Fly Selection

I'm not the smartest man in this world. I know that's hard for some of you to believe, but just ask my wife and she can get into the nitty-gritty details with you. Anyway, the point is this: I'm not the smartest man in the world, but I can usually pick out a fly that will give at least decent results. The trick is to find that balance between the S.W.A.G.(Scientific Wild-A** Guess) method and going way overboard w/ stream thermometers, pH testers and bug seines. Just take a second to be observant, look at the water and the situation before you hop in and start rifling through all 8 of your fly boxes. For example, the other day I was walking toward a river through a field of grass, and there were hoppers flying everywhere. You could hear their annoying "clack-clack-clack" as they drifted on the breeze. Wait a second, breeze? Does that mean some of these succulent Trout Biscuits could end up in the water? And would trout rather eat a huge amount of protein in one bite if it's readily available, than eat a couple hundred midge larva to get the same amount? I felt a hypothesis beginning to form in my feable mind...