Flybuddy wrote:
Trev wrote:
... Most of my useful and used materials were available in 1975 and most of the fly patterns that catch fish were old then.
....
I fish for bass and warm water species a lot and was a self taught fly fisherman. I also taught myself fly tying. Maybe my approach and opinion would be different if I was conventionally trained.
My training was trial and error and dissecting bought flies and 80% of my fishing is for smallmouth bass or rock bass, my point is I can make it harder than it needs to be, simple flies will catch the same fish as flies made with magic miracle material and the stupid fish I catch seem to be color blind if a big soft lure is dragged across their dinner window. These Ozark fish can still be fooled by a nightcrawler.
Yes there are many more and higher quality materials available than even two years ago and there will more and improved materials next year. They are all wonderful. But they just ain't necessary, imo.
Maybe if I had grown up with scads of expendable income and been you tube trained I would have a different view. I have bought into enough fad fly patterns that "must have this material in this shade" that I have probably thrown away a bushel basket of "this very special material" ...
There simply is no comparison between the genetic hackle today and the best hackle money could buy even in the '90s and the best money could buy in the '70s wasn't much above barnyard feathers. But we caught a lot of fish on those junk feathers. All the plastics that I have seen or tried seen to my untrained eye to be the same old nylon/polyester/etc that was around in some form since the '70s, or before.
I don't mean that you should do what I do or that your use of the latest and greatest is in anyway wrong, I just mean it is not for me at this time, my comments falling under the "What do y'all think " umbrella.
The more I fish; the fewer patterns I use and they are all basic, suggestive, unimaginative and in drab colors.
Have fun with what you're doing, that is what it is about.
T