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It depends. If it's a tried and true pattern I like to have 6 of the best size on hand when on the water. If I'm tying up a new pattern or tweaking a tried and true for improvement I tie up 3 or 4 and test them. My fishing trips are always multi day trips and I always travel with my tying kit. I don't have need for huge numbers of any given pattern to have on hand. The more I fish lakes and streams coupled with years of experience I find my stock of go to patterns is relatively small. I'm a firm believer that timing and presentation are far more paramount to success then vast selection. Frequent tying sessions usually of short duration keep my tying skills sharp as opposed to infrequent long high number sessions. The genisis of fly tying primarily for catcbing fish goes something like this: when starting out one ties alot of flies and many different patterns just to get good at it and is ever hopeful some of them will catch fish. As time goes on you get better at tying and fishing and as you become familiar with the waters you fish the number of patterns you need begins to narrow down. The ones that work become your stock and trade so to speak. They are confidence flies. You get really good at tying those, particularly dries. They catch fish. Your flies become more durable. You lose less of them when fishing as catching skill improves. Things seem to simplify at the vise and looking at a piece of water, particularly moving water. For some fly tying is as much or more of a creative endeavor then it is for filling the practicality of need. I'm somewhere in middle. All this said there's nothing like catching fish on bugs one has tied.

What a teriffic post! Thanks for that. A trip like that would make a season a great one and than some... That slam is a neat idea for raising species awareness.

Great idea. I've friends with ebikes. They've been thru the gambit of owning bikes at various price points. They use them for long backroad day trips and all say be prepared to pay for higher end bike if you want reliability, performance and distance. I'm not familiar with brand names.

There's a remote chance that he's just preparing you for the possibility that he may one day carry a rainbow banner. Fish or otherwise I wouldn't be to worried.

Barge cement (waterproof flexible contact cement). For any glue to hold well both surfaces have to be totally clean of dirt, grit and debris.

Amen.

Great catches!

How about this approach: In the regs. state - No fishing for said invasives except in designated lakes - A hefty fine for those caught angling for invasives in non-designated waters. No fishing for invasives equals no retention.

Here's a tip if using felt soles. Apply a 5/8"wide layer of ShoeGoo to the toe area of the sole. Not to thick not to thin. Reapply as needed when it wears off. Since I started doing this I get an extra season out of a pair of soles. It's the toe area that always wears out for me. Soles must be clean and dry before applying! Peel away any loose Goo before cleaning and reapplication. Apply on new soles or boots for best results.

My Simms Freestone boots have been great. My last boot was a pair of Simms G3's. The G3's have been resoled 3 times and are still in good shape. The Freestones are lighter and not cumbersome like the G3's. I suspect they won't last as long as the G3's.

Blue wing olives are remarkable. I've been on late season hatches (rather light hatches mind you) when the afternoon air temp. tops out at about 3 C. Most duns over feeding fish never make it off the water before being picked off. Those that do might make it onto a cold rock only to sit there shivering if Mays shiver haha. Some do make flight.

In my experience late fall is when you find fish spending more time in tailouts more so than other times of the year. I recall one stellar afternoon on the Livingstone during a hatch of mahogany duns. Many fish feeding in very shallow tailouts. Stealth was key.

That last photo is a beauty!

I see what you mean. Was there minimal current?