Too much Flash on the fly

[Lennie]

Hi, I have a question for fellow fly tryer's. On the weekend I was watching a video on trying and the presenter stated that you should only have mininum FLASH on your fly, because to much FLASH will scare the fish. That goes against what I was told when I fisrt learnt to try 20 years ago. SO THE QUESTION IS: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH FLASH WHEN TRYING FLIES?
Regards Lennie

[thunnus]

g'day lennie,

depends on the species and where you are fishing i guess. With flies that i use for tuna and golden trevs i try and keep the flash to a minimum - just a stand or 2 along the lateral line but other fish i guess lots of flash might be an asset.

one thing though - you can always cut flash out of a fly if it is too flashy - but never add more in once it is tied.

cheers, Justin

[Chris_Dunham]

Lennie,

As a broad generalisation the larger the fish and the more shallow the water the less flash you will need. We tie a pattern called the "Openshaw Deceiver" which is a hand sized profile fly on a 2/0 or 4/0 hook that works exceptionally well on large GT's (to 30kg) and queenfish. It only has a very small amount of red krystal flash for the gill rakers and thats it. Even one strand for a lateral line is too much in this particular situation.

Cheers,

Chris.

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[Maxg]

Well I once had a big longtail scoff a all mylar fly and it did not hesitate to eat it. I've had Queenfish eat them trevvors eat them and tailor simply eat silver flies with gusto.I don't think fish are bright enough to wonder about the same things anglers wonder about, they are simply fish without the capacity for logical thinking. They do however have to ingest tucker equal to 30% of their body weight every day just to keep going.
Spaniards eat big shiny spoons on a regular basis, and most lure eating fishes eat spoons which flash like hell. And flies are lures.
Cheers Max

[vince]

Hi lennie maybe if you fishing for trout you don,t want to use to much flash,I have made some salt water flies all they have on them is flash and works good.
cheers vince.

[Lennie]

Thanks for the help I will keep tying my flies with plenty of flash.