Other Peoples Secret Patterns

[Guest]

I was at the shore this summer and picked up a simple yet effective pattern that I have never seen in a shop, and never expect to. So far I have kept is secret, because I just don't feel right about passing it on. Maybe I am being silly.

[SDHflyfisher 0]

i wouldnt even share to close freinds maybe to a select few and maybe to someone who need help but that is it

[uncletube 0]

I have found from past experience just cause somebody gives you his best pat doesn't mean that it will produce the same for you. there are alot of varibles to consider. I fish several times a year at a trout park and have after taking several fish on one of my best have given them away without stipulation as to keeping it a secret , and have seen the same guy fish it with little success. The difference? presention, drift. the amount shot or the lack of, on and on , then again there is the one guy that it actually works better for than you, the difference? same reasons usaully. So why the big seceret stuff? If I get a good look at a pattern and it looks like it maybe something of use, its gone anyway.

Tube

[SDHflyfisher 0]

good point tube but there are the stingy types like me that if they could be would be purists that only fish dries

granted i don't have many secret patterns actually i don't think i have any but well ok i have no arguement so shut up

good point

[Steeldrifter 0]

I will share a "secrect" fly with good friends but i dont like to share it with anyone and everyone .

 

just my opinion

 

 

SD

[Guest]

If the guy was a stranger to you, I say why not put it on the internet and share it with the world? It's just a fly IMO and if it helps people catch more fish then I would share it with anyone listening.

[Guest]

If someone offers to share a fly with me, and makes no mention of it being a secret fly, or keeping it a secret I'll consider it as "share ware" and if it works would have no problem with sharing it. However, I would acknowledge that the fly was given to me & originated by such & such. I would probably ask if it's OK to share the pattern with others & who originated it! Give credit where due.

 

If the sharing is conditional on keeping it secret, then most certainly keep it such. If the offering person says, "here try this, it's my secret pattern" then take it as such & keep it secret unless that person specifically agreed it was OK to share it.

 

I feel that most flytyers don't mind their flies being shared, as long as proper credit is given.

 

Of course, if you don't want your "secret fly" to become known, then don't show it to anyone!

 

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

Well i guess it depends on what fish and where it is used .....meaning some of my fav. MI streams have very picky browns that have seen everthing a fly fisherman could think up thrown at them so if a "local" finds something that they havent gotten wise to yet (the fish) and shared it with me then i wouldnt want to tell everyone about it.

 

But on the other hand i would want people to share it with me if i didnt know about it so i guess it's kinda a double edged sword

 

SD

 

 

[Guest]

I was fishing with a guide on the Henry's Fork several years ago. The guide made me swear that I would not divulge his "secret" streamer that he was about to tie on my leader. He told me that the design for the pattern came to him in a dream one night.

 

When he took it out and showed me what it was, I started laughing, it was a Crappie jig. Black Maribou tied on a lead head jig hook. When I told him that it was hardly a "secret" in the South, he was crushed. He had never heard of Crappie or the jigs used to catch them. He probably first saw one in a catalog and forgot about it until his dream.

 

I don't feel bad about telling this because he doesn't guide anymore. He got married and got a real job.

 

[Guest]

The way I see it you have a choice

you either keep it completely to yourself or you show it to the world.

 

If you show it to a friend and it goes on down the line you could wake up one day to find somebody has patented it with a name other than the inventor's and some conglomerate is making bucks from the idea.

 

If you put on the internet you can at least put the credit where it is due and you will have the copyright on the publication. That's just the way I see it. I'm not sure how it stands legally. Check with your local flyfishing attorney. I mean local, as the law is different in different countries.

 

I voted - show it to the world.

 

[Flyfishingguru 0]

I think it would depend on the water in question. I probably wouldn't share it with other anglers in the same area. However, if I was on holiday fishing in say New Zealand, and I found a killer pattern from a guide or friend out there, then I see no problem in spreading the word about it back here in England.

 

However if someone asks for their pattern to be kept secret it should be respected.

 

Chris

[Guest]

Some people could'nt catch a fish with an atomic bomb let alone a "secret patten" eye Will !

 

I'll share anything in my pack, as long as its not my booze, my wife or a fly some one asked me never to kiss and tell.

 

 

[Guest]

I think uncletube and Jim Hester summed the situation up well. I have seen (and been the victim of) times when fishing the same fly as the other guy makes no difference because of subtle differences in the presentation. Also, I think if the guy (or woman) doesn't ask you to keep it a secret, then they are happy to share!

 

When I share mine, if I want it kept secret, I say so. Though I don't think I've ever asked anyone to do that. I do keep Honey Holes relatively secret though. I have one for big 'Gills that is on an extremely popular lake, is textbook conditions for good fish, is fishable from shore, yet in 9 years I have never seen another person fish it! In this time I've only shared it with my best friend because he is trustworthy with a secret.