Old faithfuls
Wherever anglers congregate, and spend more time conversing than their restless personalities would normally allow, discussions of fishing tactics will inevitably ensue, and some form of the following question is likely to be posed: if you could fish with only one fly or lure for the remainder of your life, what would you choose, and why? The tendency of anglers to make their hypothetical selections based on the perceived versatility of a lure or fly, highlights the aversion to arbitrarily-imposed limitations, and an unwillingness to sacrifice one’s exploratory freedom, that are reliable and quintessential characteristics of the archetypal angler.
Whether or not, and to what extent lure and fly selection influence fishing success, depends on the specific angling context in which the question is being asked. While spring creek dry fly fishing for brown trout may almost exclusively be a game of fly selection, big water lure casting for fish of the esox genus is more about locating aggressive fish. Nonetheless, anglers found in either of these starkly different settings will—at their own discretion—list certain flies or lures as ‘mainstays’ or ‘go-tos’ in their arsenal of tools. A lure or fly must be sufficiently reliable and productive to earn recognition as an ‘old faithful’, but what makes these baits so reliable and productive is a matter of much greater complexity.
What we find in lures like the in-line spinner, or flies like the clouser minnow, are a type of jack-of-all-trades bait, often with vast and general appeal, and few non-conformities or potentially unappealing irregularities. Go ahead and add the woolly bugger fly pattern, and Rapala Jointed Minnow lure to this list. All of the aforementioned baits are capable of imitating a wide array of the most common fish prey items, are available in a wide variety of sizes and colours, and can be fished in virtually any aquatic setting, requiring very little in terms of sophisticated techniques and presentation. Lures and flies that have a reliable baitfish-like profile, and a dependable colour scheme (e.g., mostly black or white) make good go-to options. Perhaps more importantly, a go-to lure or fly instills confidence, and eliminates one more variable (i.e., bait selection) that must be considered if the angler is to avoid the dreaded unsuccess referred to as a ‘skunking’.
Perhaps more than any other single factor, the amount of time one spends with a lure or fly in the water determines their degree of success in angling. This might sound almost insultingly obvious, but what’s less-obvious is how and why two anglers with equal fishing time will spend extremely unequal amounts of time actually fishing. In virtually all situations, I’ve found it best and most wise to begin fishing with a lure or fly that I consider a go-to, i.e., the type of offering that an active fish is less likely to pass up than any of my other options. This helps save any time that might be wasted tying knots, or worrying about the appeal of an elected bait. Departures from this strategy are only necessary, in my opinion, after the angler has determined that their presentation, location, and duration of effort have been sufficient to catch the target fish. No amount of experimentation with unusual and unproven baits is sufficient to solve problems related to a poor presentation, inability to locate fish, or a lack of time spent trying. Having witnessed the truth of this argument in a multitude of angling scenarios, I’ve resorted to the use of an old-faithful fly or lure, and a ‘grind-it-out’ fishing strategy on numerous occasions when things just weren’t going my way. If this article’s message could be summarized in a single statement, it would be this: when in doubt, tie on your old faithful, and grind until you’re sure there’s not a fish left that might bite it.
Whatever combination of excitement and relaxation best describes your criteria for a successful day’s fishing, most anglers can only benefit from reducing the complexity that is related to lure and fly selection. Resorting back to an old faithful in one’s fly or lure box is among the most important options that an angler must have, and not much is needed to convince anglers of this. In the end, all that we can really ask for is an unlimited amount of time, fish, and excitement, without having to worry about anything that might possibly be deemed extraneous. Did I mention that anglers have a bad habit of making unreasonable requests?