On the Fly: Confidence flies
On the Fly
Nate Taylor/courtesy photo
With thousands of fly patterns available these days, finding ones you can rely on day in and day out becomes daunting. Every angler has those “confidence patterns” in their fly boxes that they can tend to bank on, but what makes a fly an old reliable? The more you fish, the more you tend to trust certain flies — but this can change from season to season and from year to year. Every time we are consoling a guest who has lost their fly box, we remind them that this is their chance for “tabula rasa.” Their new box will be a clean slate, and hopefully filled with reliable flies versus all those oddballs in the corners that never get used.
Many flies catch fishermen, but not fish. When it comes to selecting flies, rely on those shop folks or guides you know and pump them for information. By keep a fishing journal, you’ll learn pretty quick what works and what doesn’t from your own experiences through the seasons. For this part of the fly-fishing world, there are four things to consider in your fly patterns. Size, shape, color and action. Trout get super focused on what food sources they are seeing the most and tend to ignore all else, therefore your fly has to be on the money. When you fish a confidence fly, it translates down through the rod and line, and the fish seem to be more obliged to eat it.
Size and shape are the most important when the fish are super focused on a particular insect, especially when they are paying attention to a particular stage in the insect’s life cycle. Nothing beats putting on your scientist hat and using your powers of observation streamside. Just sitting by the river, flipping over rocks or simply watching the action can be extremely helpful, especially if you don’t know what the fish are focused on. The moral of this story is to rely on advice, pay attention to what works, and let the fish tell you what they want versus what you think they want. Fish with confidence!
This column is provided by Taylor Creek Fly Shops in Aspen and Basalt. Taylor Creek can be reached at 970-927-4374.
Genstar’s Jean-Pierre Conte sued in Aspen by ex-girlfriend Hillary Thomas
The former girlfriend of Jean-Pierre Conte, the chairman and managing director of the private equity firm Genstar Capital, filed suit Thursday in Aspen claiming that Conte committed assault, battery, and violated the terms of a 2021 separation agreement. Hillary Thomas claims in her lawsuit that during her more than nine years with Conte, she helped parent his four children and her two children “whom they raised in a blended family.”
