We believe that our choice of fly is responsible for the fish that we catch, and that if we can merely find the right fly, our success will know no bounds…
Depends! Not the diapers. There are those days on those rivers when trout only will eat a certain size or color. One knows this by changing flies and catching them. But most often, the sparkle dun or the parachute Adams, presented well, will catch any trout looking up. And the right caddis dry fly will catch plenty of trout even when there’s no caddis hatch. But when trout are chasing emergers, I wish you all the best of luck when you’re launching all those duns at them. My experience is that you’ll need it, you’ll need that trout to make a mistake or be in the exact right place at the exact right time. Otherwise, those emergers will simply be a much deadlier fly to fish with.
I agree with your conclusion that yes, it does matter, but actually not nearly as often as we think. I reckon most anglers have caught on a fly they did not expect to catch on, when the real reason for that was presenting it well to a willing fish. By a similar token, we have all blanked fishing the perfect pattern for that day or conditions.
Here in the UK, there is a large stillwater trout fishing scene, and presentation is the number one most important factor to catching in those scenarios. Fly pattern is probably second or maybe even third.
More great thoughts from Mr. Juracek! It's about the process, not only the fly, so I very much agree. I'm convinced that what we see in the flies, what they might imitate, may not always be what the fish are mistaking them to be anyway. It's an assumption on our part, and only matters that the fly is something the fish will take. With so many many patterns now, only one of them can't be the only fly that will work, but we only tie on one fly at a time much of the time. I firmly believe in "matching the forage" regardless of fish species or where, but even then we're guessing if that's actually what these fish we chase are seeing with our flies. If 3 different anglers, on the same water, are all having success, and using different patterns, is it really about the pattern? I think that's a good point being made here too. The sum of the whole, not only individual parts to the equation! Not enough folks work on that and when they fail, it's the fly that likely unfairly gets the blame!
Jim, good thoughts - and the "sum of the whole" angling approach is probably the most important consideration 99% of the time. Meaning: it's not really going to matter what fly you're using if you're making a lot of racket or wearing bright clothing and hats - the fish will see and hear you coming... ~Andrew
Indeed! I began fly fishing in the mid 60's, and for multiple fish species in both freshwater & salt. I firmly believe in the idea of "matching the forage", but as far as flies go, that can be fairly wide open. I didn't often fish for trout, but enough, and seldom saw major hatches when I did. I've only experienced one time, during a hatch, where I had no flies that seemed to be working, but that was IMO, more about the sizes of what I had than any actual pattern. I ended up catching a few Smallmouth Bass that day, as they were not being as choosy as the trout, so still a successful day. For the most part, my choosing flies has always been a best guess, and when that isn't working, switch to a different fly. That's not a difficult concept to understand. In that one situation, I guess those trout were being selective, but one day out of many hundreds, it's not going to change my opinion about how I choose flies. All the rest that goes with fly fishing, still applies!
Depends! Not the diapers. There are those days on those rivers when trout only will eat a certain size or color. One knows this by changing flies and catching them. But most often, the sparkle dun or the parachute Adams, presented well, will catch any trout looking up. And the right caddis dry fly will catch plenty of trout even when there’s no caddis hatch. But when trout are chasing emergers, I wish you all the best of luck when you’re launching all those duns at them. My experience is that you’ll need it, you’ll need that trout to make a mistake or be in the exact right place at the exact right time. Otherwise, those emergers will simply be a much deadlier fly to fish with.
I agree with your conclusion that yes, it does matter, but actually not nearly as often as we think. I reckon most anglers have caught on a fly they did not expect to catch on, when the real reason for that was presenting it well to a willing fish. By a similar token, we have all blanked fishing the perfect pattern for that day or conditions.
Here in the UK, there is a large stillwater trout fishing scene, and presentation is the number one most important factor to catching in those scenarios. Fly pattern is probably second or maybe even third.
More great thoughts from Mr. Juracek! It's about the process, not only the fly, so I very much agree. I'm convinced that what we see in the flies, what they might imitate, may not always be what the fish are mistaking them to be anyway. It's an assumption on our part, and only matters that the fly is something the fish will take. With so many many patterns now, only one of them can't be the only fly that will work, but we only tie on one fly at a time much of the time. I firmly believe in "matching the forage" regardless of fish species or where, but even then we're guessing if that's actually what these fish we chase are seeing with our flies. If 3 different anglers, on the same water, are all having success, and using different patterns, is it really about the pattern? I think that's a good point being made here too. The sum of the whole, not only individual parts to the equation! Not enough folks work on that and when they fail, it's the fly that likely unfairly gets the blame!
Jim, good thoughts - and the "sum of the whole" angling approach is probably the most important consideration 99% of the time. Meaning: it's not really going to matter what fly you're using if you're making a lot of racket or wearing bright clothing and hats - the fish will see and hear you coming... ~Andrew
Indeed! I began fly fishing in the mid 60's, and for multiple fish species in both freshwater & salt. I firmly believe in the idea of "matching the forage", but as far as flies go, that can be fairly wide open. I didn't often fish for trout, but enough, and seldom saw major hatches when I did. I've only experienced one time, during a hatch, where I had no flies that seemed to be working, but that was IMO, more about the sizes of what I had than any actual pattern. I ended up catching a few Smallmouth Bass that day, as they were not being as choosy as the trout, so still a successful day. For the most part, my choosing flies has always been a best guess, and when that isn't working, switch to a different fly. That's not a difficult concept to understand. In that one situation, I guess those trout were being selective, but one day out of many hundreds, it's not going to change my opinion about how I choose flies. All the rest that goes with fly fishing, still applies!