I'm not sure if it is my milestone, but I have come to a somewhat similar conclusion. I have a ton of materials and tie lots of different patterns, but I have five go-to patterns that produce over 90% of all the fish I catch. They include black mohair leech or variation therof, Carters Sculpin, softhackle, floating mylar minnow and Polar Fiber baitfish. Understand that I fish mainly warmwater but the leech and softhackles work equally well for trout. I am not sure if they work better for me because I have so much confidence in them or if I have so much confidence in them because they work so well for me.

p.s. I always carry several boxes loaded with other patterns that get tried on occasion when I feel like playing around.

Jim Smith