How often do you change your flies? Some people are always trying this and that, but I tend to stick with my favourite, proven fish catchers.Of course if fish are moving and you're getting no response, or fish follow/come short then something needs to be done, but what of the days when you're catching steadily? I may of course try the same flies with different presentation but quite often don't change flies all day.There's nothing more desperate than trying every fly in your box on a tough day, I'm convinced it's better to stick with what you know catches, in those conditions.Chat with boats returning at the end of the day and you hear a dozen different stories, 'they only wanted a small red buzzer' etc, on a day you bagged up on size 10 black buzzers.When all's said and done though I won't be leaving my boxes of 1500 flies at home

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Behold the fisherman
He riseth up early and disturbeth the whole household.
MIGHTY ARE HIS PREPARATIONS!
He goeth forth full of hope and when the day is far spent he returneth
Smelling of strong drink, and the truth is not in him

I tend to stick to the same tried and tested patterns,only because that's all i have.Ok shed loads of variations but still the same patterns,if nothings happening id tend to change fly or location every hr or so

Neil

Fly changing varies from angler to angler. Some stick with the same fly and method all day and others experiment and change fly and method more frequently. I'm one of the later and have been told I change too often when not catching. I do believe those who persevere reap the rewards sooner or later.

It all depends on what is happening. I think I'm in the same camp as black knight in that I don't hesitate to change the fly if the fish are not eating it with almost the same rise form as they are making to the real flies. It is very important to stay awake to what is going on when fishing some of the rivers I am lucky enough to have access to. The fish change their preferences as the day progresses. They might start on a particular olive, change to midges, or aphids, or smuts, start bashing sedge flies and then change to eating spinners and then, suddenly, they start on something else such as caenis. All the time it might be feasible to catch on just one pattern but better results often come through staying in tune with the fish and changing fly as they change from one fly to another. It adds to the fun and it is certainly easy to get it wrong, but that is part of the fascination of the Sport, surely?

richard

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Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

I was fishing today. The were taking bachs, i only changed flies when the trout shredded the dressing. Then i normally stick with the patterns until i've had enough fish, then i'll start changing styles of retrieve & types of flies.

If the fish are tightly podded up and not moving(usually early season)a change of fly can renew interest from the fish-i guess they get fed up seeing the same fly passing for hours on end.Normally i dont change flies much unless a spooning shows im off the mark with my initial fly choice(if i catch one to spoon)

all the best Nick

Hi
I tend to change every 30 mins ish if not catching.
Then when I find the right one I decorate the tree behind me or lose it in a black hole somewhere.
Back to square one again.
Every fly has its day.......................................

Andy

I agree with richardw about keeping in tune with the hatches, but the fish can be so contrary!
Last w/end on the lake i fish, there were Mayflies, Olive duns, olive midges and small gnats/smuts hatching all day, with the odd sedge too. Later there were the red spinners from the earlier duns.
I was using a 3 fly set up on a 15ft leader. Despite trying several patterns to imitate what was hatching, but always with a bach on one of the droppers, every fish took the Diawl bach.
I ended up just fishing an Oppo on the point to hold up 2 size 14 diawl bachs on the droppers. It didn't matter what bach variant i used, so long as it was a bach! It looks nothing like any of the stages of the flies that were hatching, compared with the 'imitations' i had already tried, yet the fish only wanted bachs!
Result - 9 cracking rainbows landed, at least half that amount 'lost'. All on bachs!
All part of the mystery!

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"Angling may be said to be so like mathematics in that it can never be fully understood" - Izaak Walton

I will give a fly about 15 minutes, if its not working I'll try something else. When i find something that's catching consistently i will change that too and try something vaguely similar. The idea behind this is to try and find what the fish are looking for in a certain fly, whether its trigger points, silhouette etc . It helps a great deal when i sit down at the vice to tie. Always trying to tie different patterns, changing this and that. By doing this i have come up with some old reliables of my own, consistent fish catchers for various situations. To have confidence in a pattern and know how to fish it is half the battle IMO. A small variation on a fly can make a big difference. It helps to build a decent armoury for the days when you really need it.

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Born to fish, forced to work... Same thing!

For me it depends on the water. If it's a small stillwater and you know you are covering fish, or a stream where you can see them rising, and your fly isn't catching then it makes sense to change but if you are fishing a large reservoir or lake and nothing is happening I'd persevere longer with a fly I know had worked in similar conditions before. I've plugged away without a pull for an hour or more in the same spot then had three fish in quick succession.
Sometimes it's just a question of finding fish, other times it's a question of the buzzer hatch coming on and the fish responding.

SharkeyP

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Often thinks not travel widens,
Stay at home the Trout obliges.