What we really see when we open our fly box

[NJTroutbum]

Ralph's Fly Box

 

[pete41]

money

 

[PennKev]

If a trout jumped out of my fly box, I'd probably need a new pair of waders.

 

[Reeder]

Agree with Pete...$$$. Sometimes I even hear the sound of a cash register when I open them.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I see TIME spent at my vise. Good time but time.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

The reflection of one of the greatest Fly Fisherman to ever live....ME!

 

[fishbaithohaha]

Row and row of perfectly tied flies: 10-20, parachute, adams, caddis, stone,..... Selecting the best match, fish after fish will be brought to hand.

Reality, several adequately tied flies; various colors, 12,14,18, maybe some 20's, ..... Flies that will bring a few fish to hand. And pride and contentment.

 

[hunter1]

Money, and to many flies.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

PennypackFlyer wrote:
The reflection of one of the greatest Fly Fisherman to ever live....ME!

Humble too!

 

[bigslackwater]

I look in my fly box and wonder which junk fly I wouldn't mind losing in that mess of logs and debris in that hole over there. I'm always using the worst flies that were the quickest to tie, while my good flies just sit there because they are too precious to be used!

 

[pabrookie94]

An addiction and wayyyy too much money...

 

[salmonoid]

bigslackwater wrote:
I look in my fly box and wonder which junk fly I wouldn't mind losing in that mess of logs and debris in that hole over there. I'm always using the worst flies that were the quickest to tie, while my good flies just sit there because they are too precious to be used!

I used to be this way. But fishing with that attitude keeps you away from where the fish are and what they often will eat. If you're not losing a few offerings every now and then, you're not getting close enough to the bottom, the bank, the logjams... Make sure you have two of every precious fly and you have a contingency plan

 

[bigslackwater]

Salmonoid. Good thinking. I am trying to think this way more. Recently I started giving away some of my own tied flies. So many fisherman I have met hand me flies and I thought I'd pay it forward. At first it was hard to do, but it gets easier as I see the joy it brings to others. Bottom line is, I need to spend more time at the vice. Flies sitting in a box, don't catch fish!!

 

[Swattie87]

Depends on the box, but sometimes I see too many flies…or at least flies I don’t normally use. This is because in most situations (outside of a specific hatch or the fish keying in on something in particular), I tend to fish a handful of flies that I have confidence in from past experience…Wulffs, Adams Parachutes, EHC’s, Buggers, Scuds, PT’s, Ants. In many of these situations, I suspect other flies in my box will likely work just as well (or just as poorly depending on the day), but I don’t fish them simply because I haven’t done well on them before…not to say I couldn’t do well on them, I just stick with what works or at least has worked previously for me. Probably to a fault actually…I need to experiment more.

My Brookie, Limestone/Hatch Matcher, and WW boxes are pretty well pared down to stuff I use and actually regularly encounter, but I have one “General Trout Box” we’ll call it that has a little bit of everything…50% of which I’ve probably never used. I often feel the desire to trim this down to what I actually fish with, but I take this box when I don’t know what to expect on a stream and want to have a little bit of everything.

I’m pretty happy with my four fly box system at this point as my ultimate goal was to only have to carry one box at a time for a given outing. Each box contains a few of the above mentioned flies I fish most often, along with the other common things I encounter or need for that stream type. Most of the time it works pretty good.