"spittendrigh"


...I think it helps (like Larry, apparently)


I stock and fish many flies that I know to be overkill in the detail dept.

This is NOT to be confused with "realism." As most of us know, the
ultra-realistic flies that look like they will crawl or fly away usually
fish very poorly.

The excessive detail that I speak of is things like blending three very
similar dubbings to get a bit of mottled look, or using a biot for the
abdomen on a dun pattern instead of just dubbing for the segmented look, or
adding a couple long antenna on a caddis pupa pattern, etc. I don't
honestly believe such detail adds many more fish, if any, to the "score" at
the end of the year. But then I don't fish for the score.

Pride of ownership is traditionally a big thing in fly fishing.

Each year I meet a few anglers that have clearly practiced the pose that
lets you see all "their labels" easily and strike that pose whenever any
other angler is near.

Last year I met a guy that grabbed my rod from my hand and looked at the
label, apparently to see if I was worth getting to know. I was doing
"OK," I think, until he noticed the "demo" on my Sage XP. "Oh, it's a
demo rod," he said with a visible shudder, and handed it back.

Flies one ties oneself can provide tremendous pride of ownership, and I
think it would be pretty easy to make an argument that pride in "what I
made" is more deserved than "pride in what I bought."

Regardless, it increases my pleasure in the sport,but certainly more at the
vise, and as I pull a fresh fly from my box, than at the fish counting
competition back at the camp.


-------

P.S. I also fish a lot of very ratty, very minimalist, flies. Especially as
the season nears a close, my stock is low, and I'm going fishing tomorrow,
the need to fill the box often outweighs the desire to fill it more
artfully. BUT, fwiw, I do NOT catch fish at a higher rate with the less
detailed ties and I DO suffer a pang each time I tie one on. G

P.P.S. I suk at tying and even my best products are still damn slovenly
compared to many other tier's products ... but I still love 'em and the
pleasure they bring.