There has been a good discussion lately about "nymph" fishing for salmon and what kind of nymphs work best. I saw Donny Donovan catch a salmon on a bare hook with just a silver bead head on it - no dressing at all. He said that with certain fish at certain times of the year it makes very little difference as to pattern of fly/nymph. Put it in their eyeline and induce the take and you'll catch them on anything. Does this not smack in the face of all the thousands of beautifully tied salmon flies currently available for about three quid each?

There is of course a big difference between trout flies tied as accurate immitations and of weighted nymphs tied to annoy salmon and it is the salmon flies/nymphs that I am talking about.

Is it really necessary to have thousands of different patterns or should we just concentrate on getting a bare hook with a bead head in the right place/depth? I.e. In front of a salmon?

Probably should add that I too have hundreds of salmon flies!

Reg Wyatt