how many types do you tie?

[Joe Valencic]

Does one count things like "partridge and orange" vs "woodcock and orange" different patterns? I would call them different patterns (so take that into consideration when reading the above), though I would say they are both the same style of fly (spiders, or soft hackles).

They are NOT a different pattern, just a color variant of the same pattern. An example of this might be a gray, brown or black suit are just color variants of the same pattern of suit. A Leisure Suit is a whole different pattern with its own color variants (mostly pastel).

Hope that clarifies it for you.

Joseph the Insightful.