I like to match the hatch as well as the next guy. I relish in tying flies with wings , wing cases legs etc.only to look at the flies the competition fly fishing guys are fishing and they are mostly slim smooth bodies with a turn of dubbing at the thorax. Are we making it too complicated?
If someone held a gun to my head and told me to catch a trout, or else, I’d use something like an IPW, Zebra Midge or something like you described. Luckily, that hasn’t happened yet and I can fish most of the time the way I want to - with dries, using wings, hackle, tails, legs, etc.
Regards,
Scott
I always think about that… We put all this thought into the detailed representations of bugs but I always think… What about the hook. You can’t deny there’s a big hook hanging off the back of the flies we tie!
My short answer is yes. The long answer is that people make it as hard as they want to be. I don’t think it has to be complicated at all, and my flies get simpler with time. And I catch more fish with time.
Whens the last time you saw a commercial fisherman using fly gear to catch his livelihood?
I think you answered your own question.
I don’t think we are kidding ourselves. If you are on flat water, and a specific strong hatch is underway, I think you need the closest representation of the natural as you can tie/buy.
If there is no hatch, then, I think you begin fishing to their opportunistic instincts .
The reason is that international competition rules do not allow any added weight to the fly line or leaders so no split shot, or moldable putty weights. For the flies to get down they have to be internally weighted and have no appendages or fuzzy bodies that create hydraulic drag that slows the sink rate. If weight could be added, the flies would be different and fuzzier.
Silver
I agree competition flies are designed to sink but they also catch lots of fish without appendages
When I first started tying I went for complicated, wings, legs, split tails with the right number of tails, wing cases and legs on my nymphs. Now if you look in my trout box. It has The Usual, CDC and Elk, Snowshoe Emergers, in various sizes and colors to match the hatches I might run into here in the NE. My midge box contains two patterns I came up with that work well here along with The Usual and Snowshoe Emergers tied down to size 20. My nymph box has mostly BH Soft Hackle PT Nymphs and Hare’s Ear Nymphs various colors, size 14 to size 22, along with Green Weenies in the same sizes.
All depends.
When I’m fishing “slick water” during a specific hatch I go for the closest resemblance to the given insect…why not?
Besides, I enjoy tying…next only to fishing…so, again, why not tie the more representative patterns when fishing to trout when they are being very selective?
Ding ding ding I completely agree with this…every word…you can’t put it any better!