After tying my own flies for about four and a half years, I’ve learned a few things. Mostly, what flies work for me when and where and for what kind of trout ( and whitefish ). Every time I prepare a fly box for a given day at a given stream / river, I run across bunches of flies that have never been in / on the water, much less caught a fish. Stuff I tied because I thought a particular pattern was neat or might work or was a challenge that might improve my fly tying skills.
So I got to thinking - why don’t I just start over ??
This is a great time to do it. With the mountain and stream seasons coming to a close shortly for all practical purposes, my fishing will be pretty much limited to the South Fork and the Henry’s Fork of the Snake. That means mostly streamer fishing and large nymphs. I have a couple streamers I fish, and a couple variations on a big stonefly nymph pattern that works really well.
So I got to thinking - why not just take all the flies I have ( excepting the streamers and stonefly nymphs and the very few other fishable flies I have in patterns that I regularly use ), scrape them down with a razor blade to salvage the hooks and beads, and start over ??
Have you ever thought about doing that ?? or actually done it ??
Why not just put them in an inexpensive boxes or containers like the free ones you get when picking out flies at the fly shop and then leave them along the stream / river for some luck sole to “find” and let them try them out.
I have often thought that! I have boxes and boxes of pretty little (and some big) flies that, like yours, have never seen the light of day on the trout streams. I dutifully haul them everywhere I go, thinking surely THIS time, I’ll use some of them. Where I’ve not yet cut everything off the existing flies, I am far more selective in the flies I tye, for the waters I fish. Starting over may be the bet way to go!
I don’t know how serious you are or if you are just experiencing a fleeting moment of depression because the season is closing down. If you are serious, destroying a couple of hundred flies is probably not the way to go. As Orthoman points out, scraping down flies with a razor blade is not a pleasant task and far too much work just to gain hooks. You often damage the finish on the hooks and leave them prone to rust. Using razor blades for anything but shaving always turns out badly for me anyway. I didn’t pick the name Eight Thumbs by accident. If starting totally from scratch still seems like a good idea, why not do what Chris from Canada does and offer the unwanted flies to our FAOL members who don’t tie their own.
If I were you, i would just start tying some new boxes of flies for spring and see where that leads in a couple of months. In all likelihood, you will want to transfer some of your older flies to those new boxes. In answer to your question, I’m pretty pleased with my fly boxes, though they are a little empty now. Take care! 8T
I think the discription of the flies as being ones that have never seen the water tells us why they have never caught a fish! I’m pretty sure you have a number of non-realised “go to” patterns in that lot. What I suggest is you put together a “challange box” or two. These boxes only contain patterns you’ve not fished (or not fished much). The goal is to figure out how to fish them successfully. Some will probably work best in water you normally skip over thinking it is non-productive, so the challange includes re-evaluating the things you think you know about the rivers you fish. This can make it all new again, which can be a joy and a curse.
I really like Jeff’s idea of a challenge box or two. What I usually do with flies that I thought would work, but for some off reason don’t, or just flies that I thought would be fun to tie, is give them away on the “For Sale” board. You could always donate them to a youth group, pass them off to a newby you meet streamside, etc.
Yup, I have started over many times in the last 40+ years of tying. I am presently fishing flies that were originated over 100 years ago. They still work very well, are easy to tie, and don’t use a lot of expensive materials. I have added a few modern flymphs to that assortment and do quit well on the catching department.
I really like two of the ideas that you, and others, have provided.
First, I’m thinking I will put together a challenge box and send it off to Jeff to see if those flies will work for him on his water !!
Second, I’m going to go through all the flies I would otherwise “salvage” with the thought of offering them to a “senior member” of the BB who does not tie his / her own flies.
Hmmmmmmmm …
John
P.S. Jeff - I was just kidding. No way I would expect you to challenge yourself that way.
On the other hand, I can’t wait to get those flies that are in the mail. I am pretty sure I will get a 25 mile drift boat ride down a section of the South Fork of the Snake this coming Thursday - many miles of which is not accessible except by drift boat. Wish us luck - hope to get some pics of South Fork cutts and browns with some New Zealand flies stuck in their jaws. My challenge is to take nothing but the flies you sent, assuming they get here in time ?? Come on, postal service !!
P.P.S. Steve - that is a great collection. Thanks for the link.
Yeah, but what if you NEED one of those odd flies? Say, that couple of #18 brown bodied CDC mayflies you tied to match a hatch on a creek you have never been back to, and lo, whilst fishing a run on the Lochsa, had a hatch of something very similar come off, and there they were in the box, ready for use!
Just a thought. Like you (and many other anglers) I end up using the same dozen patterns to catch 95% of my fish, even though I have hundreds of OTHER flies in the boxes in my pack.
I am going to redo some October Caddis for Idaho next year. Discovered the fish prefer the natural dun CDC to the tan stuff. And so now I have two dozen remaining tan ones and three or four remaining dun ones. Well, and a box of 100 hooks for the next batches…
Never thought about cutting up flies, but I have to admit, I catch 80% of my fish on about 10 flies.
Adams (various sizes)
Griffith Gnats (#20, #18)
Hairy Weenies
maribou tail streamers (silver tinsel around hook shank and a gob of white or black maribou)
soft hackles (floss or wire ribbed dubbing body)
woolie buggers
poppers (vairous including gurgle pop)
bead head phesant tail (various sizes)
gold ribbed hares ear nymph
“generic dry fly” in various colors (not really a copy of any specific fly, just a generic dry fly that I tie up in a number of different colors, kind of like an adams)
same as above but tied in parachute style
vairous hoppers
That’s about it for what I actually catch fish on. Like others, tie a number of different flies just for fun and I fish with them and usually can manage a fish or two with them, but I honestly believe I could cover any water I ever get to fish with the above (maybe a stone fly nymph and an inch worm (green weenie) and some type of attractor fly) and catch fish anywhere I’m likely to go.
This may be the ultimate herasy but I honestly believe size and maybe color are most important. If they’re hitting black bugs that are about size #18, and you throw a dark #18 dry fly at them, you’re going to catch fish even if it’s not a perfect match for the hatch.
I clean up my fly boxes once every 3 years or so. I take about 90% of the flies in them, divide up into several boxes and put a post on the For Sale bulletin board of this site giving the sets of flies away for free on a first come, first serve basis. The sets of flies have never lasted more than a few hours before they are all gone.
This way somebody gets flies they need and I get an excuse to buy more tying stuff. Everybody wins!
Sorted out my entire inventory into three categories - flies I use regularly and will keep, flies that were beat up and ready to be recycled and will be, and flies that I haven’t used ( with a few exceptions ) and don’t expect to use.
The last category of flies, all tied for trout fishing, all fit in one large fly box, roughly sorted between dries, nymphs and wets, terrestrials, and streamers. There were about 150 flies in that category. It goes on the BB For Sale Forum this morning, free to the first “senior member” who does not tie his / her own flies who requests it.
That’s a good solution! I would think the letter with the flies should arrive in the next couple days, but sometimes things can be quite delayed for no apparent reason. Just so you know, none of them are weighted. I’ve not had a chance to try the patterns on the “mini-spey” hooks, so I don’t know how quick they will sink or even if they are heavy enough to sink at all! They might require a sinking line! Hmmm, these may be your challange box!
I also endorse this practice. I have over the years reviewed my inventory and on-stream boxes and removed the ones that don’t work for me, or ones that I am no longer proud to say are mine (my tying has improved). I took a bunch to the casting club and just announced I wasn?t taking them home. Beginners to tying or f’fishing were happy to take them. There are always Boy Scouts or similar who could use them. For the cost of a couple hundred new hooks it is not worth trying to salvage the old ones. Make someone happy - give them away, and make yourself happy by upgrading your fly collection in the process.
Why not just give them to someone, preferably a young guy or gal just starting out fly fishing. Also, in many areas there are youth fly fishing programs that could use these flies.
I had originally planned to keep something of a selection of flies that I would use occasionally over the winter months on some of the smaller streams and rivers that are open. But when Gemrod stepped forward with a request for the flybox for the Healing Waters program down his way, I decided to keep only the flies I will fish in the next couple weeks on the South Fork and the Henry’s Fork.
The flybox going to Gemrod ended up containing about 200 flies. Many of them were tied by some of the best fly tiers in the Idaho Falls area. Wish them well down in Arizona !!
The flybox staying here will be my base point for STARTING OVER. I do have another small box containing several more of the rubber legs stonefly nymphs and the pine squirrel streamers, and a few double bunnies for the spawning browns on the South Fork. The other four flies in this starting over fly box are special, for one reason or another, and I just couldn’t part with them, although I will never fish them.
Best wishes to Gemrod and the members of the Healing Waters program. It is their generosity that has brought them these gifts.
I certainly admire both your determination and your generosity. You couldn’t have picked a better place to donate that excellent box of flies. That new box is the emptiest box in the possession of any skilled fly tyer in the USA and Canada but you now have the pleasant task of filling it with exactly the flies you want. Have fun. I’m sure that your upcoming, long, winter nights won’t be spent in idle, wasted time. Happy fly tying, my friend :). 8T
I do what you describe basically every year. I clean out my trout boxes ever fall. First I have a small box of flies that I use for the Kansas winter trout season. The best of my left over midges, nymphs, and very small drys go into that “Winter box”.
Then, since I have two sets of boxes, one set for trout and one for warmwater fishing, whatever might get bit by a BlueGill or a Crappie replace last years speicimens.
Finally, anything that is left, whether I use it or not, gets given away, stripped, or tossed, and through out the winter I will fill my 4 trout boxes again. I am not the best fly tier, and very much a novice, so each seasons flies are so much better than the last, it makes sence to me to have my best work in the box. Since I enjoy tying anyway, starting over is a yearly occurance.
A couple of my objectives in STARTING OVER were to become more focussed in what flies I tie and to improve my fly tying.
My major goals for improved fly tying were (1) stop crowding the eye, (2) use less thread for a lighter and cleaner fly, (3) tie sparser flies, less material and bulk, and (4) concentrate on simplifying the process wherever possible.
So far, it has been a win - win - win situation.
First, all of the materials I wasn’t using and didn’t plan to use for flies I actually fish got sent off to one of the most deserving members of the BB that I know of.
Second, all but a very few flies that I expected to use on a short term ( and a few special ones that I did not want to part with ) got sent off to another member of the BB for delivery to the Healing Waters Project for wounded and disabled servicemen in his area.
Third, I’ve only tied about twenty flies since I started over, but my tying has definitely improved - meeting my goals every time I sit down to tie - and every fly that I have tied has caught fish.
And when I put together a fly box for a given place for a given day, I don’t have to sort through a bunch of boxes and flies to find what I want to take along.
