Are these the best fly patterns ever created?

How much difference a fly can make is a topic of much debate among fly fishermen. There are those who swear by their best fly patterns and personal favourites, and others who think it makes very little difference. Most sit somewhere in between.

I expect most anglers have experienced days when almost any pattern seems to catch fish. Many will also have fished on days when the fish appear to want only one thing – where one guy in the party can’t go wrong while everyone else struggles until they change to the same fly. I know I have seen this on numerous occasions.

Experience tells me that, although there are some circumstances where you can catch fish on almost any fly, there are other times where it’s important to match the prevailing food source of the fish – a particular nymph perhaps, or a fish egg or a fry imitation.

Some anglers may disagree. Salmon fishermen, for example, have no food source to match, as salmon don’t feed once they’re in the river. But they still take a fly. The fact that there is ever a ‘best fly’ – a pattern that the majority of fish are caught on, say an ‘Ally Shrimp’, a ‘Cascade’ or maybe a ‘Stoat’s Tail’ is perhaps down to the fact that those are the flies that most anglers are using. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This debate, I’m sure, will go on and on.

Wherever you stand on the issue, it’s hard to dispute the fact that, once the fly is on the end of the line, it has a much better chance of producing results than those that never come out of the box. For a fly to be successful, then, it needs to catch the eye of the fisherman – not just the fish.

And that’s where these flies come in. Tied by Spaniard, Jose Manual Ruiz Perez – AKA ‘Cholo’ – they are, quite simply, definitely the most stunningly and probably the best fly patterns we’ve ever seen.

Cholo fly tying

The artist: Cholo

Original article and images

About James Green

James Green loves nothing more than casting a fly in pursuit of salmon, seatrout or, when the opportunity arises, a tailing bonefish, tarpon or permit.