Bill,

I look at flies as tools. I was a bass fisherman long before I ever picked up a fly rod, and I learned that different lures are suitable for different situations. I use different flies for different presentations. Finding (or tying/inventing) a suitable fly for a particular situation is what makes fly tying fun for me.

What I've actually found in my fly fishing for Bass (Smallmouth and Largemouth) and bluegills is that presentation is by far the most important aspect of successful fly fishing for these species. Depth, action, and speed control are the critical factors. Color is secondary at best. 'Which' fly pattern is unimportant as long as what you are using fits with the presentation.

For opportunistic predators like these, matching the food source isn't even close to important in my fishing. A bass will usually eat several different prey species in any given day. And, given that bass in particular spend so little time actively 'feeding', a fly that 'provokes' a strike by it's speed and action is usually more effective over the course of a fishing day.

All that being what works for me, I still believe that angler confidence is so important that I really feel that if it, whatever 'it' is, matters to you, then it matters. This is just fishing, and there are no hard and fast rules here. It's never a waste of time to learn new patterns or to fish with different flies in different ways. Have fun, catch fish. What works for me may not be what works for you.

Buddy