Size Has A Quality All Of Its Own

Because of this I spent a bit of time looking at coverage of the BFFI weekend among other fly tying stuff online. I was struck by some of the amazing quality of the flies on display, from classic flies to saltwater flats patterns. I'm always really impressed by the standard of many of the people behind the vice. ONe thing I did notice though is a few folk moving out of their wheelhouse and "demonstrating" flies that they obviously have little to no experience fishing or really tying. Most notably BIG predator flies. It's probably a combination of contempt for predators-"pike will eat anything" and failure to understand that tying standard trout patterns doesn't equip you with kowledge of how to make big, durable flies that are castable and swim without fouling.  When you go big there's all kinds of drag, water weight and balance that just aren't a consideration when the biggest thing you tie is a size 8.

You've almost got to admire the hubris of someone who while at a show featuring excellent predator tyers like Paul Monoghan, can just lash a huge untapered bunch of fibers to the back end of a hook put some resin and a couple of eyes and present it as something worth looking at. I mean, yes you could follow that route, and probably catch some fish, but it'll be harder work than it needs to be, the fly will foul constantly and you'll catch fewer than someone with a fly that swims. There's so much quality information now available from the likes of Paul, Bob Popovics, Andreas anderson and others there's no need to still be taking that 1980s approach to targeting predatory fish. Big flies should have air in them, be tied with free flowing materials in a manner that minimises fouling and have the same focus on material placement and distribution as anything else. Andreas Anderson's delivery man is a perfect example of this, they can be tied HUGE but still look good, cast easily and swim cleanly. And they look great which makes them easy to pick out of the box and fish confidently. Have a look here.

I'd also recommend Paul Monaghan's YouTube if you're interested in predator flies, he's got a wide range of excellent patterns on there.