I'm not sure if this should be in the fly tying section so have posted it here
Threads of this type come up all the time but if you were to choose only 15 flies for the whole of next season what would they be ?
I suppose folk who fish rivers and lochs could have two boxes of fifteen and there could be an allowance of an additional five dry flies in the loch style box.
Is it possible to restrict your choice of flies like this but still have an effective season long selection of flies and does anyone do something similar to this at the moment ?
To start I'd probably go for the following when fishing loch's:
Bob
Loch Ordie, Kate McLaren, Zulu, Bibio
Dropper
Standard cruncher, Diawl Bach, dabbler variant, yellow Mayfly variant, Drowned Daddy, Black Spider
Point
Dunkeld , Goats toe, Blae and Black, Black Pennel,Gold head GRHE
Drys
BD, Dry Daddy, Griffiths gnat, Hackled GRHE, Turk's Tarantula
.......................................................
Edit
15 isn't enough I'd want a red hackled Zulu, Ace of Spades, soldier palmer.........where do you stop :?
I reckon I could probably get through a season on lochs and rivers with 15 flies in total,in various different sizes though.There are a few patterns I use on both anyway.
Turks Tarantula
Mega Beetle
Daddy Long Legs
Adams
Olive Klink
Brown Klink
Flashback goldhead hares ear nymph
Yellow May Dun
Bibio
Pearly Pennel
Woolly Bugger
Humungus
Sedgehog
Greenwell Spider
March Brown Parachute
Tricky one Donald. If I could only have 15 flies they would be:
1 Haresear & ginger Klink size 14
2 Haresear & ginger Klink size 16
3 Black Klink size 14
4 Brown Wire Nymph size 16
5 Brown Wire Nymph size 14
6 Prince Nymph size 14
7 Prince Nymph size 12
8 Stimulator Size 12
9 Dark olive parachute size 16
10 Dark olive parachute size 14
11 Dark olive parachute size 12
12 Dirty Poly black size 16
13 Dirty Poly badger size 16
14 CDC + Elk Size 14
15 CDC + Elk Size 12
This means I would be unable to fish loch style and have no daddies or hoppers, but if I could not then so be it. These are the 15 flies I catch most fish on, so it makes sense to choose them.
Of course there are only a few patterns there, but in different sizes. I reckon size is often more important than pattern.
If all sizes still counted as one fly then I?d add daddies, some foam bodied things with rubber legs, an ace of spades and probably a pearly black pennel, a silver invicta, an olive woolly bugger and a clouser.
Thank god I don?t have to make these choices for real :shock:
My 15 patterns...
Dries:
Parachute Adams
Parachute Olive with Krystal flash tail
F fly (dirty olive body)
Big foam ant (yellow) usually a longshank 8
Elk hair caddis (tan)
Grey dirty poly
CDC emerger (hares ear/rabbit body)
Nymphs:
Pheasant tail nymph
Brown wire nymph
Tungsten beadheid hare & copper nymph
Wets:
Olive partridge
Partridge and black
Black and red palmer
Dads Favourite
Brown wooly bugger
Alex
Quote from: admin on December 18, 2009, 08:38:28 PM
Thank god I don?t have to make these choices for real :shock:
Yup, me too. :D :8)
Just 15 flies would be a nightmare for me but if I had to:
- Ke-He
- Grouse & Claret
- Pheasant tail nymph
- Black Penell
- Hutch's Penell
- March Brown Wet fly
- Silver Invicta
- Hares Ear Nymph
- Shrimp
- CDC & Elk
- Olive body F Fly
- CDC Shuttlecock Olive
- Klinkhamer Olive
- Silver Stoats Tail
- Garry Dog
For a whole season I need to include the last 2 for salmon/seatrout. Thought about a flashabou winged tandem for saltwater seatrout but I think I'd just have to get by with some of the watfliesin the salt.
Kate mclaren in all its guises- My top fly by a mile , never of my cast
Pheasant tail nymph-14 All year round
Clan Chief-12- Top dropper early and mid season
Olive Bumble-12/14 Ginked up in the summer
Golden olive bumble -12/14 Ginked up in the summer
Soldier palmer - 10 - When there on the fry it works a treat
Peaty black Bumble -12 All rounder .
***** **** Dabbler - 10/12 When they are in a chasing mood..
Olive sedgehog - 12 - Bit of muclin and pulled along the top " Deadly "
Olive cdc shuttlecock - For those endless summer nights
All tried and tested :8)
I mostly fish Lochs so If I was limited to 15 patterns my selection would be...
Partridge and orange
brown palmer
F fly
Kate mcLaren
Zulu
Magpie and peacock
Hare lug nymph
G & H sedge
dabbler of some description
Bibio
connamarra black
claret bumble
olive bumble
80 shilling sedge [my large variation of an F Fly]
Black wooly bugger
small orange DHE
Olive f-fly
pheasant tail
olive cdc compara dun
yellow may dun
klink
greenwell cdc emerger
natural minkie
Black fritz
orange spinner
duckfly
cruncher
sugar cube emerger
Haresear DHE
black midge
I thought this would be easy but when yopu sit down and look at what you use its not that many patterns after all.
paul
Well you could maybe stretch the black midge a bit add a little red seals fur, palmer it then rib with silver wire. There you have it a black midge bibio style.
cheers
Quote from: piscatus absentis on December 20, 2009, 07:51:11 PM
I'm having trouble here trying to make up 15 flies for rivers. I can't get past -
Copper nymph (Hare Lug dubbing)
Hare Lug (with and without copper bead).
Black Spider (wire body)
Greenwell Spider.
But I never have many problems deciding what to use!
Bob, you forgot that old Tweed style standby - the Clouser Minnow :)
Alex
Bit of a loch bias here I'm afraid - something I hope to remedy next season.
Blue Zulu (flouro red flash and pearl rib) - size 10
Bibio (pearl rib and gp tippet tail) - size 12
Loch Ordie - 10
Claret Dabbler - 10
Pearly Dabbler - 12
Olive Dabbler - 10
Claret Bumble - 12
Olive Bumble - 12
Black Ke-He - 12
Black pennel (pinch of black marabou behind the hackle) - 12
Gold Head Hare's Ear - 12
CDC hare's ear shuttlecock emerger - 14
CDC bibio hopper - 12
Black hopper - 14
Black & pearl superglue buzzer - 14
I'd be more than happy with that little lot for a season - makes me wonder why I insist on carrying 4 boxes full of flies that I never use :?
Quote from: Sandfly on December 21, 2009, 07:52:39 PM
Immature Bluebottle
Blackbirds Fancy.
You Blantyre lot are almost as bad as that Cambuslang and Coatbridge crowd. :lol:
Thanks for all the replies. Hopefully I can mibbee tie some up and vary me box a wee bit. It's just I'm fed up with having a fly tiers flee box with loads of different patterns and would like to cut it down to a fisherman's box with fewer patterns and maybe more variation in size. :?
Quote from: guest on December 22, 2009, 12:31:31 AM
I'm fed up with having a fly tiers flee box with loads of different patterns and would like to cut it down to a fisherman's box with fewer patterns
That answers the question I ask myself when I search my box for a fly - "where did all this sh**e come from and why did I tie them"
Quote from: Ian_M on December 22, 2009, 10:51:36 AM
That answers the question I ask myself when I search my box for a fly - "where did all this sh**e come from and why did I tie them"
I think this is a problem that comes about through winter fly tying. It can divorce the process from fishing too much. I tend now to tie flies during the season, a few at a time, that way I tie what I need and any new stuff can be used the next day and not forgotten about. Winter tyings are usually known flies I know I'll use a lot of: ptns, wire nymphs, olive parachutes, klinks etc