The 'THEORY' of 'best effort'...

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Been kicking this one around in my head and bouncing it off of friends for a while…

We all tie flies differently, at different cosmetic and skill levels. Not all of our efforts come out the ‘same’ and often there is quite a variation in flies tied of a particular type from say, the ‘first dozen ever’ to the last ones you’ve tied. We do learn as we tie, and it’s common for there to be variations and often marked improvements.

How do you guys feel about the flies you tie as far as which ‘specific’ ones you fish?

I firmly believe that what has been termed ‘ugly’ flies will catch fish…no argument with that and that’s not what I’m asking about…even poorly tied flies certainly do work as far as the mere catching of fish goes.

I intelectially ‘know’ all of this, yet…

I usually find myself grabbing the ‘best’ fly of whichever pattern I want to fish first. If I come up with a variation or change in how I tie the fly that makes it come out better, I’ll use those, often relegating the earlier versions to the storage bins where they seldom, if ever, find a chance to hit the water.

I don’t often think about why I do it, it’s just something I’ve always done.

I’d like to think that, if there is a ‘conscious’ reason for it, it has to do with respect for the fish or the fishing itself. Something as simple as feeling that the moment, the fish, the water, the summation of the whole experience, deserve my ‘best efforts’. (Or, it could be just as simple as maybe subconsciously I believe that the ‘nicer’ flies will catch moire fish…)

Am I alone in this?

Maybe this explains another reason why some of us tie our own flies.

Buddy

2

Your drawn to the cosmetics of the fly. Its only human…

ANALOGY: a 2009 Corvette in shiny BLACK…doesnt drive one bit better than the same car in “primer”. Which one do you want to drive around town. It doesnt matter what others think…its how you perceive “X” in your own mind.

A rod that has the guides “halfway” wrapped on but has enough finish to hold them “forever” will fish just as well as the same blank thats a “thing of beauty”…but which one do you WANT to fish with??

Luckily for me around home here I dont use anymore than about 4 different flys…and then in only about 3 sizes…and I can do them “decently” ( Some I cant tie for ***T…lol)

Someone posted that his were so bad that the fished laughed at him…dont I wish. My bad ones are so nasty looking…the fish untie them from my tippet and THROW them back at me…I guess for polluting the stream???..:lol:

3

yeah, I will also dig around in my box on the stream and find the “best looking” fly and tie it on first (of a particular pattern I’m wanting to fish). But you know, I’ve had several days where that “best looking” fly gets very ratty worn/torn from being chewed on by a few fish and the fly seems to get better and better at fooling fish!

4

Hi Buddy; I think we all like to make an impression on people when we first meet, SO; I can’t see why choosing that Stand Out fly from your box to impress the trout should be any different.

Like you. I can get really picky at times and often wonder how a particular fly had a spot in my Fly Box. Reviving them with Steam from the kettle can at times make me feel better about the OLD flies.

Isn’t Fly fishing Great?? Jax

5

After thousands upon thousands of commercial flies tied I tend to run my flies about the same from first to last and I usually tie at least 10 or 12 at a time, and usually a lot more. Much as I would like to think they are all perfect I know better. generally the one that stands out is not the best.

Because no one has ever accused me of suffering from low self-esteem I have quite a bit of pride in the stuffing of my fly boxes. So, to make things as good as I can, the worst fly is the next one used… And, they seem to work at least as well as the best.

But when it comes to fishing, the rattiest, most shredded fly going will outfish a fresh tie almost everytime…
art

6

Buddy -

I laughed when I read your post - it described me.

I still have some of the first flies I ever tied in my box - they caught fish, but they’re sure not much to look at. My “improved” versions always seem to see the water first.

I guess the fisherman is the first one that needs to be caught by the fly…

7

Hi,

I do the same thing. The best flies, as judged by my definination of asthetics, are the ones I’ll fish. I try and tie flies I like to look at, and I like to fish flies I like to look at. I still have some flies that I tied years ago in my fly box, and this past summer I even tied one on to give it a go. And I caught some fish with it (a black gnat). I enjoyed that fish too.

Fly fishing is enjoyable, in part I think, because it is asthetically pleasing. It’s pretty to watch someone cast, the rods are pretty, the reels are pretty, the water and scenery is pretty, the fish are pretty, and so forth. It just becomes wrong to then tie on an ugly fly, wrong in the asthetic sense not the moral sense.

Or perhaps, like crows, we’re just drawn to the sparkly.

  • Jeff
8

Don’t know much about aesthetics, but I do like to catch fish. Simple is usually best for me, and that don’t usually spell beautiful. I love it if i can tie a fly in less than 5 min. and it catch fish. Not to say i dont try something a little more exotic occasionaly. I prefer vintage rods and reels that I have bought at flea markets, not especially aesthetic to some, but they do catch fish. Maybe tie them beautiful and put them in display boxes or tie them quickly and not worry with them then fish them till they fall apart while enjoying the catch, then tie some more. Just enjoy the ride.

9

I’m interested in catching fish, not fishermen.

10

Sully, I really liked the analogy you used. Very apt. For myself, I try and tie as artfully as my skills allow for my own accomplishment and enjoyment, but then I almost always “rough” them up before fishing. Can’t attest to this scientifically, but my “sense” is the fish prefer a bit of aging in their meals.
Coughlin

11

Any fish I decide to do battle with deserves my best effort. I respect them too much to do any less. And I want them to respect me, as well. I don’t want them to huddle in a group behind a rock and snicker at my flies (as they probably do about my casting).

I can’t help it. Anything I do has to be my best effort. There is no such thing as ‘good enough’ in my mental processes. I’ve been that way all my life.

12

I think some may have misunderstood what I was getting at…I’m not talking ‘fancy’ flies-v-simple flies, nor am I talking about anyone’s flies compared to anyone else’s.

Personally, I prefer simple ties. I change lots of patterns, not to make them ‘prettier’ (I ‘like’ pretty flies, but I also prefer flies that catch fish, do their percieved ‘jobs’, and can be tied in a timely manner), but to make them more efficient, work better for a particular situation, or to eliminate what I see as ‘unneeded’ steps…I don’t like to do anything on a fly unless I see a ‘need’ for it.

Regardless of your personal skill level, whether or not you think your flies are well or poorly tied, do you think it matters to YOU if you fish what YOU consider to be your ‘best’ flies? (For ‘best’ I really mean the ones you tied that came out the ‘best’ as far as proportion, construction, and your skill level allows for a particular pattern).

Or, do you not think about it or notice one way or the other either consciously or subconsciously?

I like the concept of the ‘respect’ factor…but is it valid for us, or is picking the pretty ones just human nature?

Buddy

13

I pick the prettiest ones first because I have more confidence in the prettiest ones (rightly or wrongly).

More confidence = more fish.

Simple.

14

i fish with whatever fly comes out of my vise. if it has a minor deficiency in proportion, 12 wraps of thread at the head instead of 3, tails that are 1/32 inch shorten that the shank so be it. i don’t go all anal about it.

if i’m tying for swaps, i research the pattern and tie according to the recipe. i try not to substitute materials a recipe calls for. swap flies get my best attention.

i’ve been tying for close to 30 years, so i should be tying my best at all times. if it don’t come out right the first time, i don’t cut it off of the hook and try again. the next one out of the vise will be better.

i dont see fish holding up numbered cards from 1-10 rating my flies. :smiley:

15

My very best flies tend to get given away, either in a swap, to some youth group another, to friends, etc.

Although I’ve been tying for over forty-five years and am reasonable consistent, the first few I tie of either a new pattern or one that I haven’t tied in while never look right. Although they end up in my box, they definitely get chosen after all the better looking ones of that pattern are gone.

16

Buddy, unfortunately for me I’m a bit anal about my fly tying so I tend to give my best efforts, even untying and retying some that I don’t think are right, many times to a fault. My eye always goes to the neatest and best-tied flies in my box, just seems to be my nature. I have hundreds of flies I’ve tied for this or that reason, yet, when they’re in my box next to others that I have more confidence in - usually because they look better - these newer models seem to sit and accumulate until that day when I can’t seem to figure out the bite and I start throwing some of the newer, different stuff just to see if the fish like them better than I do. I’ve hesitated to get into presentation tying due to my anal tendencies and worrying that a good presentation Salmon Fly would take too long because I would demand perfection. I guess we’re all different in how we ‘see’ things. Still have some of my beginner ties and I wouldn’t use them on a bet, but it’s fun to look back on them and see how far I’ve come.

Kelly.

17

“Fish to respect me”…

O…K.

18

BBW…

Caught that one too, but I just let it go…

Buddy

19

There are more fly patterns than stars in the sky, or so it seems!

Are the fly patterns meant for fishing at stream side, or impressing others with you bench side skills?

Depending on the local that your fishing and the time of year, and the weather conditions; the fly selection changes over a the fishing season.

I live in Minnesota, fishing starts late, as the waters do not warm up that early in the year, I start fishing in the middle of May, and I am done fishing for the year, by the end of September!

I have different fly boxes for different fishing waters, as well as fish species.
I like dressing hooks using old patterns, that for some reason still seem to be quite effective at enticing fish to take the hook!

For some of my favorite streams, I may have 4 or 5 fly boxes, dedicated to cover the whole season. Many of the flies in the boxes, are also in the other boxes, but the coloration or size maybe slightly different! It is pointless to fish a dry fly, when there is no evidence of a hatch in progress.
When there is a hatch is progress, sometimes a dry fly gets no notice by the fish, so I go with either emergers or soft-hackle wet flies (fished just below the water surface).

When fishing the Locha and Selway, while out in Idaho one September, I noticed that the October Caddis had a peculiar ritual for depositing the eggs into the water. They would slam their body down hard on the water surface, then almost immediately soar back into the sky, and repeat the operation over and over again, all within a small 10 meter area! So I retied my October Caddis patterns to mimic their ritual. I caught fish, and I released them, and I told at the Fish-In about my observations, only Montana Moose, who I had partnered up with on the waters, took my advise.

20

Hi,

Just to be clear, when I say aesthetically pleasing, that doesn’t necessarily mean a “fancy fly”. A gold ribbed hare’s ear, well tied, should be “rough looking”. Flymphs should also be rough and buggy looking. A partridge and orange is a simple fly. All, however, when tied well, are “pretty”. A Royal Coachman, also a very good fish catcher, is much “fancier” than any of the others, but not necessarily more “aesthetically pleasing”. Some things appeal because of their elegant simplicity, others because of their complexity.

Some find enjoyment from using as simple and as modest an outfit as they can. Others enjoy the high end of the options. In the end, we all enjoy our time on the water or at the vice for our own reasons. We may not even fully understand why we enjoy it, but we do.

  • Jeff