Buddy brings up an important point that I fully agree with but it is difficult to prove scientifically. That is, if the fisherman has confidence in the pattern he or she is using, they quite often (almost always) have more success with that pattern. It is difficult to explain how this could be true, but after years of fly fishing, it has happened way too many times for me to not completely believe in this phenomenom. There have been many times when I am catching fish but my fishing buddy is not having any luck so I give him some of the pattern I am using and tell him how I am fishing it. He's a good fisherman (probably much better than I am) uses the same pattern fished the same way, but because he lacks the confidence in the pattern, he is not as successful as I am. Hard to explain, but it sure seems to be true.

Jim Smith