Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Apennock]

I've just taken up fly fishing and tying.  I started with tying Doc Sprarley's in black and olive and am pretty pleased with how they have turned out.  I'm thinking of tacking a Carey Special next but I'm not sure what after that.  I was hoping to get some pattern recommendations to start rounding out my fly box.  What are some other patterns that I ought to have on hand?  (Ideally that wouldn't be too hard for a novice tyer)

[RalphH]

depends on where and what you are fishing for.

Both  those patterns are good general or imitative patterns that can be tied in a range of sizes and other colors, particularly the Doc Sprately which you can tie on hook sizes from around a #6 or even a 4 down to #12 or #14 and with body color of red, bright or lime green and silver. It can be modified or clipped to look like chironomids or dragonfly nymphs.

It's really better to have a small number of patterns in various sizes than lots of patterns in more or less the same size. The standard 'match the hatch advice" is size and shape are the most important thing to consider after that it's getting the fly in front of the fish in a the manner they want it.

My favorite 'go to' fly is an olive wooly bugger - it's easy to tie and trout and many other species love it - all over the world.

Locally you should also have a minnow or small bait fish pattern - the teal and silver or mallard and silver are easy and effective. Another I'd recommend is something like a grey hackle in sizes 10 to 14 - just a peacock herl body and a hackle of grizzly or brown. These look like all sorts of little water bugs and are killer in many of our local lakes.

[DanL]

If you are planning on fishing stillwaters, maybe hit the library and see if the have a good book like Morris & Chan - Fly Fishing Trout Lakes and read the entomology sections and get some ideas for patterns suitable for the waters you plan to hit. The Gilley is also fantastic reading as is the classic Jack Shaw -Fly Fish the Trout Lakes though the patterns are outdated by modern standards. There are other good books worth looking at too, but those three were written with BC waters in mind.

As RalphH notes, Spratleys may be the most versatile pattern out there so thats a great start. The wooly bugger is a close second IMHO. You can cover a lot of situations with just those two patterns tied in different sizes and styles. I also really like leech patterns in a supple material like rabbit fur or marabou. They breathe and move in the water that really looks alive.

It's really better to have a small number of patterns in various sizes than lots of patterns in more or less the same size. The standard 'match the hatch advice" is size and shape are the most important thing to consider after that it's getting the fly in front of the fish in a the manner they want it.

Great advice about pattern selection, though I might flip the priority of those two factors. As another poster much wiser than me once put it succintly - "the wrong fly in the right place will catch the occasional fish. The right fly in the wrong place will catch nothing"   

[Apennock]

Thank you both!  I especially appreciate the reading recommendations, I've found there are SO many books out there it's hard to know which are worth the time.

[DanL]

Unfortunately those three titles are like 20+ years old and all out of print, as far as I know.

Technology continually improves but basic entomology and lake science doesnt really change much so the info is still relevant, if you can track down a copy. I heard Brian Chan was working on the possibility of having his book re-printed but for now you are stuck trying to find it used or at the library.

I dont know where you are located, but I have found other books at the VPL written for the Pacific Northwest ie Washington/Oregon that were not too bad either. But if you are planning to fish locally, the Morris & Chan book is basically an instruction manual for BC stillwaters.