Do you agree?

[Rick Z]

A K Best in his Book "Production Fly Tying", in the afterword says:

"Do your flies catch fish and are they durable? The latter consideration is entirely relative, sincce I for one would be thrilled if I hooked and landed a two-foot trout on a fly I had tied. I could care less if the fly came apart on that one fish."

How do you feel about this?

Rick

[Bamboozle]

I wouldn't care if my fly came apart on a two foot fish either...

...unless there was another two foot fish feeding on same natural that fly imitated.

[dudley]

That wouldn't bother me at all
....as long as I had another one just like it

[gutbomb]

One fly for one two-foot fish is pretty good trade in my opinion. That's a much better deal than trading one fly for a brief tug-of-war with a tree.

[Hans Weilenmann]

I suppose A.K.'s statement is one up from a UK pro tier, the late David Collier, who went on record stating that any fly he tied and sold which lasted long enough to hook&land one fish offered the angler adequate, or even excellent, value for money.

I did not agree with David then, and while I have no issue with the actual A.K. verbatim statement as referenced, I do have reservations regarding the underlying sentiment on fly durability.

I prefer, and expect(!), my flies to last well beyond one or two fish (though I might make a rare exception to this in the case of a two foot trout )

Cheers,
Hans W

[DShock]

First, if I tied the fly I would expect it NOT to fall apart on one fish. The term 'Fall Apart' would have to do with my careless handling of removing the fly from the fish's mouth. If I hooked or landed a 24 inch trout, it would be my 'favorite fly' and might even get 'retired'.
Doug

[waynep]

I don't really care. . . . LOL . . . The flies I tie are good enough to at least get one fish on, most several fish. I do get a few that are ruined after a single fish, but I'll usually have another. I seldom go with 1 of anything, but I don't carry a dozen of each either.

wayne

[fwalsh]

I don't think I'd be too happy with this result . Where I live we sometimes catch more than one Atlantic salmon on the same fly and these fish can be 10 pounds or more . I prefer to take a bit more tying time to have as durable a fly as I can tie ........Frank

[TyroneFly]

I would hope my flies are durable. What a pain in the arse to have to cut and tie-on a new one after every catch.

[Fly Tyer CC]

Just an opinion, first I believe few would quibble with one fly one fish it they were all huge fish.
The term durable intrigues me. Just what is durable to a person, who ties practical flies, artistic flies, realistic flies, presentation flies, etc., etc., and how do you gauge it?
I have a simple test for fly construction durability! After the fly is tied hold the fly, with thumb and index finger, by the bend with one hand and grasp the body with thumb and index finger of the other hand and twist gently with consistent pressure.
If the fly does not spin on the shank of the hook you have a fly that is tied properly.
I believe one of the most important techniques in fly tying is Thread Control. I use this simply test when teaching new tiers how to determine if they have their Thread Control under control.