To match or not to match. That is the question?

[DJ 17]

It's freakin' cold and I miss my boat    So here's the question. Other than past experience with a given combo, when and why/how do you decide to run a matching fly with a flasher vs a non-matching fly?  When making the decision, what helps decide to keep the flasher and change the fly rather than swap the whole thing?  Or stay with the same fly and change the lead length? Lots of  questions I know, but this below zero baloney in March is driving me crazy  

 

Tight Lines

DJ

[LongLine]

Maybe it's superstition, but I've always believed that specie of any given kind tend to school together.  Mine are not perfect matches, but if I put a blk/glow flasher down then it'll have a fly with some blk & glow it in.  Same with greens - if the main color of the flasher is green then the main color of the fly will be green.

 

One thing I do know from experience is whatever my flasher/fly combo is, I always put out a clean spoon of near exact color to the flasher on another line somewhere near it.  Usually below & beyond.

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

 

 

[Sk8man]

Some times we make this stuff more complicated than it needs to be. I love to experiment so for me it is a matter of trying different things on a given day/conditions to see what works that is what I base my decision on so I give a try, wait a little while (say 15 minutes to1/2 hr.) and change things up as you mentioned above and try that. In my view there is no "magic bullet" or answer that will work all of the time either way.....like us fish can be "fussy"

[momay4000]

I agree with Tom - I think a lot is what works for you (or something you see repeated in the fishing reports - such as green dot flasher/hammer fly patterns which starts the year out) especially if it's a pattern that has worked for you all year. I continue to use a lot of the same patterns all year long b/c they work although I'd be willing to bet if I started the year out with a purple paddle and a red fly and it worked - that would be a combo for me all year. Like an idiot I own 150 flasher and flies combos but I need no more than 5-10 most of the year.

 

That being said, I do hold to a few very simple rules:

 

1.) Early morning/low light - there's always a glow flasher, a white flasher (typically white/green dot) and a green flasher in the water along with a hammer fly, a fly that glows and a green fly

2.) As the sun comes up and things get brighter, I'll start switching to more chrome flashers or often adding a mountain dew color flasher, still keeping green flies in the mix but also adding a mirage fly

3.) If a flasher/fly goes cold or isn't getting hits, but other things in my spread are, I usually switch the entire thing out. I will rarely just switch the fly and never do I change leader length.

 

Good luck,

 

Chris

[finsntins]

hey dj,do yourself a favor and  buy dan keatings dvd's or better yet,buy the book,i thought the book had a lot more info than the dvd's.he explains,in great detail what you asked.great info here,but he really takes the time to explain,light conditions,color,lead lengths,density and size of fly,speed,presentation.i have learned alot from all the great fisherman on this site and learned alot from keatings book and dvds.plus it passes some time till fishing season.

[DJ 17]

Fins,

Thanks for the advice.  I have both of them and understand where you are going with it, I also think the books have much more info than the DVD. I just like throwing out a question every once in awhile to see what others might think.  Hopefully someone throws out a fresh perspective I hadn't thought of yet.  If I get one new piece of info that helps put fish in the boat its worth it.   Like Tom mentioned above I also like to run a spoon farther back than a flasher, that way if the fish is attracted by the flasher but doesn't hit it I have one more chance with the spoon coming behind it.

[finsntins]

i agree 100 percent!!!there are alot of very informative fisherman on this site that i have learned from.still alot to learn and the more you ask,the more you learn.

[Captain Carl Bish]

White spinners with blue or black or green fly

Yellow spinner with green fly

These two (5) combos will fish with 80% efficiency

I prefer e chip spinners with Moonshine Flys behind black dipsys