Keep Your Flies in the Water – A Pint of Beer and a Lesson Learned!

Many years ago, an old fishing friend and I were enjoying a pint in the pub when, as often happens between anglers, a friendly discussion turned into a wager.

The challenge was simple. Throughout the fishing season, whenever we fished together, my friend could use absolutely any fly he fancied. He could change patterns as often as he liked, experiment with different colours and try whatever he thought might tempt the trout.

I, on the other hand, had to stick to a very limited selection.

My entire fly selection consisted of:

• Two dry flies: A Cul de Canard (CDC) pattern which I tie with an orange butt and basically a diawl Bach body, and a Hopper. Hopper colours were Black, Claret or light Olive

• Two nymphs: A Pheasant Tail, a pattern many anglers today will recognise in its Cruncher variation, and a Diawl Bach. I was allowed different thorax colours but stuck to red, orange and rabbit dubbing

• Four lure colours: Simple gold headed fritz-bodied, marabou-tailed lures in Black, Olive Green, Orange and White.

And that was my lot. No rummaging through endless fly boxes, no trying the latest fashionable pattern and certainly no changing flies every five minutes because somebody else had caught a fish on something different!

The stakes? One pint of beer!

We kept score throughout the season, counting the fish we caught whenever we were fishing together.

By the end of it, I had caught three more fish than my friend.

Now, three fish over an entire season might not sound like a convincing victory, but a win is a win, especially when there's a pint riding on it!

Whether I ever actually received my winnings is another matter. I seem to remember the celebratory pint turning into a rather enjoyable night out, so I probably ended up spending considerably more than the price of the beer I'd won!

So, What Did It Teach Me?

Looking back, that little experiment taught me something I've never forgotten.

The best fly in the world won't catch a fish while it's sitting in your hand waiting to be tied on.

How often have we watched anglers constantly changing patterns, searching through boxes and wondering what to try next?

Meanwhile, somebody fishing a relatively simple, tried-and-tested pattern is quietly getting on with the job.

I'm certainly not suggesting that fly choice doesn't matter. Of course it does. There are times when matching the hatch, changing the size or adjusting the colour can make all the difference.

But there's also a great deal to be said for having confidence in a small selection of flies, learning how to fish them properly and, perhaps most importantly, keeping them in the water.

After all, every minute spent changing flies is a minute when you're not actually fishing.

Less Can Sometimes Be More

It's a lesson that has stayed with me over the years, and one that has influenced the way I approach my fishing today.

You don't necessarily need hundreds of patterns to enjoy a successful day's trout fishing. A few reliable flies, presented properly and fished with confidence, can often be more productive than constantly searching for that elusive magic pattern.

And there's another advantage. Less time searching through fly boxes means more time enjoying the fishing!

The moral of the story?

If your flies are forever being changed, they're spending less time in the water. And if they're not in the water, they're certainly not going to catch fish!

As for that pint of beer, I reckon my old friend probably got away rather lightly.

But the lesson was worth considerably more than a pint.

Tight lines!

Astute Angling Fly Fishing