Starting Over

[JohnScott]

After tying my own flies for about four and a half years, I've learned a few things. Mostly, what flies work for me when and where and for what kind of trout ( and whitefish ). Every time I prepare a fly box for a given day at a given stream / river, I run across bunches of flies that have never been in / on the water, much less caught a fish. Stuff I tied because I thought a particular pattern was neat or might work or was a challenge that might improve my fly tying skills.

So I got to thinking - why don't I just start over ??

This is a great time to do it. With the mountain and stream seasons coming to a close shortly for all practical purposes, my fishing will be pretty much limited to the South Fork and the Henry's Fork of the Snake. That means mostly streamer fishing and large nymphs. I have a couple streamers I fish, and a couple variations on a big stonefly nymph pattern that works really well.

So I got to thinking - why not just take all the flies I have ( excepting the streamers and stonefly nymphs and the very few other fishable flies I have in patterns that I regularly use ), scrape them down with a razor blade to salvage the hooks and beads, and start over ??

Have you ever thought about doing that ?? or actually done it ??

John

[Orthoman]

Too much work for a hook.

Why not just put them in an inexpensive boxes or containers like the free ones you get when picking out flies at the fly shop and then leave them along the stream / river for some luck sole to "find" and let them try them out.

[Betty Hiner]

I have often thought that! I have boxes and boxes of pretty little (and some big) flies that, like yours, have never seen the light of day on the trout streams. I dutifully haul them everywhere I go, thinking surely THIS time, I'll use some of them. Where I've not yet cut everything off the existing flies, I am far more selective in the flies I tye, for the waters I fish. Starting over may be the bet way to go!

[Steve Molcsan]

Here what I do with mine..
http://www.artofangling.com/caerhowd.html

John as productive as your flies are send them over to me and I will send you back bare hooks....lol

Steve

[Eight Thumbs]

Hi John,

I don't know how serious you are or if you are just experiencing a fleeting moment of depression because the season is closing down. If you are serious, destroying a couple of hundred flies is probably not the way to go. As Orthoman points out, scraping down flies with a razor blade is not a pleasant task and far too much work just to gain hooks. You often damage the finish on the hooks and leave them prone to rust. Using razor blades for anything but shaving always turns out badly for me anyway. I didn't pick the name Eight Thumbs by accident. If starting totally from scratch still seems like a good idea, why not do what Chris from Canada does and offer the unwanted flies to our FAOL members who don't tie their own.

If I were you, i would just start tying some new boxes of flies for spring and see where that leads in a couple of months. In all likelihood, you will want to transfer some of your older flies to those new boxes. In answer to your question, I'm pretty pleased with my fly boxes, though they are a little empty now. Take care! 8T

[JeffHamm]

Hmmm,

I think the discription of the flies as being ones that have never seen the water tells us why they have never caught a fish! I'm pretty sure you have a number of non-realised "go to" patterns in that lot. What I suggest is you put together a "challange box" or two. These boxes only contain patterns you've not fished (or not fished much). The goal is to figure out how to fish them successfully. Some will probably work best in water you normally skip over thinking it is non-productive, so the challange includes re-evaluating the things you think you know about the rivers you fish. This can make it all new again, which can be a joy and a curse.

- Jeff

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I really like Jeff's idea of a challenge box or two. What I usually do with flies that I thought would work, but for some off reason don't, or just flies that I thought would be fun to tie, is give them away on the "For Sale" board. You could always donate them to a youth group, pass them off to a newby you meet streamside, etc.

Yup, I have started over many times in the last 40+ years of tying. I am presently fishing flies that were originated over 100 years ago. They still work very well, are easy to tie, and don't use a lot of expensive materials. I have added a few modern flymphs to that assortment and do quit well on the catching department.

[JohnScott]

I really like Jeff's idea of a challenge box or two. What I usually do with flies that I thought would work, but for some off reason don't, or just flies that I thought would be fun to tie, is give them away on the "For Sale" board. ....

Ron and Jeff -

I really like two of the ideas that you, and others, have provided.

First, I'm thinking I will put together a challenge box and send it off to Jeff to see if those flies will work for him on his water !!

Second, I'm going to go through all the flies I would otherwise "salvage" with the thought of offering them to a "senior member" of the BB who does not tie his / her own flies.

Hmmmmmmmm ......

John

P.S. Jeff - I was just kidding. No way I would expect you to challenge yourself that way.

On the other hand, I can't wait to get those flies that are in the mail. I am pretty sure I will get a 25 mile drift boat ride down a section of the South Fork of the Snake this coming Thursday - many miles of which is not accessible except by drift boat. Wish us luck - hope to get some pics of South Fork cutts and browns with some New Zealand flies stuck in their jaws. My challenge is to take nothing but the flies you sent, assuming they get here in time ?? Come on, postal service !!

P.P.S. Steve - that is a great collection. Thanks for the link.

[DG]

Yeah, but what if you NEED one of those odd flies? Say, that couple of #18 brown bodied CDC mayflies you tied to match a hatch on a creek you have never been back to, and lo, whilst fishing a run on the Lochsa, had a hatch of something very similar come off, and there they were in the box, ready for use!

Just a thought. Like you (and many other anglers) I end up using the same dozen patterns to catch 95% of my fish, even though I have hundreds of OTHER flies in the boxes in my pack.

I am going to redo some October Caddis for Idaho next year. Discovered the fish prefer the natural dun CDC to the tan stuff. And so now I have two dozen remaining tan ones and three or four remaining dun ones. Well, and a box of 100 hooks for the next batches...

[jeffnles1]

Never thought about cutting up flies, but I have to admit, I catch 80% of my fish on about 10 flies.
Adams (various sizes)
Griffith Gnats (#20, #1
Hairy Weenies
maribou tail streamers (silver tinsel around hook shank and a gob of white or black maribou)
soft hackles (floss or wire ribbed dubbing body)
woolie buggers
poppers (vairous including gurgle pop)
bead head phesant tail (various sizes)
gold ribbed hares ear nymph
"generic dry fly" in various colors (not really a copy of any specific fly, just a generic dry fly that I tie up in a number of different colors, kind of like an adams)
same as above but tied in parachute style
vairous hoppers

That's about it for what I actually catch fish on. Like others, tie a number of different flies just for fun and I fish with them and usually can manage a fish or two with them, but I honestly believe I could cover any water I ever get to fish with the above (maybe a stone fly nymph and an inch worm (green weenie) and some type of attractor fly) and catch fish anywhere I'm likely to go.

This may be the ultimate herasy but I honestly believe size and maybe color are most important. If they're hitting black bugs that are about size #18, and you throw a dark #18 dry fly at them, you're going to catch fish even if it's not a perfect match for the hatch.

Jeff