Has tying made you a better fisherman?

[tpo]

I think my tying has definitely helped my fishing. I wonder if other fly tiers out there have the same experience.

Its not that my flies are any better than those you can buy, but I have a larger selection, in more sizes and colors. When I fish a lake or stream, I research what patterns are recommended and I tie a bunch in various sizes. I change patterns more often until I find something that works. I've fished with a non-tying friend for some years now; he used to out-fish me most of the time, but over the years that has changed and I now usually do better than he does. There may be other factors, including pure luck, but I attribute the change mostly to my tying over the years.

Tom

 

[Liphookedau]

I don't think Flytying makes us better Fishers,as mentioned it's easier to Fill our Boxes with The Patterns we use as well as others we hardly ever do,however there's a doubt if it's cheaper.
Also when we Tie our own,we can Tie our own Patterns & modify other Patterns to suit our areas as we are alol looking for that Magic Fly.
Brian.

 

[dean_mt]

Good question. I think what learning to tie, and the journey it has taken me on, has taught me is to really think and try to see hatches in a different way. The number of books that I've read about fishing based on theories of flies has definitely had the most effect on the way I fish than anything else. So yes, it has changed and influenced the way I fish.

Whether it's made me better at fishing, well ... that would be debatable.

 

[williamhj]

Well it hasn't made me a better fisherman by improving my casting, but in other ways I think it has. I believe I understand fly fishing more by tying, I have a better sense of how flies connect with what the trout eat because of the reading I've done, how a fly will float or sink and how it might behave depending on the materials its made from, and it's broadened me from just trying to catch fish to enjoying more aspects of fly fishing.

 

[paulfish_1]

It's made me a less wealthy fisherman but a happy one!

Tight lines
Paul

 

[fly_guy12955]

I have boxes of expensive feathers that I never had before !

Tying is increasing my knowledge of how the entire circle of life for fish work,,and that has to help one fish better. At least it's helping me be a more knowledgeable fisherman and watch less TV at night.

 

[turbineblade]

No, it's the other way around.

Knowing how I tend to "work" certain flies gives me ideas about how to better tie patterns. For example, the damsel nymph I tie now has a longer marabou tail for better "swimming" action.

It's made me a less wealthy fisherman but a happy one!

+1.

BTW - when I got into fly fishing I didn't think I'd be a person who'd like to tie very much. I was very wrong, and as I dabbled into tying I realized that I enjoy it and find it gives me something to do when I can't get outside.

 

[brookfieldangler]

Since the fly/lure is the direct connection between us and fish, it would be hard to catch a fish without one. Being able to craft that connection, in turn, makes you a more complete angler.

 

[wjc]

I think that question has an element of the old question "Which came first, the egg or the chicken?" I started tying poppers as an 11 or 12 year old since I got a Thompson Kit for Christmas with my first fly rod. My crude poppers were much better than any I could buy simply because they were big enough to entice big "glades' LM Bass to eat and way too big for the then all-present bream to bother with. They also had big enough hooks to result in a high percentage of solid hook ups.

Then as I got into trout fishing with drys up noth, I began tying dry trout flies based on the shape of the naturals as seen from the bottom looking up - and had good luck with those. So I had confidence in them. I also - by then- was using good materials so the drys would float.

After getting out of the service, I began fishing the keys with flies and tying spun deer hair crab patterns with varying sink rates (again, very primitive looking flies compared to bought ones). But they looked very close to a fleeing crab when stripped, and one with both pinchers held up when sitting on a sand or hard bottom. The down side was that one "pincher" was a single hackle tied to the bend just behind hook barb facing forward and was thus delicate and had to be cast gently or it would break off.

So was the tying of my ugly, primitive flies (still) making me a better fisherman, or was observing the behavior of thousands of crabs, pilchards, glass minnows, hard heads, ballyhoo in their own environment primarily responsible? And then tying something that I could fish to immitate their behavior as closely as possible.

Frankly, I wouldn't tie any flies if I could buy ones that I could fish the same way as I can fish those I tie myself.

Edit Turbine, just saw your post after posting mine. Pretty much the same philosophy - except I'd rather not have to tie my own. And if I didn't live alone, I wouldn't be allowed to, either . Most women insist that dining room tables are specifically used for meals.

 

[Eddie O'Neill]

Interesting point.I do feel more accomplished using my own flies I would not say my catch rate increased when I started tying my own.

 

[coug]

I think so, at least it has sent me off of the deep end with my fly fishing! It has caused me to pay more attention to the bugs I see on the water so I am better able to go back and whip up something similar. Now I will see something like a new mayfly and I will go back and do some research and try to find patterns to match the nymph, emerger, dun, etc. It has made me think more about life cycles.

 

[stl_geoff]

Better? eh maybe. If I still sucked at casting or finding fish in water, no matter how good I tie thats not going to help me.

Now it has given me the oppertunity to have more flies on hand when trying to figure out the situation. It also allows me to alter maybe a basic pattern into something alittle more local.

 

[Rip Tide]

I can't tell you how many times I've fished all day thinking "If I had a fly that 'did this' or 'looked like that' I'd have done much better".
Then when I got home I'd tie up half a dozen for when I went back the next day.

(..this was especially true back when I fished every day which helped to retain all these little thoughts and plans.)

..Anyway, if I couldn't just go home and act on my little ideas they'd likely to be lost until the next time the a similar situation popped up and again it was likely that I'd be unprepared.

 

[long bow]

Tying has really helped my casting recently. I'll say this: it has definitely made me look to the entire river as to what a trout is going to eat. "Hot flies" aside, tying flies pushes you into entomology of a trout's habitat. And that has helped immensely.

 

[wt bash]

I think it has because I have confidence in my own ties. When I have confidence in the fly I tend to fish it better. Like others have said you learn to build flies that suit the situation better. You get more in tune with hatches, baitfish, and the crustaceans the fish key in on locally or on a favorite river/stream.

 

[tbblom]

I don't see how it could make me a worse fisherman! So, yes, it has.

 

[pa dave]

I started tying before I took up fly fishing, so I have no way to compare. My wife thought tying would appeal to my artistic side. Now she has to deal with the idea that I sometimes decide I have to build a new rod, not because I need it, but because I have an idea of what I want one to look like. It's all her fault. How can you help but love a woman like that?

 

[dillon]

I enjoy tying flies and usually do it every day that I am not fishing. It allows me to keep my head into fishing when I am not on the water. I often find myself thinking of a pattern or situation until I sit down at the vise to create the fly. There are many ways to keep fishing, which is the great thing about our sport...

 

[theboz]

I think it has because I have confidence in my own ties. When I have confidence in the fly I tend to fish it better. Like others have said you learn to build flies that suit the situation better. You get more in tune with hatches, baitfish, and the crustaceans the fish key in on locally or on a favorite river/stream.

I'll double that thought! Confidence is a key to success in fishing and being sure of how good your own flys will work definitely makes you fish them harder than something that your not as sure about. Can't tell you how many times in my mind I'm thinking I know this will work when all else has failed even if it doesn't !

 

[clarkii]

the short answer for me- YES!

clarkii.