Evening!

I am going to have a ruthless clear out tonight of my fly boxes and get rid of all the bad ties, patterns i cant imagine ever fishing, and the few that fall into the "what the hell is that??" category. Stanley knife at the ready, this will free up a lot of space for new ties.

I have 5 fly boxes, and want to keep a dedicated box for say dries, nymphs, buzzers, spiders, maybe terrestrials

I also want no more than probably 8 patterns in each box, and maybe 12 of each pattern in different sizes etc. I think this will stop be having a bewilderig choice, and force me to learn to fish patterns more effectively rather than just randomly sticking another fly on.

So, can anyone rise to the challenge of suggesting 5 categories if you think the ones i thought of could be improved upon, and then 8 flies in each category that would give me a decent chance on small stillwaters and rivers all season long? For trout, grayling, and coarse fish (but no carp flies etc.) I know this will be a fairly involve answer but would really appreciate some guidance.

Thoughts so far:

Dries/Emergers:

F Fly
Shipmans Buzzer
Griffiths Gnat
CDC Shuttlecock
CDC & Elk
Klinkhammer
Daddies

Nymphs/Wets

GRHE
PTN
Diawl Bach
Red Tag
Black & Pennell
Cruncher
Montanas
Kate Mcclaren

Buzzers

Well, various colours, holo, beadheads, breathers etc

Spiders

Black & Peacock
Greenwells
Partridge & Orange
Snipe & Purple
Waterhen Bloa
Stewarts Spider
?
?

5th box - not sure!


Cheers

Ian

__________________
Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stain my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast feather'd hook,
With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with fur-wrought fly delude the prey

Ian, I admire your courage, and hope you can stick to your decision.
Every season, about half way through, my fly boxes look like a tornado has hit them.
I start off with these well organised slotted creations, only to find that overnight, some wee cretin (myself) has crept in and made one hell of a mess of things.
I have so many boxes, I am expecting a bid from Norris's any minute.
I am determined this next season to never leave the house with more than two.
One a general, mainly dry patterns, with a few oddball creations in the corner, and a small Wheatly with some wets and nymphs in.
That is it, no more, 6 of each dry. Honest.
Watch this space.

__________________
"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

I organise my fly boxes every winter, always saying "this year I'm going to keep them in order". It doesn't last the first day of the season.

i'm also guilty i'm afraid.
say if you had 5 patterns in say dry,wets buzzers and numphs.
say you had two in each pattern in two different size 14 and `16 with drys smaller.
well they soon add up, where do you draw the line, and if your out on the water and happen to blank with that particular selection, you'll automatically go home and change again.
good luck anyhow and give us some pattern ideas.

dries,grey duster olive emerger,klink bobs bits,daddy,
wets,malard & claret,pearly dabbler,invicta,peter ross,cinamon & gold
buzzers,epoxy buzzer red & black,etc
nymphs,diawl bach(be arall)montana,grhe,ptn
i,m sure you can add accordingly.

Good luck Codenameemilo!! I'm in the process of 'rationalising' my river fly box! I bought myself a C & F four leaf fly box and have divided it up as follows;

Leaf 1 Nymphs:
Baetis
PTN
GRHE
Woven Polish Nymph
Gammarus Shrimp

Leaf 2 Spiders & Czech Nymphs:
Partridge & Orange
Snipe & Purple
Waterhan Bloa
Peacock & Black
Various Beadhead Spiders

Czech Nymphs
Rhyacophila
Hydropsyche

Leaf 3 Dries:
Klinkhammer
Griffith's Gnat
Shuttlecock Buzzers
F Fly
Deer Hair Sedge

Leaf 4 Randoms (Just in case!!!!!):

All are tied in various sizes, colours. I figured I'd be better off learning to tie and fish a limited number of proven flies than confusing myself. If there turn out to be any glaring omissions, I'll amend my collection as and when. It's yet to be seen if the results of my 'rationalisation' prove productive!!!!!

All the best

Thanks Fluffchuker that is really useful. Posted my list before i read your reply - good to see a lot of common patterns but cannot belive i missed out shrimps for the grayling

__________________
Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stain my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast feather'd hook,
With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with fur-wrought fly delude the prey

I hate to mention it guys, but what about that 5th box-to cover all eventualities it has to contain lures- there I've said the L word so I'll have to hang my head in shame, but we all need 'em sometimes.
My selection would be:
Cat's Whisker
Cormorant
Black Nomad
White Nomad
Orange Nomad
And not forgetting the dreaded Blob!

Plus what about some Damsel Nymphs?

Paul

I hear you, and all good flies no doubt mate. But I am trying to put together a bit of a fine dining menu - there is no room for a "fast food" section

__________________
Around the steel no tortur'd worm shall twine,
No blood of living insect stain my line;
Let me, less cruel, cast feather'd hook,
With pliant rod athwart the pebbled brook,
Silent along the mazy margin stray,
And with fur-wrought fly delude the prey

I applaud the sentiment and the thinking behind it
Good luck in your quest, but remember that even when the finest food and drink are freely available, there's still that time when only a kebab will hit the spot!
Paul

I wouldn't be without a few damsels. I also like to tie up a big black nymph, but that's another story.