Strawberry - tubing

[Joe_Dizzy]

I wonder how much these variations matter and how much it's just having something at the right level in the water column? 

I haven't been out for a few days, but I was till catching a few on dries -- mostly ants -- as of last Friday evening.

You're definitely onto something regarding pattern selection. Available food at the level trout are feeding is the key. Pattern selection, in my opinion, should be driven in part by what you have confidence in. Assuming food items and level in the column take priority, you will naturally stick with a pattern that you have confidence in. And that helps to keep you focused on locating feeding fish as opposed to cycling through your fly box in search of the magic fly.

In the case of the Carey Special, it's an effective damselfly/dragonfly impression. These two food items are featured on the Jun/Jul menu as the nymphs migrate towards shore to hatch. Carey Special won't catch squat in Apr/May (in my experience), but it's a killer once the water temps get into the 55-60* F range.

The Stillwater Bug has become a confidence fly for me. I'll have it tied onto my tippet the night before a trip and fish it all morning. I landed more than 2 dozen fish on Monday at Strawberry... 14 of those came on the Stillwater Bug. Fish were near the surface swirling on egg-laying midges and emerging micro-caddis, but they're opportunistic so they simply cannot pass up a properly presented fly at the level they are feeding at.