Del wrote: The point of this is a question, how do others go about developing a particular fly pattern? .........................But, it keeps the brain and fingers busy.
I really have the unusual opportunity of being able to fish a couple of ponds where I can clearly see trout and their varied reactions to a fly... which range from absolutely no interest at all, to a manic circling of a fly as it is retrieved, to follows and nose bumps, and takes varying from nonchalant, unhurried sips to savage strikes.
I take the more promising flies, then start making variations in the way they are tied. More often than not, the original pattern that provoked all the interest still comes out the winner, but often discoveries are made about the way the fly is designed, assumptions that were unnecessary or incorrect.
I always tie a good fly at least one size smaller, and always try the pattern in many of the major colors: black, brown, olive, rust, hare's ear, pheasant tail, and peacock (both herl and sword). I like trying red heads, adding bits of subtle flash, and adding touches of fluorescent color (a current favorite is a touch of clear fluorescent which looks like white in daylight).
I am a believer in anything that adds mottling (salt and pepper pattern) to a fly. For example, I will replace a solid color hackle with the same color dyed grizzly, and grouse and partridge find their way into a lot of patterns.
Right now I wish I had every color of dyed peacock herl and dyed pheasant rump under the sun... *sigh* A lot of that has to do with wanting iridescent qualities in the tying materials.
And I like seeing if a pattern will work when tied fully or partially with foam.
When a fly is right, it's really right. I have seen little fish only twice the size of the fly peck away at it without a hope of swallowing the morsel. For a wet fly, nymph, bugger or streamer, the key test is when a fish takes the fly when it is just falling freely in the water without a retrieve or other action. For a dry fly, watching a fish calmly and slowly approach the fly and almost effortlessly sip it in is telling.
And there's an obscene difference between the reaction of fish to a fly that doesn't do the trick, to one it recognizes as food immediately.
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
"In these times you have to be an optimist to open your eyes when you wake in the morning."
~ Carl Sandburg
