Tie or Buy?

[albud1962]

I buy patterns I am not skilled enough to tie. I do enjoy tying as i feel you can create patterns the fish maynot see that often. I have several dry fly patterns which are pretty unique and are good producers.

 

[wbranch]

I fish dry flies 95% of the time for trout and the other 5% I throw bigger streamers. I tie all of my dries from #8 - #24. I used to have trouble tying parachutes so I just didn't fish them. I tie most of my nymphs but do buy #18 - #20 BH PT's and Copper John's.

 

[jacob]

I tie all my nymphs and streamers, and usually buy my dries.

I rarely lose a dry, but nymphs and streamers are gonna get hung up pretty often bumping around the stream bed...

Overall though, I've found that I can tie a pretty large array of patterns with a fairly small material selection. You can substitute almost anything in a particular pattern- I find that is half the fun figuring out how to tie a new pattern that calls for materials that I don't have- in essence how can I make this pattern my own version with what I've got? You'll find most of the time you'll be able to figure it out then hone it in after a couple passes. Also, it's super fun to catch a fish on a fly that is tied with "the wrong" materials!