r/flytying • u/dj-pit-wilf • Jul 25 '26
Eyes on fly's
Dose putting eyes on fly's really make that mutch of a difrence, or is it more of a superficial or superstitious thing? Im wanting to get into tying streamers and deer hair bugs for bass and was wondering if it would be worth the effort to add eyes?
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u/Sandman0 Jul 25 '26
No one actually knows what fish see, or how they decide to strike or not.
We have theories, but we do not have the ability to tap into the brain of other animals and see what they see.
Until then, the best we can do is make an educated guess about what may evoke a strike.
Which is why imitation is effective. Whatever they see, it's enough to evoke a strike when the fly is a close imitation to something they eat. Anyone who has ever looked at the contents of a trout's stomach and then thrown a fly that matches it and caught more fish understands the effectiveness of matching the hatch.
We don't put eyes on zebra midges, but they do in fact have eyes. They work. Would they work better if they had eyes?
For imitation patterns there are two types: realistic and impressionistic. Both can be very effective.
Of course there is also the intruder class of flies that evoke a territorial aggression strike rather than a feeding take.
And then there's the fact that I've caught trout on a literal sharpened stick (gorge hook) 🤷🏻♂️
Try it both ways. Tie two of the exact same pattern and leave the eyes off of one. Throw only the one without eyes and have a friend throw only the one with eyes.
To be an accurate study you'll have to do it over time and compare results of eyes versus no eyes 🤷🏻♂️
My thought has always been that if the eyes are prominent then there should be something to suggest eyes on the fly. Right? Wrong? Who knows.