How often do you try new flies?

[OldTroller]

I am curious if I am just weird or does everybody like to try new flies all the time?

I will search youtube or the internet in general and see a new pattern and NEED to try that new fly next time I go fishing.

Is this a disease? Is there a cure?
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[flygoddess]

I can honestly say I have been cured from doing this.
I basically tie what I know works and most are old school. I will slip in a new pattern once in awhile, if it does great at several bodies of water, I add it to my "I know what works" list.

I have to agree with a lot of flies catch more fishers than fish.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Ya know - that's a good question. I get the notion (from In-fisherman in particular) that NEW patterns get more attention, because they are new. Granted they're mostly talking about crank/swimbaits. And suggesting that colors/shapes/movement that the fish HAVEN'T seen before are more likely to induce a strike.

But then in the fly-fishing world I hear the echoes of "match the hatch" - that during certain times you HAVE to have the right pattern - and they're on it. They specifically target a slurp anything - as long as it looks like everything around them.

And as I ventured into trying tying some flies - but NOT going with yer standard old-school patterns of buggers and nymphs - have wondered how the fish would respond. (still in DIRE need of on water testing!)

When I have some field experience of 'off brand patterns' I'll get back with ya. I'd be interested to know what other think/have found in their flinging efforts.

[HFT]

All the time. I have flys I know I will catch fish. Half the fun of tying is trying new patterns.Will it work? Will it fool them better than my favs? As my eyes change I try more new flys that I can see better.
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[fish1on]

Fishing the community ponds something "New or different" makes all the difference in the world. I have fished flies that I have tied that well...you would think that I had been drinking waay too much and they proved to be the ticket item on the menu. [angelic]

As for less heavily fished areas. I go with the hatch or recommended go to fly.
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[cpierce]

It is kind of like cooking. You try some new recipes and sometimes they are hits, and you continue to use them off and on. Then you try other variations of it until you fine tune it to something you really like or you try something else altogether!

With flies.... Most of the time I stick to something that looks like the bugs that are around. Usually I am looking for something that will float better, be easy to tie, and is indestructible! Catching fish is nice too......
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[stripleech]

Old T-
It really depends on my needs. The question is whether I am going fishing with a mind-set of pleasing the fish or pleasing myself.
If the former then it is likely it will be a store-bought gotta-have standard fly pattern.
If the latter, which is by far the most frequent, I fish the way I want with flies that please me. Those flies are some variation in size and/or color of things that have worked before or from some new material that I tied the day before. I try to think somewhat contrarian and outside the box before I give into conventional wisdom.
My judgement is that it is not a disease, and if there's a cure for what doesn't ail me, who cares?
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[GorgeHound]

On familiar water I tend to be a little lazy and use the tried and true if there is nothing obvious going on in the way of hatches and such.

On unfamiliar water I usually start with some generic attractor patterns that have been good to me, and adjust from there according to what might be going on as the day progresses.

On a recent trip to a small lake up on the Grand Mesa, my friend and I were doing quite well with each of our own designed sub-surface attractors, when the lake suddenly came alive with surface activity. I noticed there were quite a few spent spinners floating around and switched over to the proper fly for this. After a while my friend paddled over and wondered why he was not catching many. He had switched over to a flying ant pattern which wasn't working near as well as the spinner. I pointed out the spinners floating around and he said he hadn't noticed them. He switched flies and "game on"....

Don't mind trying new flies, but I tie all of my own flies and have done for over 40 years. Any new fly I try is always based on at least an "idea", because of something I have observed or on occasion, something I think might be on the right track. It sure is satisfying when you can get lucky and have some success with that approach..
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[TroutBumDave]

I'd say that 70% of the crap that comes off my vise will never see the inside of a fishes mouth. I find myself tying a lot of saltwater and bass flies, even though I will likely never use them. Whatever, it is fun. Occasionally I will create a killer pattern that SHOULDN'T work, but does -- go figure. For example, I took a pink metal bead head, secured it and tied on two strands of chenille, black and purple. I tied on a piece of 20lb mono that hung off the back, attached a stinger hook, and then wrapped/twisted the chenille down the mono and secured it to the stinger hook. It's a completely worthless looking fly, but damn if it doesn't look just like a leech with some roe in its mouth. I used it on my favorite carp spot and drilled two monsters before it finally broke off. I was . I've retied the same pattern with a few new tricks, including adding a tungsten bead to the middle of the mono in order to induce some kind of movement, as well as put a small snatch of marabou on the end of the stinger hook -- gives it just that much more life.

Long story short, a fly that had no business ever going into my pack has ended up being a go-to stud this year. THAT is what I love about tying/fishing.

Here is a shot of the fly in action:


Here is a small bucketmouth that also took it: