How to Choose a Fly Selection

Many fly fishermen are avid collectors of fly patterns and carry multiple fly boxes to hold them all; thus the reason fly vests have so many pockets. While this is often not necessary on some the larger streams and rivers where hatches of a particular species of insect happen regularly during the same month and even on the same day and same time of day each year, it is helpful to have a wide ranging selection of flies when fishing the smaller streams because hatches are not nearly as predictable on such steams. Also, it is important to be aware that trout do have small teeth which can be very hard on a fly. Thus, it is a good rule of thumb to carry at least three flies of any given pattern and size so that if you happen to find a pattern that is catching fish that day, your day won't end early because you have run out of flies.


How do I Choose the Right Trout Fly Pattern?

As you approach the stream, take some time to observe the surface of the water and the air above it to see if any insects are presently hatching. If so, then capture one and choose a fly pattern to match it in size and color (called matching the hatch). However, if there is no hatch presently happening, matching the hatch is not possible. So, instead, try examining the streamside foliage (especially the undersides of leaves) to see what types of insects inhabit the stream you are fishing and again choose a fly pattern to match in size and color. But, since insect activity tends to lull during the period from mid-morning to late afternoon, then you might want to try prospecting with "attractor" patterns instead. Attractors are fly patterns that imitate natural insects in size and shape but are tied in bright, non-natural, color patterns to attract the trout and convince them to strike. In fact, dry fly patterns such as the Royal Wulff, Grizzly Wulff, Tennessee Wulff, Royal Coachman, Humpy, and Tellico are all examples of Attractor patterns that work well. In addition, you need to remember that trout are opportunistic ambush predators and, as long as they are not feeding selectively on a particular species of hatching insect, they will often attack almost anything that looks alive and edible.

However, when there is a hatch coming off, the trout will see an over-abundance of nymphs, pupae, emergers, or duns of the same size and color drifting in the water column and thus they tend to become very selective about the flies that that they will take for the duration of the hatch. So, when trout are actively feeding on a hatch, it is very important to capture and match the size, color, and stage of the particular insect they are presently feeding on.

Also, although dry flies are most fly fisherman’s favorite pattern to fish because it is exciting to be able to see the fish take the fly, the surface world is both alien and uncomfortable to trout so they avoid it as much as possible. Therefore, since trout often obtain up to 90% of their food underwater, sub-surface patterns are generally far more effective than dry flies. In addition, is it important to understand that during non-hatch periods, larger fish often prefer larger meals so the larger the fly you use, the larger the fish you are likely to catch. But, always keep in mind that there are exceptions to EVERY rule!


The Three-Color Attractor System -

For reasons that are not entirely clear, trout will sometimes strike a brightly colored May Fly, Caddis Fly, or Stone Fly pattern that does not closely resemble any fly that they are commonly used to seeing. Also, for reasons that are not entirely clear, tout seem to be attracted to and are enticed to strike by, certain colors. Therefore, when choosing Attractor fly patterns, I use my "Three-Color Attractor System". As the name implies, this system consists of the three colors trout seem to be most attracted to and which consists of flies that are predominately red, yellow, or green. For instance, the Royal Wulff, the Carolina Wulff, and the Tennessee Wulff fly patterns are quite possibly the most productive attractor dry fly patterns ever designed. Each of these patterns is tied to resemble an adult May Fly in shape although there are no naturally occurring May Flies in existence that actually exhibit the color combinations presented by the dark green, iridescent, peacock hurl and red, yellow, or green floss combined with white wings that these fly patterns present. Yet, each pattern has proven to be absolutely deadly for me on both wild and stocked trout. On the other hand, Red Wulffs, Grizzly Wulffs, and Green Wulffs as well as red, yellow, and green Humpies are also very effective Attractor patterns. Thus, at times when aquatic insect activity appears to be at a lull (such as the mid-morning to late afternoon hours) it is often helpful to use an attractor pattern in one of the above mentioned colors as a “search” pattern in order to find actively feeding trout. Thus, my favorite selection of flies for my "Three-color Attractor System" consists of Stimulators in red, yellow, and green (or olive) in size 10, Elk Hair Caddis in orange, yellow, and olive, Royal Wulffs (red), Carolina Wulffs (yellow), and Tennessee Wulffs (green) in size 12, and/or Red Wulffs, Yellow Wulffs, and Green Wulffs in size 12. In addition, it is helpful to realize that this three-color system can also be applied to nymphs in order to help you locate actively feeding fish that will not respond to a dry fly. For instance, in order to create a three-color attractor system using nymphs, you could choose a Royal Wulff nymph, a Pheasant Tail Sulphur nymph, and a green Golden Ribbed Hair's Ear nymph or, perhaps, a Firebug nymph, a Tellico nymph, and a Prince nymph. Also, if you have Caddis Flies and/or Stone Flies in your local waters, you might want to add a selection of Serendipity larvae in red, yellow, and olive as well a selection of Copper John larvae in red, copper, and green.


The Six-Color Imitator System -

The large majority of fly fishing books presently in print emphasize the need to carry a selection of flies that closely imitates the prevalent hatches on a given stream as closely as possible. While there is certainly merit in this approach, most of those books are written by authors who normally fish large streams on which the aforementioned hatches of specific species of insects hatch at the same time each month (and even at the same time of day!) every year. However, such is not the case with many small, mountain streams. Instead, hatches on these streams are both irregular and sporadic. So, instead of focusing on selecting specific fly patterns to match individual species, you may want to try using my "Six-Color Imitator System" instead. With this system, you carry fly patterns in six basic colors consisting of cream, yellow, green, gray, brown, and black. Thus, by carrying a selection of dry fly patterns in these six basic colors in sizes 12, 14, and 16, you can usually match any hatch you may encounter in both color and size closely enough to catch trout rising selectively to any May Fly or Caddis Fly hatch. Therefore, my preferred selection of dry fly patterns to use for this system are: Light Cahill's, Sulphur Dunn's, Adams Female, Blue Winged Olives, March Browns, and Black Gnats. Also, if you have hatches of large Green Drake May Flies in your area, then you might want to carry some Eastern Green Drake patterns in a size 6 or 8. In addition, most swiftly flowing streams harbor large populations of Caddis Flies (also called Sedge Flies). Thus, a selection of Elk Hair Caddis patterns in red, yellow, olive, gray, brown, and black is also very handy to have. In addition, it is helpful to realize that this six-color system can also be applied to nymphs in order to help you locate actively feeding fish that will not respond to a dry fly. For instance, in order to create a six-color imitator system using nymphs, I would choose a Light Cahill nymph, a Pheasant Tail Sulphur nymph, a green Golden Ribbed Hair's Ear nymph, an Adams nymph, a March Brown nymph, and a black Golden Ribbed Hair's Ear nymph.

In addition, while I am aware that there are numerous types of fly boxes available from numerous manufacturers ranging from purely utilitarian to fine works of art, over the years I have developed a particular affection for Myran fly boxes. Not only are they relatively inexpensive, they are lightweight and yet nearly indestructible (I have had mine for over fifteen years). But, I especially like the clear plastic divided into individual compartments because the clear plastic allows me to view my fly selection without having to open the box and the individual compartments allow me to carry more flies in a smaller space. In fact, I can generally fit a dozen of each pattern into each compartment without damaging the hackle which is more flies than I can place in a foam box of the same size. Consequently, I like to use an eighteen-compartment Myran box (see picture above) to house the size 12 dry flies that comprise my "Three-Color Attractor System" and my "Six-Color Imitator System" as well as a twelve-compartment Myran box to house my size 14 & 16 flies in the same patterns. Thus, by carrying the above mentioned patterns in both size 12, 14, and 16, I can generally attract even wary Browns during non-hatch periods and match most any hatch closely enough to fool the trout during prolific hatches.


Myran 18 Compartment Fly Box

Preferred Version (all flies in size 12) -

Black

Gnat

Blue Winged

Olive

Green Elk

Hair Caddis

Tennessee

Wulff

Green

Wulff

Green Stimulator

March

Brown

Sulphur Dunn

Yellow Elk

Hair Caddis

Carolina

Wulff

Yellow

Wulff

Yellow Stimulator

Female

Adams

Light Cahill

Orange Elk

Hair Caddis

Royal

Wulff

Red

Wulff

Red Stimulator


Variation #1 (all flies in size 12) -

Black

Gnat

Blue Winged

Olive

Green Elk

Hair Caddis

Tennessee

Wulff

Green

Humpy

Green Stimulator

March

Brown

Sulphur Dunn

Yellow Elk

Hair Caddis

Carolina

Wulff

Yellow

Humpy

Yellow Stimulator

Female

Adams

Light Cahill

Orange Elk

Hair Caddis

Royal

Wulff

Red

Humpy

Red Stimulator


Myran 12 Compartment Fly Box

Preferred Version (all flies in size 16) -

Black

Gnat

Blue Winged

Olive

Black Elk

Hair Caddis

Olive Elk

Hair Caddis

March

Brown

Sulphur Dunn

Brown Elk

Hair Caddis

Yellow Elk

Hair Caddis

Female

Adams

Light Cahill

Grey Elk

Hair Caddis

Cinnamon Elk

Hair Caddis


Variation #1 (all flies in size 16) -

Black

Gnat

Blue Winged

Olive

Green Elk

Hair Caddis

Green

Wulff

March

Brown

Sulphur Dunn

Yellow Elk

Hair Caddis

Yellow

Wulff

Female

Adams

Light Cahill

Orange Elk

Hair Caddis

Red

Wulff


Variation #2 (all flies in size 16) -

Black

Gnat

Blue Winged

Olive

Green Elk

Hair Caddis

Green

Humpy

March

Brown

Sulphur Dunn

Yellow Elk

Hair Caddis

Yellow

Humpy

Female

Adams

Light Cahill

Orange Elk

Hair Caddis

Red

Humpy

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