Comp boxes

[Prowler]

Here are some pics of how my comp boxes are coming along. Almost got them all full and probably 95% of them tied on comp hooks.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd394/NGTOPROWLER/P3220060.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd394/NGTOPROWLER/P3220061.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd394/NGTOPROWLER/P3220063.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd394/NGTOPROWLER/P3220064.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd394/NGTOPROWLER/P3220065.jpg
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd394/NGTOPROWLER/P3220068.jpg

[groundpounder]

WOW! It would take me a year to tie all those flies!
The boxes look great Kevin! I always like looking at your patterns for inspiration:cool:

[derricko1]

Amazing... Your flies are always so remarkable, Prowler.

This brings up something interesting for me because one always hears about throwing "natural" looking nymphs and people always say "go natural" and "natural" is what the ALL the fly shops carry...Yet every comp box I've seen (Yours, George Daniels in his book, the boxes on the comp forums) all have a LOT of hotheads, and a LOT of color...bright blues & purples and tons of Chartreuse... not a brass colored bead in the bunch, practically.

So much to the point that I now sharpie/paint all my beads (brass and tung) to be either black, or matching (olive for an olive WB, for example) and I do a lot of chartreuse.

And a lot of czech nymphs are in hot colors, too. Natural isn't as much the ticket as people think it is, I think.

If these flies are taking comp titles, then there's something to be said with that. So why do you have to go to the far reaches of Internet to find anything like these flies? Is there a shop in Ga that sells Charteuse catnips and Frenchies and Psycho Rychos and Iron Lotuses...etc.. ??

Dang, I really need to learn how to tie.

Derrick

[Prowler]

I've never seen an iron lotus, catnip, surveyor, frenchie, tungsten torpedo, etc in a fly shop. I started using hotspots after I started comp fishing mostly because people like George Daniel, Lance Egan, etc were using them and I also remember reading an article on hotspots and how they produce strikes from giving the trout something to key in on instead of it drifting by un-noticed. I honestly believe that is what most of the success of flies like the prince come from. White biots on a dark bodied fly make it really visible and gets a trout's attention. That is just my opinion. I still use natural looking flies most of the time if I fish a stream like dukes but I normally go with hotspots of some sort on most any other river or stream I fish. Another big difference in comp flies is they generally don't have legs such as the frenchie which is just a standard pheasant tail with a hotspot and no legs. A fly with no legs sinks faster. Most of the comp flies are really easy to tie and take very little time. That gives you the confidence to try to make some difficult casts under over hanging trees to hit those seemingly unreachable spots without being paranoid of losing a fly that took 15 minutes to tie. :) I feel that in the near future you will start seeing comp flies show up in fly shops as more and more people get into euro nymphing. Orvis is focusing on euro nymphing this year and apparently have a really good relationship with european anglers. Tom Rosenbauer did a podcast recently interviewing George Daniel and comp style flies was one of their hot buttons this year on fly submissions. I have my fingers crossed that in the near future they will design a helios specifically for euro nymphing.

[derricko1]

I hope Orvis gets on it... Blue Quill Anglers out in Colorado is the only place I've found that will ship...they have a pretty solid selection of all the above mentioned flies. But talk about confidence in casting to tight spots...it's one thing to lose 15 minutes of tying, it's another to lose $4.25 + shipping. :)

I've blown many a hole tromping right through the middle of it to get my last 4 dollar fly out of the rhodo limb. Sad but true.

I'm gonna get a vise this summer and see if I can't learn me some nymph tying.

As far as Duke's is concerned...yeah, they don't like any of those nymphs. I just spent 2 hours yesterday throwing every stinkin one of them to four big boys who stayed clamped shut.

So I did the next best thing and crawled right up behind them and filmed them with my camera. I got so close it was almost as fun as catching them. Ha.

[Prowler]

I hope Orvis gets on it... Blue Quill Anglers out in Colorado is the only place I've found that will ship...they have a pretty solid selection of all the above mentioned flies. But talk about confidence in casting to tight spots...it's one thing to lose 15 minutes of tying, it's another to lose $4.25 + shipping. :)

I've blown many a hole tromping right through the middle of it to get my last 4 dollar fly out of the rhodo limb. Sad but true.

I'm gonna get a vise this summer and see if I can't learn me some nymph tying.

As far as Duke's is concerned...yeah, they don't like any of those nymphs. I just spent 2 hours yesterday throwing every stinkin one of them to four big boys who stayed clamped shut.


So I did the next best thing and crawled right up behind them and filmed them with my camera. I got so close it was almost as fun as catching them. Ha.

For a $4.25 fly I would probably climb a small tree to save it. :)

[derricko1]

Okay I double-checked because $4.25 sounded a bit steep. That was for a 3 pack. They average around $2.50. Then shipping.

Still enough to spook a fish or two.

[Drifter]

Interesting thread Kevin.

I've always wondered why a trout would hit the brightly colored stuff that is used by the comp fishermen. Could it be that most competitions take place on streams with freshly-stocked fish, or at least fish that are not entirely wild?

I've fished some "wild" streams where a trout wouldn't touch a beadhead version of a fly....but would take the same fly minus the beadhead.

Thinking out loud here.

[Prowler]

It seems that the wilder the fish the more natural the fly needs to be in my limited experience. Also, I normally try to go with something more realistic looking when the water is slow moving thinking that the trout has alot longer to analyze the fly whereas in fast water, they have a split second to make a decision............To eat........or not to eat......That is the question. :)

[JacobSilverblade]

do you have enough leeches? I think you may need another box. :D

[Gatorbyte]

do you have enough leeches? I think you may need another box. :D

You can never have too many leeches.

As far as color/hot spots, I think of them as a secondary fly. In ideal conditions I typically fish more traditional color patters. In a multiple day comp, hot spots can be the key. Sometimes showing them something different is the key.

[benvan]

I catch LOTS of wild fish on hotspot flies. In fact they are some of my go to patterns, they work good on stocked fish, but I have seen not much difference between stockers and wild fish and results. From the high elevation streams full of wild bows and browns, the lower Nantahala, the upper hooch tailwater browns, private pig farms...Hotspots have produced very well for me and are a confidence fly for me for sure.

and Kevin...you and them leeches...;)

I also like adding ice dub hotspots instead of hotbeads.

Derrick01 check out www.riverbum.com and search for tungsten, they have some great sources for Surveyors, and other comp patterns for a little cheaper than bluequill.

[Prowler]

I do need a few more leeches. :) I Think i will tie some at the fling tomorrow. :)

[derricko1]

Thanks Benvan. I'll check them out for sure.