A Fly Why ?

[Fontinalis]

Good replies from all. So when a fly tyer ties a fly, He tyes to the best of his ability. That is what I believe. It does not matter the level of the tyer. If you placed your best effort in it then that is what I am talking about. A good effort compliments your rod and reel and fly line and so on. What makes it priceless is it catches fish. You guys would be very surprised at some of the beautiful wet flies that I throw at trout. I catch fish on them and catch a bunch. And yes I snag tree's every now and then too. You see, at times I consider myself more a tyer than an angler. For exaqmple the link below is a typical fly that I tye and fish with in bright sun shiney days in September and October. This fly has taken Browns and bows and the funniest part was seeing a four inch rainbow with a size 6 wet fly in his mouth. Th fly did not hook the fish but was actually wedged in his mouth. I laughed my but off at this in the middle of the Beaverkill in the Catskills region of New York. I made sure the little guy was unharmed and made sure that he was placed back in the water quickly and watched him swim off on his own power. I will never forget that day in September. Anyway the fly is called Captian and all my flies look this way far as dressing wings right down to collar and head. I truly appreciate good looking flies to fish with.

[Fontinalis]

P.S. Yes that is my desk in the back ground of the picture that has a yellow hen cape and yellow duck quills all around. Just finished tying Yellow Sally's and it looked like a yellow goose or duck had exploded LOL.

[DG]

Well now, we can't have riffraff tying inferior flies now, can we? That would be unacceptable.

Only the fish are qualified to judge the flies I tie.

[Chuck S]

"Why is it that a person will buy an expensive rod, reel, fly line and leaders and tippet material and scrimp or do not care on the part of the whole outfit the catches the fish (The FLY)?" Personally, based on a half a century plus of fly fishing, I've found it takes all kinds. Some spend money like it's water on rods and reels, while others opt for big bucks on the fly, or the line, etc. To lump all or a majority into any one category is a first big mistake.
Just on flies alone, some like them hot, some like them cold and some like them in the pot nine days old or so the saying goes or even plucked from trees. I like flies that catch fish, and hold together well. At one time or another I was enamoured with traditional tied, with traditional materials, etc dry flies, then it was on to impressionistic flies, then to flies tied hackless, then with artificial materials, etc etc. In short as you fish, you learn. I've great outfits that ranged from a few hundred dollars in cost to those that were under a hundred total cost and if the actual cost were ever tallied it may even be closer to 50 bucks and likewise my flies reflect my penchant for finding and using great fly fishing outfits in that many are hand tied by myself, while others range from cheap flies to those that cost several bucks apiece!

[slapwater]

Pretty much just a restatement of what has already been said but you are comparing apples and oranges. Durable goods vs Disposable goods. We're willing to spend more for a rod or reel of high quality with a good warranty because we expect it to last and we only buy a limited number of them, with definitions of "limited number" varying greatly. On the other hand, in an average day on the stream I expect to lose, destroy, give away, throw away at least a dozen flies. One time investment vs constant recurring need. If I bought only "premium" flies I'd spend more on flies in a year than I do on a decent new rod and reel.

[Fontinalis]

DG please read my post again, I said the following "when a fly tyer ties a fly, He tyes to the best of his ability. That is what I believe. It does not matter the level of the tyer. If you placed your best effort in it then that is what I am talking about.". Unless I miss read your post, it sounds like you are taking me the wrong way. The statement I feel above from my post was not derogatory or condesending in any way. If you interpreted it that way then I apologize. This post was inteneded just as that to get people to correspond and input not to fight. I feel this is really a good thread that holds a lot of water from everyway that you look at it. There is no right and wrong here. Just a person's preferance.

[Steven]

Fontinalis,

You could have shown us those flies without the troll. They are gorgeous.

[maodiver]

I fish with cheap flies because the ones in the store at .99 are too expensive...cheaper to tie cheap ones.

[Marco]

Other than a recent senior moment purchase of an Orvis Hydros outfit, I have strictly adhered to " it ain't the arrows, it's the (PC) Native American". My LAST consideration while fishing is the fishin pole and then in ascending (short) order its WHERE I'm fishin and then the fly I tie on. But even in the flydepartment ( I do not tie) it's "quality shmality". They WILL eat what I choose to feed em and sometimes do.

Mark

[tailingloop]

I my experience, whether fishing for bluegill or tuna, carp or trevally, striped bass or bonito, largemouth bass or barramundi, mako shark or trout, spotted bay bass or smallmouth bass, the ability to present the fly, that is presentation, is much more important to success than the fly tied on the end of the leader. If you can't put in the right place it doesn't matter. And once you do put it in the right place you need to use your gear to bring the fish to hand. Better tools (i.e. rods, reels, lines) can help improve an anglers ability to present the fly. The wrong or ugly fly well presented is more effective than the artwork presented poorly. I fish to catch fish. And I see a fly as just a lure, no different than a plastic worm, or Senko, or Hopkins spoon, or Zara Spook, or Rapala minnow, or tuna feather, etc.

That said, I also tie almost all of my flies. Those that I tie for others, or for donations are tied with more care to appeal to the eye of the angler. Some have found their way into decorative mounts. The files I tie for myself are often simple, usually very durable, maybe a bit ragged and sometimes downright ugly, but effective. I have probably caught more fish with a rabbit hide strip lashed to a hook than any other fly pattern. Ugly buy very effective for dozens of fish species.

I do enjoy tying and looking and attractive flies, and appreciate the work and skill that goes into them, I just find the fly to be the least significant part of fishing rig.