As the weather cools and the holidays come around, we tend to switch from fishing form to tying form. I check my boxes to see which flies I need to tie for the next year. Some anglers have kept logs of the past year fishing trips and the flies that worked the best. They use these logs to determine what they need to tie for the next season. I compile a list that I will use to tie throughout the winter from my notes and what is missing in my boxes.

The list always seems to include some tried and trued flies. I always want to have Pheasant Tail Nymphs in my boxes, no matter where I go, they always work. I tie them in size #16 to #22, with and without bead heads, and in different colors like olive, blue, yellow, red, green, natural brown, black, etc. Sometimes I will add pearl mylar tinsel to the wing case to add flash to attract fish. The other nymph I seem to use a lot of the time is a Copper John. I also tie them in different colors and use rubber legs instead of partridge feathers. The sizes I use very often are size #16 to #18. These two different nymphs are what I use the most so I often tie plenty of these.

Some of the dry flies that make the top of the list are Parachute Adams, Stimulators, Grasshoppers, and Blue Duns. I tie tons of Parachute Adams, it is my best dry fly. I have them from size #14 to #24. This pattern can represent any number of Mayflies. The other dry fly I have to have in my boxes is the Stimulator. This is a great fly because by changing the color and/or size you can imitate a lot of different natural flies. Dark brown or black can be used to imitate dark stone flies, while yellow can imitate yellow stones or Sallies. You can add legs and make it like a grass hopper or tie it in smaller sizes like #14 or #16 to imitate Caddis flies. I like to also tie up some grass hoppers and Blue Duns for the Penasco. The last few years, I have used them exclusively there during the summer months there.

If you tie, your list might include some of these flies and may have other that I might not have. I have listed ones that I always have used. I also place flies on the list for specific rivers or bodies of water which I don't mention here because the article would turn out to be too long. The main thing is to write it down or save it on a computer (or other devise) so you can retrieve it later.