How many do I tie?

[Meskel]

Seeing that it is the winter time I find my evenings being filled with sitting by the fire and enjoying my favorite cocktail. And then when that gets boring I and my cocktail move to my tying station.

So this being my first winter tying season how many of each pattern should I tie?

Im sure that I looses an average amount of flies (like all of us) during the course of the year but being so new to this im not sure just how many that is. As it is right now I pick a pattern and just keep doing it till I run out of either materials or cocktails and then I just reload.

Another question do any of you experienced tiers have a set list of flies to tie or do you just wing it? No pun intended.

Thanks for the suggestions and info

Meskel.

[mandinga]

new patterns I usually tie a half dozen or less.

My go to flies I will tie a minimum of a dozen.

I will tie tons of glo-bugs in various sizes and colors.

[AndyK]

My fly boxes are divided into 20 fly "sheets". I fill up each of these sheets with the patterns I use the most. Four size eight (weighted and unweighted), four size six, etc. Largest are either size one or 1/0. Each box has four sheets or will hold eighty flies. I have two boxes set up this way. I have a third box that is mixed patterns. The fourth box is all egg patterns.

Egg Patterns

That should keep you busy for a few nights!!!

[Plem]

wow, ask your brother about the deal I got going last year. I have a "boat box" that is size large stacked boxes with a zipper front from Cabelas catelog, four small side loaded and label them "mayfly" "caddis" "stalmon fly/attractor" "streamer/egg/fn leeches" "terrestrials/hopper" and "nymphs"

I got this last winter and it is totally full now and I have 5-6 other boxes with more steelhead- dk/bt, leeches, bass, leeches, chum, skater for steelhead and lake.

My wife and kids go to bed about 8:30-9 and I stay up till 11, watching Clint Eastwood, **** or fly tying videos and will set my stuff out with a dozen hooks (trout) or 4 (steelhead), beer/wine and usually get my flies tied before the bad guy gets one between the eyes.

A lot of my ties/ideas come from the guys at the fly shops (Don @ River City, Joel @ Kaufmannn's, Jacob @ Country Sport and some really different stuff from Youngers in Salem at Creekside) or.... the 5-6 magazines that come out every other month that have 3-4 cool patterns in each.

This is worse than women if you can set your stuff up, leave it and then have a hour here or there to have a beer and mess with hooks.