 at 07:01 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    bozone, mt
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    Quote Originally Posted by branhap View Post
    ............ From that point on the fish only hammered the wingless prince nymph. So I'm thinking I'm going to tie up a few wingless prince's for my box now. I'm sure there is a similar fly out there, but I have no idea what it would be called.

    Paul
    Sounds like a Zug Bug to me! Peacock herl is good stuff.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by pittendrigh View Post
    I couldn't agree more. I try to fish with my own patterns at all times. I don't always make it. I mean I do still fish Prince Nymphs and Woolly Buggers too. But even then I always have my own twist on it. And that makes the whole exercise that much more enjoyable.
    The Prince Nymph and the Woolly Bugger are two flies that have never worked for me. Go figure.

    On the other hand, I never leave home without some Griffith Gnats. And during the winter, rubber legs stonefly nymphs, of course.

    John
    The fish are always right.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Auckland, New Zealand
    Posts
    2,555

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    I only fish flies I tie myself. I have a few of my own patterns, some work really well, others have caught fish but have not found their moment. I also tie a lot of basic spiders, which are not following a pattern, but following the basic technique. And, of course, I also have a lot of classic old patterns tied up, some that I just would not want to be without. I find great satisifaction in catching a fish on a fly I've tied myself, and even more on one I've designed myself.

    - Jeff
    Am fear a chailleas a chanain caillidh e a shaoghal. -

    He who loses his language loses his world.

  10. #10

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    got to give them more time , prince in rivers where stoneflys and ,caddis ,buggers in rivers with fish, best with sink tip line
    Quote Originally Posted by JohnScott View Post
    The Prince Nymph and the Woolly Bugger are two flies that have never worked for me. Go figure.

    On the other hand, I never leave home without some Griffith Gnats. And during the winter, rubber legs stonefly nymphs, of course.

    John

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