This may sound stupid to some, but tonight ive been having a tidy up of my fly boxes and have realised that i only ever seem to stick to the same old lures, black for dull day, ie nomads and fritz. And white ie cats and nomads on bright days.
I must have alteast 50 brightly coloured lures, pinks oranges yellows etc, i cant ever recall using any. when is best to use such crazy patterns???
i just cant seem to bring myself to fish with something that looks like it belongs on an xmas tree.
also what is the best way to fish blobs?? most of mine seem to be unweighted.
i am a nymph and buzzer man at heart but when needs must........
thanks in advance

For me, I'll try all of the standard numbers first- things that I know will catch fish in the conditions I'm fishing. If nothing, I'll start swapping to things that might catch fish in those conditions. If things are still tough, then I'll try something a little different.

Or, if I'm just in the mood to throw something different I will.

I tend to fish lures on reservoirs in these circumstances;

• Fishing to lethargic fish in cold water, frequently but not invariably deep and always slow

• Speculatively at any time when there are few clues about fish location and likely food

• for daphnia feeders, mostly from midsummer into the autumn

• For fry feeders, late summer through to season's end

So - for the first purpose, all or predominantly black lures are first choice, with a white lure and something like an oversize damsel or brown woolly b*gg*r in reserve; similarly for the second purpose where I may use a bright coloured one and / or speed up the retrieve as a shock tactic; match the colour of the daphnia for the third, the little creatures are either orange or green so those are the colours or a yellow lure is a good hedged bet, all these are fished quite fast; and white lures for fry, usually fished slow.

About the only other tactic worth mentioning is a muddler or booby, sprayed with floatant and fished on a floating line, fast through the ripple. Again a summer or early autumn tactic.

Hope this helps.

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"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton