One of the fine fisheries that I have the pleasure of guiding is the Elk River in Fernie.  One of the funnest things, aside from the willingness of its cutthroat to eat dry flies, is the night before tying. Tying flies the night before a days fishing is some of the most fun fly pattern creation.  You don’t have to wait seasons or months to try out your ideas, you only have to wait till the next day, provided you can find a similar situation to test you patterns. I usually don’t tie too many of any one fly, 4-6 until they are proven to be a thing.  They often change and morph slowly even after becoming a thing . . . . . and then often times you cycle back around to something similar to where you started.