# making it simple



## Flymaker (Jan 24, 2013)

We as fishermen, tend to get all caught up in which fly is best ......but from my yrs.' of doing this sport and tying 1000's and 1000's of fly's .....I've come to just trust a select few, and tie the odd special few when the mood strikes me. since I mainly chase trout and smallie's here's my go too list

Smallmouth
clouser's in size 2,4,6 . colors olive/white , grey/white , Chart/white 
wooly buggers in size 2,4 . Black , Brown , Dark Olive.
Deceivers in a short shank size 2 . grey/white and olive/white , Chart/white. 
Shannon streamers in white . short shank size 2 
Some form of a top water
all streamer's on a sink tip 

Trout 
Clousers in size 2,4,6 olive/white , grey/white
Rabbit strip sculpins with the helmet in barred olive and barred brown 
zonkers in size 2 chrome/olive and chrome barred white unweighted.. 
wooly buggers in size 4,6 Black , brown, olive
all streamers on a sink tip
pheasant tails and soft hackle
caddis larva and soft hackle
gold rib hare's ear
Hendrickson nymph
march brown nymph
isonachia nymph
and of course the dry's for each of the nymphs.......my standard nymph rig most months of the yr in a bead head pheasant tail on bottom and a caddis larva 6-8'' above it.......

I have my hands full keeping my box's full as it is .... let alone tying 20 other different patterns.........


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Something I saw a few months ago showed me how different I am (or we all can be) from some other fishermen. This guy was an experienced New River smallie guide. His fly boxes contained three different patterns: 1) Kreelex flash streamer, 2) craw fly with a chamois forked tail, and 3) a compact little surface popper. Now he had them in several colors and a few sizes, but those were the only three PATTERNS in his boxes. For me, I tend to have more options in my bass boxes. A lot more. I have streamer patterns for fishing deep, some for mid column, some with a broad profile, some with a narrow profile, small sizes and large sizes...but I keep the color schemes pretty basic. I have some shad color schemes with gray/white, usually a white/chartreuse, olive/white for a more natural color, and a dark color like black/purple. Craw style patterns I always have black (or black/blue), rusty/brown, and olive. My bluegill box is much simpler, my carp boxes are the most diverse in terms of patterns but not colors.

I tried a few years ago to go "minimalist" and restrict the number of boxes and patterns I carry. It doesn't work for me.


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

Trout 
Clousers in size 2,4,6 olive/white , grey/white
Rabbit strip sculpins with the helmet in barred olive and barred brown 
zonkers in size 2 chrome/olive and chrome barred white unweighted.. 
wooly buggers in size 4,6 Black , brown, olive
all streamers on a sink tip
pheasant tails and soft hackle
caddis larva and soft hackle
gold rib hare's ear
Hendrickson nymph
march brown nymph
isonachia nymph
and of course the dry's for each of the nymphs.......my standard nymph rig most months of the yr in a bead head pheasant tail on bottom and a caddis larva 6-8'' above it.......


That is quite an arsenal you have. Like you Flymaker, I mainly fish for trout which amounts to approximately 95% of the time. Growing up in Fairborn, I have fished the Mad for what seems like eons as well as the Little Miami. Now living in the Cincinnati area and after numerous trips up to the Mad competing for water not burdened with heavy fishing pressure, not to mention a car break-in, I started searching for bigger trout waters in eastern Tennessee. I have since acquired a place in the mountains and have access to numerous rivers and streams all with extremely healthy populations of trout. Each of these rivers/streams are long and wide enough that I don't have to worry about 1/4 ounce sinker followed by a size 6 hook loaded with nibblets corn being bounced of my head or plunked into the pool that I am stealth fully presenting a fly to rising fish.

Back on topic, evaluating your choice of fly's which obviously are effective, I am surprised that you did not mention Caddis, Hendrickson, Isonychia, Sulpher, Trico and BWO dry patterns in your go-to mix, which are standards in most rivers and streams. I also like to use the double dropper typically below a dry 16 brown body Caddis mixing up the dropper patterns depending on the stream I am in. Included in my nymph selection are several patterns that you do not list in yours, that being prince, copper johns, zebra and flashback caddis. 

Anyway, wishing you continued luck on the Mad, this year has been good for you so far!

Flyman01


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## Flymaker (Jan 24, 2013)

flyman01 said:


> Trout
> Clousers in size 2,4,6 olive/white , grey/white
> Rabbit strip sculpins with the helmet in barred olive and barred brown
> zonkers in size 2 chrome/olive and chrome barred white unweighted..
> ...


This may seem surprising...But I'm not really a hatch chaser...I do carry a caddis dry , Hendrickson dry and a adams dry in veriuos size's....but many times during a hatch I will fish a soft hackle nymph .....and do well....I mainly fish mornings and once mid april or may rolls around my attention turns to smallmouth .....I mainly fish the Mad ...Fall ,winter and early spring ...and many times I fish when the weather is kinda crappy to avoid the things you mentioned....I also tend to float alot.....I'll PM you with a cell # maybe we can hook some this fall....or hit the stillwater for some smallies....


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

I tend to do a lot of floating as well. Since the waters that I migrate toward the most are TVA controlled trail-race waters, depending on the time of year you on the water, they turn on the flow on the weekends around 10AM. This limits wading areas on the river as the flow will raise the water level several feet, forcing most anglers out or toward the banks. I will get in the water early in the morning and fish until they turn on the first generator at which time I will head back to the cabin for brunch. At 11:00AM they turn on the second generator and that is when all hell breaks loose with a good number of drift boats and scads of kayaks and other drift devices. I generally let that settle for an hour or so then head back down to get on the water once again. I have two personal pontoon boats and a flat bottom Jon boat that I keep down there; If I am with another experienced angler or by myself, will use the pontoons. If with an inexperienced angler(s) who will need TLC, I will opt for the Jon boat. Heading back down this weekend and plan on a long day of fishing Saturday, really looking forward to it. 

PM me your number and e-mail address and we can make arrangements to get on water sometime soon.


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## ARReflections (Jan 7, 2011)

Wooly bugger in various size and colors - w/ and w/o bead
foam spiders

That's it. Depending on the size or color, the bugger can be a nymph or streamer. I used to use cats whisker but that is basically a wooly bugger too. My catch ratio was the same so i just dropped the cats whiskers.

Boring I know...


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