Hill loch flies. Does it really matter?

[Malcolm]

Quite a few of the regular hill loch fishers on here use a very limited number of flies. mention has been made of the DHE and the DHS. I'm not overly keen on those but have a great deal of faith in the hopper and muddler along with a few other flies - but I've gone a week up north just using a single pattern.

I do wonder if it really matters on most of these lochs. I fancy that most of the trout rising to a hopper will also rise to a muddler and the only difference is our faith in them.

[Tweed]

Colour, size, silouette, floatability, sink rate etc etc are all imporatant to me ...if not the fish

You mean you carry many variants of your Bibio (and maybe a couple of others) ?  :lol:

Malcolm, I agree with you in the main, and if restricted to a handful of patterns I could probably quite happily manage.  If they're in the mood, they're in the mood and if a fly is well presented and vaguely resembles food they're likely to go for it - they are opportunists after all.  IMO, the problems come when they're more selective and tuned into a certain hatch or food source.  This could also happen due to conditions or fishing pressure; but yup, I don't reckon it matters too much 80% of the time.

You going to let us know how you got on up North? - sounds interesting . . . 

[Traditionalist]

I have not fished many lochs at all, but this applies to lots of places and conditions. Restricting the number of flies you carry, and choosing them very carefully, will usually increase your catch rates.

TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

It is noticable that a lot (but by no means all) of the one fly fits all anglers use dries/emergers/hoppers. I wonder if pattern is less important for surface flies than for wets?

I think that is true in a lot of places under various conditions, but it is not ALWAYS true.

The wets that work on heavily peat stained waters do not always work well on clear waters. The first Scottish lochs I ever fished were the little ones up behind the Summer Isles hotel. There are two lochs up thre not 300 yards apart. One is peat stained, shallow and boulder strewn the other gin clear and deeper. On the day I was up there big brightly coloured wets worked well in the peaty water but moved nothing in the clear one. A change to smallish olive and brown flies produced fish from the clear water but when I tried them in the peaty one they were useless  (on that day).

You still need selections for various conditions. Some flies work well generally in peaty water, others don't work at all.

So for me it will always be a case of carrying thousands of different flies!

Andy

Well, I don't think one needs thousands, but each to his own!

TL
MC

[bibio1]

I think it matters but you don't need a lot of flees. Black claret and olive dye and hoppers do it for me along with a few snatchers.

[Inchlaggan]

One lochan I fish, pattern is irrelevant as long as it contains light blue, the more the better.
Next lochan along (about 100 yards away), olive dries only.

[Highlander]

I do wonder if it really matters on most of these lochs

You might well be right but it would be oh so boring limiting us to just one fly.
For me I have my tried & tested favourites but I like a colourful box & you never know when that wee obscure pattern is the one they want. I would not want it any other way.

Tight Lines