Flies that Linger in the Box

[Sylvaneous]

...and never get used. It happens most in my boxes that have foam slits for individual flies. YOu have to pull them out one by one. They can;t just be dumped out and replaced like in the simple box compartment fly boxes. I've got flies that I always keep around because you never know when a Green Weenie is going to be killer. There's a lot that I have tied probably a dozen replacement for, but the ones that have been there for 8 years just remain. Maybe I should just pull them ALL out and start again. I just can't help but think I'm not being careful or efficient.; that my fly box is something like my mother's deep freeze. It's a smattering of stuff she uses resting on top of a pile of 15 year old freezer-burned refuse that will never see the light of day until she passes.

 

[Tigereye]

Me too. I've noticed switch from realistic flies to attractors. Especially in the nymph game.

As my nymphing has gotten better, I find myself ignoring dry flies. One thing that I am doing the past few years is using up my stockpile of wet flies as droppers. They seem to work quote well in that application. Got idea from Kelly Galloup video where he believes the unweighted wets/soft hackles etc move more in the water than standard beadheads and thus trigger strikes. Sounds logical.

 

[Paul Barci]

Sometimes during a hatch I will use a wet fly as opposed to a dry and have almost always had more success

 

[poopdeck]

I have a system where I get rid of all tackle I haven’t used, including flies, rubber baits, jerk baits, tackle organizers, anything not used or I didn’t like. I’m not a hoarder so I either donate flies or cut the stuff off the hook for reuse.

My philosophy and the secret of life for trout is if I’m not catching them I’m not deep enough. Dry flies for panfish.

 

[troutpoop]

I went through all my flies last year and cooked it down to what I'm using, period. I have a couple large compartment boxes I have at home with all those flies for whatever need may arise in the future but I don't carry them any more.
Nymphs, which I don't prefer, is about 6 flies of different sizes; walts worms, hares ear, pheasant tails, scuds, caddis and midges.
Mayflies follow the same idea, limited to 2/3 styles in each group, in a few sizes; caddis, sulphers, olives, midges. These are the most common bugs I run across. If I suspect march browns or ISOs etc I would throw a few in the box.
I have a small selection of wets too which I use most, along with dries. With wets I only have a small collection but I use them the most.
I have tried to concentrate on of quality flies instead of quantity. Problem is now I have way more flies than I'll use for years.

 

[Steeltrap]

My best working fly is anything soft hackle. And especially fluorescent orange bead heads.

 

[Bamboozle]

When I dressed like some moronic Ernie Schwiebert wannabee back in the 1980's, I stuck my "failed" flies and other abominations in my tweed hat...

I wear a logo-less ball cap these days and dumbed down and cleaned out my fly boxes years ago when I bought a new Richardson Box so things are pretty sparse and tidy.

However I suspect there may be some old chicken & hotdogs in my freezer...

 

[JoeE]

It only takes a season to become a minimalist but a chest box helps and fish with flies that catch fish and not the newest version of a GRH or PT that you tie 2 dozen and never use.

 

[tomgamber]

Unused flies become bluegill flies

 

[JackM]

Flies that don't produce are defective beyond our recognition. They are best left at home.

 

[Biggie]

...and never get used. It happens most in my boxes that have foam slits for individual flies. YOu have to pull them out one by one. They can;t just be dumped out and replaced like in the simple box compartment fly boxes. I've got flies that I always keep around because you never know when a Green Weenie is going to be killer. There's a lot that I have tied probably a dozen replacement for, but the ones that have been there for 8 years just remain. Maybe I should just pull them ALL out and start again. I just can't help but think I'm not being careful or efficient.; that my fly box is something like my mother's deep freeze. It's a smattering of stuff she uses resting on top of a pile of 15 year old freezer-burned refuse that will never see the light of day until she passes.

Speaking of freezer burn, in 2006, after my grandmother's passing, while cleaning out her chest freezer, we found a package marked "rabbit, Nov. 1958". lol

 

[JerryC]

I tend to clean my warm water boxes every year. Flies that didn't catch fish, in one case this year a fly that I tied wrong. There's always new flies to try this year, so they replace some the old ones. My trout boxes pretty much stay the same. Some, like midge patterns, are there because I can't really tie size 20's anymore. The flies have always caught fish, so why replace them.

 

[UncleShorty]

I have flies I bought before I started tying my own. I'd have to look for the box they're in because I haven't used a bought fly for 10+ years.

I remember the 17" wild brown I caught on Yellow Creek with my own tied fly. What a feeling! I never went back to commercial flies... but I still have a box of them around somewhere...

 

[Canoetripper]

When was the last time anyone fished a muddler minnow?

That's what I thought.

I have enough of them over the years that I think they just might be a different look than woolybuggers.

 

[KeviR]

...and 3 hours later: muddler minnow

 

[dryflyguy]

I don't carry anything that I don't believe will catch fish.

But I do go through all of my boxes over the winter. Mainly do to "inventory" - to see what I need to tie for for the next season.
But I also will cut down on - and sometimes remove altogether - flies that haven't been fished for a long time.

Totally agree about the muddler minnow.
I had to tie some for my fly tying class. And used to carry them and even tried them occasionally.
Can't recall ever catching anything on them.
And eventually relegated them to a storage box I keep at home with other non used flies, that will probably get tossed out someday

 

[krayfish2]

I'm along the same thought process as DFG. If there's anything lingering in my tackle, it's probably a few freakish streamer patterns that I keep saying I'll use but I never do.

I only carry about four different nymph patterns, maybe 6 dry and a dozen caddis patterns.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

Sounds like it is time to dismantle those flies and create new ones. However, i suspect that there could be a cycle to some flies that is similar to cycles with bass fishing lures.

 

[Tigereye]

Most definitely. The first flies were imitative, soft hackle type flies. Especially of European origins.

As flies moved to America, they started to be flashier, attractor patterns and streamers. Then I would say in the 70's or so flies shifted back to the more realistic patterns.

Now I think we are in the middle of a shift towards the attractor styles.

Obviously alot a wiggle room in the theory but in general I believe it holds true.

 

[Sylvaneous]

When was the last time anyone fished a muddler minnow?

That's what I thought.

I have enough of them over the years that I think they just might be a different look than woolybuggers.

Muddler minnows were a big thing, or at least mentioned in magazines a lot when I started in the mid 80's. I bought a few. I don't think I ever caught anything on them, but I didn't fish them much at all. I DID and DO use a conehead white marabou muddler minnow with success. But the turkey feather original, nope. Just lashing some white marabou on a hook will catch trout, I'd bet. But the deer hair head, tinsel-wrapped shank and peacock herl overwing don't hurt the confidence.