Simplicity and Functionality

The longer I've tied flies the more I prefer simplicity in the patterns I fish. When I started, I used to tie at random. I had maybe three of any one pattern in one size in any of my boxes, and I had dozens and dozens of different patterns. Over time I streamlined. I found flies that worked for me and I dropped ones that didn't.

After becoming a commercial tyer and learned the ins and outs of production fly tying I really improved my own boxes. Consistency improved as did my appreciation of simplicity and functionality. I tie anywhere from 30 to 200 flies a day now, fly tying is work for me. I don't want to pend 20 minutes tying a few dry flies anymore. So, with a handful of exceptions, the flies in my trout boxes tend to be very simple, fast ties that are also extremely productive in a variety of situations.

One of my favorites, that has a place in both my hatch matching box and my small stream box, is a three material fly modeled off of Sturdy's Fancy.



The only real difference in my pattern is that the tail is a full hackle tail rather that a tag. I think the long red tail adds to attraction as well as flotation. The other components of this fly, the peacock body and light dun hackle, have obvious fish appeal.

This little fly is especially useful at this time of year as an imitation of early stoneflies. Now, it may not look like a stonefly to you, but drifted, skated, and twitched on the tailout of a pool where trout are aggressively rising to fluttering stones, Sturdy's Fancy looks more than enough like the real thing to the trout. In a smaller size, Sturdy's Fancy is a great fly to fish over a midge hatch. The red tail aids in spotting a size 24 dry sitting in the film. Part of functionality, for me at least, is a fly's ability to emulate more than one insect and work in numerous scenarios. This little bug fits the bill quite nicely and is one of the few that I have been tying and fishing consistently since the start. Give it a shot.