Dry fly fishing is the pinnacle of our sport. Every angler wishes to be on a solitary stream with an epic dry fly hatch. Fish, rising to the surface of the river eagerly sipping duns. Dry fly fishing is what we all hope for.. Being prepared for a day on the water with the correct dry fly fishing flies is critical. Finding yourself in an epic insect hatch without dry fly patterns is a bad place to be.
I have put together a list of my favorite 24 dry flies, that I always have in my dry fly boxes. The list below is comprised of mayflies, caddis flies, midges, attractor flies and terrestrials. The goal is to create a list that covers your bases for the most common hatches you will encounter fly fishing. I like a fly pattern that is versatile, so some of them are imitative and some are impressionistic. Of course, these flies are just a few of my favorites.
I fly fish almost exclusively in the the Western United States, so this list reflects that in many ways. That being said, many of these fly patterns will work well for Eastern anglers too. I have broken down the list by hatch and included when, where and how to fish them. If you have some favorite fly patterns, comment below, as it is always fun to hear what other anglers prefer to use too.
Elk Hair Caddis
When: May to October
Where: Easten and Western Anglers
Why: The Elk Hair Caddis is one of my favorite dry fly patterns. It is versatile. Tied in black, brown, or orange it covers almost every caddis species that will hatch through the entire fly fishing season. Tied with a deer hair wing and hackle, it floats well. It can withstand all types of water without sinking. It will even work well during some mayfly hatches, like PMD's.
How: The elk hair caddis can be fished solo or in tandem with other flies. I like to fish it with a piece a foam in a two fly dry fly setup. Using a 7.5' leader I add 24'" of tippet to the end of the leader and leave a "4-5 inches of tag end. Add the elk hair caddis to the tag end, and then add the piece of foam to the very end of leader. This rig allows you cast the foam tight to the banks. The elk hair caddis fished above the foam on a tag end will bounce around and move naturally on the water's surface.
X Caddis Emerger
When: May to October
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: Trout will often focus on emerging caddis pupae in the surface film of the river. They will often refuse a dry fly that rides high on the water's surface. In this situation, I prefer a pattern that floats low in the water. The x caddis is tied with deer hair wings, and is similar to an elk hair caddis. The main difference, is that it doesn't have hackle and incorporates a antron pupal shuck for added realism.
How: I fish the x caddis solo or in tandem with other dry flies. This fly floats well, so when dressed with floatant fish along fastbanks, flats, or on riffles. It is a productive fly for catching trout when there is no hatch to match. I like to prospect with the x caddis, as it usually produces some strikes.
Missing Link Caddis
When: Summer
Where: The entire United States
Why: The missing link caddis is one of my most productive dry fly patterns that I always keep in my fly box. Depending on the size it is tied in, it can represent emerging or crippled mayflies, caddis flies, and tied in smaller sizes even midges. The upright deer hair wing and calf tail fibers give this dry fly a buggy appearance that produces well in a variety of dry fly fishing situations. Especially, when you cannot tell which particular insect trout are eating.
How: The missing link caddis can be fished solo or with other dry flies. I prefer fishing flies simliar to this pattern when there are multiple hatches occurring in the summer. Trout love this buggy fly because it is versatile and covers multiple hatches at once. It floats well too. Whether you are fishing to single rising fish on a slow flat or prospecting while floating down the river, this is an excellent fly. Don't leave home without it.
CDC Caddis Emerger
When: May, June, July, August, September
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The CDC caddis is similar to the elk hair caddis. The main difference, is the addition of a CDC wing. CDC is a type of feather with incredible buoyancy and life like movement. It also replaces bulky feathers to create fly patterns with a slim profile. I prefer patterns with these properties. In addition, this pattern rides lower in the water, so it can imitate both the adult stage or emereger phases of the caddis lifecycle.
How: This is one of my more effective dry fly patterns when presenting flies on slower flats, and any type of water where trout have time to inspect the fly. It works well when the x caddis or elk hair caddis receive refusals or won't produce strikes. For fly fishers, the draw back to this fly, is that it will drown easier in heavy or fast water.
Parachute Adams
When: Year Round
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: This is one of the best impressionistic mayfly patterns to keep in the fly box. Depending on the size of the fly, it can cover midge hatches in the smaller sizes, and brown drakes or green drakes in larger sizes. It is one of those fly fishing flies that even transcends species. Not only have I caught trout with the parachute Adams, but I have even caught perch with it.
How: The parachute Adams can be fished solo or in tandem with a wet fly emerger pattern or as a searching fly pattern. Fishing flies with versatility is critical to covering lmultiple insect hatches. Fly fishers that carry permanent markers in their kit, and can change the color of the fly when needed.
Parachute Pheasant Tail
When: Summer to Fall
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: Pheasant tails are some of the best nymph fly patterns in an anglers inventory. Most mayfly species are brown in color, so pheasant tails imitate a wide range of mayfly species with a single pattern.
The Parachute Pheasant Tail by Fulling Mill brings the same versatility that the nymph fly does. Choosing the right size fly to match the natural insects on the water allows you to match multiple hatches with a single fly. In addition, the pheasant tail body is durable. It can catch multiple trout and the pheasant tail fibers can withstand the punishment. These characteristics, in conjunction with the visible wing post, make it one of the more effective dry fly patterns.
How: While it can be fished as a single fly along banks, I like to fish it as a point fly when fishing flies in tandem. Shallow riffles and gravel bars is where this pattern shines. I love this fish this pattern to pods of rising cutthroat on gravel bars and it always seem to work well for me.
CDC Mahogany Dun
When: Summer and Fall
Where: Western United States
Why: This is one my favorite mayfly dry fly patterns. You can find this on RiverBum.com as we don't carry this fly at the moment. I fish mostly on big western rivers. My fly selection often needs to match the hatch exactly. This fly meets that need. The CDC Mahogany Dun is one of those flies that brings success day in and day out. If you are into fly tying, this fly tied in smaller sizes and in different colors can represent a wider range of insects other then just mahogany duns.
The CDC wing make this fly float low in the film of the water. Trout can perceive this fly as an emerger or adult. There is even a soft hackle wet fly version of this pattern that works well too. I would never leave home without this fly, and if you fish East coast rivers and streams, then you might consider this pattern too.
How: I always fish this fly pattern as the second fly in a two dry fly setup. My fly selection for the fist fly is usually a parachute or hackle style dry fly. Dress CDC Mahogany duns wing with shake dry and make sure to have desiccate to dry the fly as needed. Once it gets eaten a few times, CDC flies tend to sink underwater. This is the downside to this pattern. If trout refuse this pattern, then switch to a cripple pattern, as this will usually result in a few additional eats.
Carven's Mole Fly
When: June, July, August, and September
Where: Western and Eastern Anglers
Why: This is one my favorite Umpqua dry fly patterns when trout are porpoising in the surface film and are holding up high in the water column. Similar to Tenkara patterns, the CDC wing allows the fly to hold in a vertical position in the surface film of the water. I am not sure why it is so effective, but in terms of fishing flies being successful at catching trout, this one does it's job well.
How: Similar to fishing spinner patterns, this fly is best fished with another easy to see dry fly as the point fly, and the mole fly as a trailer fly. A sighter fly allows you to have a better reference to where the mole fly is and to detect strikes. It doesn't do well in rough water, so dress the CDC wing and fish slower water where trout have plenty of time to inspect flies.
Rusty Spinner
When: July and August
Where: Western Anglers
Why: One of the most underrated portions of the PMD hatch that anglers often over look is the evening spinner fall. Trout love a good a spinner fall, as these are high calorie meals that are easy to catch. Fly fishing in the evening on rivers such as the Henry's Fork, fly fishers are met often met with thousands of rising fish. When trout on the spinners they will often refuse or ignore all other dry flies presented to them. The rusty spinner is a one of those simple but effective dry fly patterns. Rust color dubbing with antron wings imitates a PMD spinner perfectly
How: I always fish a rusty spinner as a trailer in tandem with a high vis dry fly as my point fly. The draw back to the rusty spinner is that it is almost impossible to see on the water. The hi vis point fly is there to give you a frame of reference to where your spinner pattern is. If a fish rises a 1'-2' in radius to your sighter fly then set the hook. It is a guessing game, but it is challenging and exciting!
Loop Wing Emerger
When: Spring, Summer and Fall
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The loop wing emerger is similar to the captive dun with a CDC loop wing. It can be tied to represent many different hatches, so anglers East and West can take advantage of this pattern. Smaller sizes can represent BWO's or PMD's. Larger sizes can represent flavs or green drakes with great success.
How: Fish this fly as a trailer fly in a two fly dry fly setup. Dress the wing with frogs fanny and apply saliva to nymphal shuck and tail portion of the fly so it sits in the surface film.
Film Critic Emerger
When: June, July, and August
Where: Western Anglers
Why: I like the film critic, because it could be a emerger or cripple pattern. The antron wing also makes this one of the more bouyant fly patterns for fishing this style of fly. I use it primarily for PMD hatches, but have seen it tied in smaller sizes for BWO's and larger sizes for green drakes and even brown drakes, so if you are Eastern angler, then you might want to try this for fly fishing Eastern hatches.
How: I always fish this in tandem with an imitative dry fly as my first fly, and the film critic as my second trailer fly.
Klinkhammer's Emerger
When: Year Round
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The klinkhammer is a classic fly pattern. It hangs well in the meniscus of the surface water. I like this emerger pattern, because it can handle rougher water. If you fish from drift boats, it can be presented along faster banks, and will not sink like other CDC emerger patterns.
How: Fish the klinkhammer in conjunction with a piece of foam. Look for gravel bar, flat water, and seams, and the back sides of pools to present both flies. Many times, I catch smaller trout on the klinkhammer, and larger trout on the piece of foam. This double dry fly rig covers all your bases.
Bighorn PMD
When: July and August
Where: Western Anglers
Why: When it comes to the PMD hatch, I have my favorite flies that I like to fish because much of the summer fishing season focuses around this hatch. This pattern tied in pink with flash around the abdomen really seems to catch the fishes attention. In addition, the post makes this a dry fly easy to see. I usually fish this as my point fly when fishing riffles.
How: My preferred way to fish the big horn PMD, is in tandem with either a split case pmd or hunch back infrequence PMD emerger nymphs on a greased piece of tippet. The Bighorn PMD will get lots of eats on it's own, but it also acts a micro strike indicator for the unseen emerger pattern that will often be eaten underwater.
Comparadun Patterns
When: June, July, August, September
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The comparadun is a versatile fly that works well no matter where you fish. Again, depending on the size and color you choose, it could represent a myriad of insect species that hatch both East and West. This makes it a valuable fly fishing pattern. The fan like hair wing antron shuck, keeps the fly low in the water imitating emerging mayflies
How: Fish this pattern solo or in tandem with a more traditional adult fly pattern. Make sure to dress the wing with plenty of floatant, as the drawback to this pattern is that it sinks a little easier then other emerger or cripple fly patterns.
Rene Harrop's Last Chance Cripple
When: June, July, August, and September
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: Rene Harrop is a master at using CDC to imitate aquatic insects. The Last Chance Cripple is one of those must have mayfly patterns. I have primarily fished this pattern in the smaller sizes for the PMD hatches, but it is tied in different sizes and colors for various hatches that both Eastern and Western anglers could use. When all other fishing flies fail to work, and fish are a eagerly rising to a hatch, I will switch to a cripple. This is by far my favorite cripple pattern, as it is tied sparse and it works well on the Henry's Fork River. These are some the most selective trout in the country, so it will probably work well for you too where ever you fish.
How: You can fish this fly as a solo dry fly, just barely dusting the CDC wing with frog's fanny. I like to take a small but of saliva between my thumb and pointer finger and apply it the tailing shuck of the fly. This allows the back half of the fly to sit down in the meniscus of the water.
Renee Harrop's Captive Dun
When: July and August
Where: Western Anglers
Why: The captive dun has a CDC loop wing that imitates an emerging PMD mayfly. It hangs just in the surface film, but it also is just as effective when it sinks, making this a pseudo wet fly.
How: I start by dressing the cdc wing case with frog's fanny. If it starts to sink redress it, but often it is taken by trout underwater. This fly doesn't handle rough water well, so fish it on gravel bars and flatter slower water.
Above is a great variation of the Captive Dun. You can find this and more color variations at Fly Fishing the Sierra here.
Stimulator
When: June, July, August, September, October
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The stimulator, tied in different colors and sizes can represent various insects depending on the time of year. Larger sizes in orange, yellow and brown can imitate golden stones, salmonflies, or even grasshoppers. Smaller versions represent caddis and even yellow sallys.
How: I like to fish a smaller stimulator in late summer and fall. The larger versions come in handy in spring, fished as a single fly tight to the banks. Adding a small wet flies or nymph patterns as droppers is effective too during the summer months.
Chubby Chernobyl
When: Late Spring, Summer and Fall
Where: Eaatern and Western United States
Why: Tied in different sizes and colors the chubby can be both imitative or an attractor pattern. This is one of my most effective dry fly patterns for a majority of the spring, summer, and fall. It works exceptionally well for dry dropper rigs when you need to suspend heavy or large nymphs.
How: While I like many colors and sizes of this fly, I really like to fish the black foam with a red or purple dubbed body. In wither of these color combos, it is one of the more effective attractor patterns on cloudy days.
Griffiths Gnat
When: All Year
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: Midge hatches are found year round in all parts of the country. Midges will often form clumps on the water. These are amazing meal opportunities for eager trout. This is especially true in the winter months.
How: You can fish this fly solo, but similar to the rusty spinner, it is very difficult to see on the water. There is also a hi vis version, of the Griffith's gnat too. When fishing a midge hatch, I like to double my chances and fish two small dry flies in tandem.
The first fly is usually a very small parachute Adams. Then I add a Griffith's gnat as a trailer fly to the first fly. I mainly use my parachute Adams as point of reference to where my Griffiths gnat is. If a trout rises within a foot or two of my first fly I set the hook.
Water Walker
When: May, June, July, August, September
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The water walker is hands down the most realistic stonefly pattern out there. It is one of my favorite fly fishing flies when fishing big Western rivers when adult stoneflies are present.
Tied with thin foam wings, depending on what color it is tied in, it resembles a wide range of stonefly species. It rides low in the water, and when twitched or skated, it resembles a golden stonefly, salmonfly, or mutant stone running across the water.
How: Most stonefly species will run or run and pause when they hit the surface of the water. The wake and impression on the water's surface will attract trout holding high in the water column. Fish this fly as a single piece of foam, so you can get it as tight to the banks as possible.
Raise your rod tip and vibrate it gently. The fly will run across the water. You can dead drift the fly too, or twitch it and dead drift it. It works on banks as well as flat water. The down fall of this fly pattern is that isn't super buoyant, so it doesn't float wet flies particularly well. Next to throwing streamers, skating the water walker is my most enjoyable way to fly fish for trout.
Bjorn's Kamikaze Salmon Fly
When: Spring
Where: Western Anglers
Why: Bjorn's Kamikaze salmonfly offers fish a large profile. I like this pattern, because the addition of the full antron wings and multilayer foam body give it an incredible amount of buoyancy. One of my favorite ways to fish the Salmon fly hatch is to swing a Pat's rubber leg up under overhanging bushes. This fly has the ability to float a larger size #6 Pat's rubber leg and still catch fish on the top fly.
How: I use this fly as the dry in a dry dropper rig. Add a size #6 or #8 rubber leg as your dropper fly. Cast as close to the banks as possible and swing your nymphs up under bushes and cut banks at the end of your drift. This is an effective way to catch trout that get over looked by other anglers.
Gee's Supafly
When: May, June, July, August, and September
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: My foam fly selection always includes Gee's Supa fly, because it works for stone fly hatches as well as a grasshoppers. The best attribute of this pattern is that the Don King wing sits upright allowing this fly to float dropper nymphs well. It has all the fish catching attributes that the water walker has, but it is more buoyant, therefore more versatile.
For Eastern fly anglers, you'll find the eastern species in small quantities in clean, unpolluted rivers. It's not very common and not as prolific as it's western cousin.
How: I like to fish this pattern with a dropper nymph, or just as a solo piece of foam as tight to the bank as possible. The golden stone version works well for me when I color the yellow dubbing with small amounts of red permanent marker. Adding some attractor color attributes to the fly seem to make this pattern stand out to trout.
Purple Haze
When: Year Round
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: The purple haze is one my favorite attractor patterns. Trout's eyes have the ability to detect a wide range of colors, but purple particularly stands out against the browns, greens, and blues that are common in their surroundings. This makes the purple haze one of the more effective dry fly patterns when fishing attractors when there is no hatch to match.
How: It can be fished in all the same ways that normal dry flies are fished, but I have had lots of luck with this pattern in between hatches and on the banks. It is a parachute style dry fly, so dressed with lots of floatant it works well in faster water along banks. While it doesn't imitate a particular insect, it has the correct profile and is highly visible to fish, making this an excellent searching pattern.
If we don't have this in stock, try the Parachute Adams. The color purple doesn't matter the fish as much as it looks pretty to us anglers.
Galloups' Ant Acid
When: July, August, September
Where: Eastern and Western Anglers
Why: Kelly Galloup is well known in the fly tying world, and he developed this pattern. Ants were here long before humans, and they will be here long after we are gone. Ants are found in almost every part of the world. Trout love them along with grasshoppers and beetles. Terrestrials play an important role in the food chain, filling in for waning aquatic insects as the summer heat drags on.
I love the Ant Acid, as it incorporates legs that give it realistic movement on the water. The deer hair wings help make it easy to see and keep it floating. It is also tied with contrasting dubbing colors, so it provides and enhanced silhouette when seen from below.
How: I like to fish this ant pattern late in August or in September. Even if there aren't ants around, it is an excellent searching pattern for late season anglers looking to capitalize on trout keyed into terrestrials. I usually fish this as trailer fly off a piece of foam. The inside bends of riffles, grassy banks, and along slower seam lines are the ideal place to find trout looking up for ants, beetles, or grasshoppers.
You can find other ant fly patterns here.
