Great book, enjoyed every page. There is one chapter that sticks in my mind where he discusses his fly collection and as he gets older and more experienced the more that he has come to realise that he really can rely on a very small ammount of patterns.

This year has seen me revisit the sport after a twenty year break, and thanks to some new found fishing friends and this forum I am happy to say that it has been suprisingly successfull but I still have lots to learn, which brings me in a rather long winded way to the point of the thread.

Do you think that Mr Clarkes theory is true to your experience, i look at all the fly patterns and the subtle differences in colour, size etc that are available and am quite sceptical as to the difference they make. Is this to my downfall!! I understand that the outline of the fly and basic colour have a significant influence, but do you think that too much emphasise is put on tiny variations and that retrieve and depth are far more important?

Do you have examples of when the tiny subtle changes in fly have made all the difference?


Thanks in advance.

I think he's correct in what he says about coming to rely on a few patterns.In my boxes i have buzzers ( including apps and shipmans ) diawls damsels daddies hoppers klinks and two or three types of lure in three colours.I can't give you specific examples of when subtle variations work only that they do.I think their are far far to many flies out their that catch anglers rather than fish and why waste time going threw hundreds of patterns when you could have a fly in the water.Yes depth and speed of retrieve are critical if you want to be successful

Neil

I think generally Brian Clarke is right. You only really need half a dozen reliable patterns 90% of the time.

Buzzers & nymphs probably account for at least 75% of the total fish I take.
However, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had those days when you plonk on the old reliable black buzzer that did so well last week & an hour later - not a touch. You then try various other colours and/or sizes and get a take on say a claret buzzer. You then catch several more fish in quick succession.

In my book it's all about being flexible. Clarke is right for the vast majority of days out, but you're totally stuffed if the fish are having one of "those" days when they're preoccupied & you only have an extremely limited armoury of patterns.

I agree,maybe i should have put buzzers etc in various colours and sizes ( well loads actually )

Neil

One does an awful amount of exprimenting but whatever your favoured angle is about, a half a dozen flies tend to do the business for yourself.

But it doesn't stop me still trying to find the 'holy grail' of flies for my particular favourite types of fishing!

PS The book is terrific.

__________________
[COLOR="Blue"]"A fish seen is a fish nearly caught"[/COLOR]

Jeez,
I really, really, hope you mean at least half a dozen boxes of flies?
regards
bert

You need the boxes around you to make yourself feel good.

__________________
[COLOR="Blue"]"A fish seen is a fish nearly caught"[/COLOR]

There is a spectacular amount of time and effort wasted talking about flies, and designing flies, especially salmon flies, and it's 99% guff.

But, it keeps us happy, gives us something to do, and stops us talking about politics or religion, so it's gotta be good

__________________
http://www.flyfishinglessons.co.uk
http://www.aapgai.co.uk

great point but you left out FOOTBALL

TERRY

__________________
"It is only the inexperienced and thoughtless who find pleasure in killing fish for the mere sake of killing them. No sportsman does this." - W.C. Prime, 1888

Best bit about the forum that,oh and fly fishing

Neil