Certain folks on this board are very skilled at getting a lively discussion going. So, Marco, I hope this one works as well as yours always do!
My buddy Ralph and I noticed this phenomenon last summer. We always drop by the local fly shop when we get near our destination, and always buy something – usually some of the flies recommended on the chalkboard.
Sometimes they work great on the river. But often we can’t get even a nibble, even when fishing them the recommended way. So, I always then tie on an old favorite – adams, skeeter, renegade for dries, green scud, beadhead pheasant or copper john for nymphs, muddler or chartreuse wooly bugger for streamers.
BAM – always a fish, every time.
This happened to us again on the Miricle Mile, Wyo last summer. Every fly shop website was raving about a san juan worm with a red scud dropper on the Mile, I fished them the recommended way, and got nothing. Tied on the wooly bugger, and POW…fish after fish.
I’m chalking it up to confidence level. If there’s a fish in that seam behind the boulder, I know exactly how to present that wooly bugger to get his attention, since I’ve caught so many fish on that fly. Maybe I’m doing something just slightly wrong in my presentation with the new-fangled fly I’ve never tried before. But I chalk it up to confidence. I know this fly catches fish, and so it does.
I had a similiar experience this past summer. I was fishing some of the tribs of the Flathead river and bought a number of the recommended fly patterns at the shop. I don’t really mind, since most of the patterns are unique and a bit interesting.
So after fishing a better part of the day using the different patterns, I decided to throw on an H&L Variant and a zug bug dropper. Needless to say, the afternoon fishing was much improved.
I rank fly shop reports right up there with weather forecasters for getting it right. You want to know what is working, check to see which fly bins are empty or nearly so.
I once caught a nice brown on a fly I got at the local shop. Gave em a pic of the fish, they posted it with one of the flies, and sold hundreds of them. That is the ONLY fish I have ever caught on that pattern. But they made # and I imagine a few people managed to catch a fish or two on em.
I would like to defend flyshops. August is tricos on Silver Creek. That is what the flyshop recommended to me. What was coming off was tricos (in clouds actually), a few PMDs, Baetis, their respective nymphs, and if I were to fish in the ponds, I would need damsel flies, dry and nymphs. So the shop worker just has to take the first couple of main hatches and recommend from those, because the customer probably does not want to hear that the fish might be eating one of 4 different bugs (and Silver Creek fish are finicky), and that there are a couple of different patterns that could work. Nor does the customer want to buy $140 of flies, if you get 6 of each fly in case it is the one that works. The actual fishing went like this: I saw one baetis on my leg about 10 minutes into the trico hatch, tied it on and caught a pile of fish. The shop guy never mentioned them, but he did recommend a couple of trico patterns. So absolutely, I will fish better with ‘my’ flies, which is the answer to the question, but the shop people are just doing their best and telling you about the most probable hatch.
Most of us have an experience where on the first day fly “A” is an absolute no fail killer. The next day we figure we have it all figured — except now fly “A” couldn’t catch a fish if you were to shove in to the fishes jaw. If this hasn’t happened to you – don’t worry it will.
Considering that fly shops are usually basing their recomendations on yesterdays or at best this mornings information, it just might happen that things have changed by the time I get on the water.
I figure the fly shop recomendation is a good place to start, but it is no substitute for looking at the insects on the water, considering changes in weather/water , time of day, past experience, phase of the moon and maybe some tea leaves. I haven’t yet started reading goat entrails, but only because the neighbors don’t have any goats.
AgMD
If the shop is reputable then there should be no problems. It is not in the best interest of any shop to lie to customers. Bear in mind that things on the river change day to day.
The fishing reports the shop guy gets are probally at least a day old. One day one fly might work very well while the next day you might not even get a bite on it.
It is important to consider how and when the fly is used. I find that with most flies, they work better during certain conditions or during certain times of the day.
This can easily vary from day to day. Factors include weather, water temps, water levels, water types, and available food sources.
One other consideration is the skill level of the fisherman. Even if you have the right fly on and are not fishing it correctly, you probally won’t catch alot with it.
I’ll go with what the fly shop recomends, it worked at Kettle creek in Pa. this spring. Well worth the purchase and support. I’ll be back again for sure. Ya can’t beat a wooly bugger when all else fails
I didn’t mean to imply that fly shop owners don’t know what they are doing – they also love to fish, and get reports from their guides, and those men and women are actually out there gettin’ r done.
Rather, the problem is my incompetence with those new fly patterns! As in, how the heck do I fish this bright orange thing with the funny shiny bump on its back, that looks like a mutant bug that might be found at the outlet of a nuclear power plant?
I love my wooly buggers…
DANBOB
[This message has been edited by danbob (edited 22 December 2005).]
I never trust a fly. About the time you do they fly away on ya. Or start drinking out of your soda glass. Ron
For real I would suggest knowing the fly shop you are buying from and the people in it. I know at time that is hard to do but it sure will help. We have a shop here in town and the owner will sell you as many as he can get away with and sometimes what he is trying to get ride of. Didn’t use to be that way but most of the good people that worked there are gone now.
The other two shops will do right by you. We have one sporting goods store that sells flies to but you take your chance in there as the person you are talking to may not know anything about Fly Fishing to start with.
One other quick point is that not all flies will work everyday. Something may have changed and remember that not all fly fishermen are as good as they like to think.
I would suggest trying to find someone that knows the area before going and asking what they think is the best shop for advice. Ron
I was one of the guys who bought the perfect flies from the shop at Rocky Ford this past year. I had the opposite results as JC. Couldn’t catch a fish on it to save my life. I did catch fish on my tried and true size 20 BWO.
I had good results with my tried and true fly because it was my go-to pattern. I don’t think I gave the fly shop fly a fair chance.
It really depends - on my local waters, I don’t have a fly shop to recommend nothing.
When I travel, I always get a few of whats recommended, and they have generally worked if I ever get to them - however, I’ll start out on unfamiliar trout waters with a stimulator of sorts and a stone nymph of some variety and its often spot on
I think the fly is important, but, I think the time of day is MORE important. If you are fishing when the fish are feeding, they will hit your “go-to” fly pretty good. If they are feeding on a particular food source then that fly imitation is the “fly-of-the-day”. If you are fishing in between feeding times, you are on your own on catching them. I have noticed on my local rivers that if you fish all day, which I usually do, you will have spells where you are catching fish pretty regularly and then dry spells and then back to catching them again. I figure they are like us and have a particular schedule for eating breakfast, dinner and supper and in between they may feed on a particular snack but maybe not for long. If the shop owner asked 6 fisherman how they done and on what fly he might get 6 different answers and 6 different flies unless the fisherman were fishing together or close together to share info. If I fish an unfamilar body of water I will ask around to see what the fish are usually caught on and then try to match that particular fly with one of my “go-to” flies. It will either work or not but as long as I got to go fishing and see new water that is all that counts for me.
Ron