A month or two ago, there was a thread on how many flies you tie in an average day. so ive got a new question. how many different types of flies do you tie? now when i say this, i dont mean that you tied up a couple of a certain type, gave up, and moved on (ive done this a couple times), but what i mean is that you tie them up frequently for consistent fishing or commercial use. So i just counted up mine, and i tie about 50 different patterns. (but since ive only been tying for about 2 years ive used about 20 of them:confused:)
I have learned that I can catch 95% of the fish I am going to catch anyway on a handful of patterns, so the time I would otherwise spend on filling my boxes with every variation of every possible bug now goes into fishing instead.
DG knows what he is talking about, that’s a given.
I like to tie just to tie so I probably tie around 30 different flies to fish. Can’t forget the Stimulator, bugger, ant, crawdad, streamer, leaches, caddis, soft hackles, midges, parachutes, get my bass bugs from my buddy, he makes awesome balsa wood poppers.
Bob S
Hi,
I tie up a lot of different patterns and try to fish them all. Often, I’ll just tie up one or two before fishing them to see how they work out for me. Slowly, as I get familiear with different fishing locations I’m figuring out what flies work best for different waters (at least, work best for me). I like to fish different patterns just to see what else works. Sometimes, I’ll switch flies after every fish caught, and tell myself I have to fish this new fly until I get at least a strike.
- Jeff
P.S. 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).
I guess I tie dozen patterns that I use on a regular basis for trout, but I always have some experiments or patterns I’ve see that I like in my box.
My salt water and warm water boxes are interchangeable, but there’s a dozen and a half basic patterns I use.
I would think about 30 patterns across the board ranging from size 30 midges up to 10/0 bunker patterns.
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.
I have 80 patterns that I keep in stock.
These are the ones That I have found that work for me in the pnds that I fish.
I don’t use some as often as others, but they are there to use.
This does not count the different sizes they are tied in or the different colors.
I think this is part of why I rarely get skunked.
Rick
I have to agree with DG and Philly in that you don’t need a huge number of patterns to be successful. I guess I have a little over a dozen that I tie regularly and they work well for me. I am trying to expand my skills, however, so this winter I will be tying new patterns that require me to try different things. I look them over beforehand as to whether I think they will be successful, so I think I will have some new favorites this summer. Just about everything is in the attractor fly family, so the odds of them working are good!
About a dozen different patterns, but really only fish a few variants(size,colors) of a core of about six patterns.
Good thread! Almost as good as a pic into a anglers fly box.
everything except salmon and steelhead flies.
For me, I guess it depends mostly on “where I’m going” and “what am I fishing for”, plus the “time of year”.
Right now, it’s three, solid, proven, Steelhead fly patterns. I’ve had 11 Steelies in hand, this season, already on patterns I’ve used for years,.so, no use in expanding THAT series!?!!
Trout, if locally being fished, it’s 8 patterns, for 99% of the water I hit.
When I head for North Idaho and Western Montana, it’s another 4 or 5 patterns, that work better over there than they will here and I leave all but two, of my “home patterns” at home.
So, thanks to this good topic, I’m now wondering “WHY” I always carry at least 9 fly boxes with me, on every trip!?!??
Of course… I also wonder about a lot of things, I do, that make no sense!?!
I live in Minnesota and tie for local use only. For nymphs, I tie Pheasant Tails, Brassies, Caddis Larvae, and Soft Hackles. For dry flies, BWO, Elk Hair Caddis and Parachute Adams are all I tie.
yeah i can understand that. i probably dont really need anywhere near that many patterns, but i also try to catch a LOT of different types of fish, and its pretty fun learning a new pattern, trying it out, and catching fish with it. and also, i only get to fish about 35-40 days a year, and i just enjoy tying flies. so ill still probably learn more, and try them out, just because i enjoy that
Personally…I probably only tie maybe a dozen or 20 different patterns…these work well on the waters I fish and it makes no sense on fixing something that isn’t broken…if I go somewhere new though, I’ll tie several new patterns that reports say work for that area…
…I tie maybe a 100 different patterns/variations a year with all of the fly swaps that I participate… The swaps allow me to refine and practice tying…experiment and try new patterns. 
Well I have this problem. When fishing I can’t seem to get away from my old tried and true patterns. I tie about 50 different patterns. I have gotten quite good at some of them. I have however only fished about 10 of them. Each year I only add one or two patterns to my trusted list. I take them all out with me in the flybox but only use one or two different per trip. Its a problem I have tried to shake rid of but so far cannot. I even tried taking only new patterns with me fishing, but then i broke down and borrowed some cause I just couldn’t do it. Strange huh?
I used to have the same problem with my own home tied flies versus store boughts. I wouldn’t use my own only store bought. Once I broke that mold it is now the complete reversal and I only tie and fish my own. Now I don’t even own store boughts.
On a regular basis, I probably tie 20 patterns, but I’m always eager to try new ones. If they work, then I add them to my repertoire. Out of those 20 patterns, I probably use about a dozen most of the time, and the rest for special situations.
My inventory list is 59 different ‘patterns’ and a total of 67 different flies (considering both colour and size). However to avoid boredom I will tie a regular Usual for size 16, and a Rusty Usual in the same size, and one with a slimmer quill body for the size 18, and one with a fold-over wingcase/tufted wing for the size 14, so I am not sure if they are 4 ‘patterns’ or just one.
I guess if a person tied only Catskill dries, EHC, GRHE, WB, and Clousers; but in several different colours and sizes, it would be a challenge to say that they only tie 5 patterns or they tie 5 patterns x 4 colours x 4 sizes for a total of 80 patterns.
Like the others I usually only fish about 15 or 20 patterns over the year (trout - bass - steelhead), but the less-used patterns (like a grasshopper) are there in case I need them.
i tie 150 different paterns & types of flies regulary, only fishing about 15 to 20 paterns out of those…i enjoy tying as much as fishin…sure ya can catch a fish on a bought fly but to me its just not as satisfyin as landin a fish with a fly i tied myself
I have ADHD. Every fly I tie is different.
I tie and fish probably 20-30 patterns regularly. This is more because I fish a large variety of fish and find some patterns work better than others for certain fish. I fish Walleye, Small Mouth and Large Mouth Bass, Northern Pike, Musky, various panfish species, White Bass, Stripers (on occasion), the three stream trout species, two Salmon species, Steelhead, Lake run browns, Carp, and what ever else I can get to hit a fly. Though there are many universal (or nearly universal) patterns, there are also some that work very well for specific fish, so it pays to tie and carry a variety. Besides, when the old reliables don’t work sometimes going to something different for that fish can pay big dividends…
Daren