Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing "Go to" fly

Wooly buggers and gold ribbed hares ear.

Wooly buggers....I prefer the Golden Retriever variety.

Griffith's Gnat, or cinnamon ant- size 22-26 is at the top of my list, but then again I'm kind of a "dry fly come hell or high water" guy who thinks anything bigger than a #20 ain't fair.

If you turned me upside down and shook me, a few nostalgic #20 Royal Wulffs would probably fall out of my pockets too. I still like them for prospecting new water.

Wow, 20"s!!!!! Don't think I have a fly smaller than a 14!!!

False. Pressured fish in clear water can be as finicky as a wild trout. Nip and run is the best you can get out of them when they are like that unless you use live bait. Where you live might be different but in the south we take sunfishing serious and thus they get spooky and finicky quick when they are fished hard.

You don't need any. I certainly didn't until I moved east. Fishing some of the limestone rivers up in PA has been an education and I've been a poor student.

On the good side, some of those clear shallow rivers have great scenery and yield some great fish.

No one loved to fish more than my kid brother. One day he was fishing from the rowboat and ran out of bait. He started catching bluegills on a waterlogged piece of cardboard he found in the bottom of the boat.

Irresistible for a Dry fly in fast pocket water
Parachute adams in slower pools

Hares Ear or Pheasant Tail for nymphing

I keep Size 14-16-18 in my vest.

Like Pugs said, the trout in the Penna and Maryland spring creeks that I have haunted for the last 30 years would laugh you off the water if you tossed them a #12 dry fly. Funnily though, regular sized streamers, nymphs, emergers, etc. can produce- especially for big browns. When it comes to dry flies in the meniscus you'd best be fishing pretty fine.

On calm Yellowstone water fish can be especially tough and matching the hatch might require 3 changes in 45 minutes. Add some chop to the surface and near anything works.

Up at Fishing Bridge, however, I've watched those same cuts come up and suck down cigarette butts.

I spent a couple alcohol infused evenings chatting with Ernie Schweibert (he dearly loved his scotch) and naturally the topic of hatch matching came up. After going back and forth on the subject he admitted that if he were stranded with just a rod and a couple of small Royal Wulffs he would merrily set about catching fish. And then Jim Bashline walked in and things went downhill from there...

(Seven Springs Resort, winter, 1991, Fly Tying Symposium)

The Ginger Quill was always the go to fly for me on the Stillwater and Yellowstone rivers where I grew up. A Gray Hackle Yellow wasn't too shabby either.

Ken

Nothing like small flies, 7X tippet and a 3 weight rod...

I fished a local tailwater yesterday with a 3 weight rod throwing size 20 & 22 midge pupa and olive WD40's.

Caught 5 on a black midge and when a few BWO's came off I used the WD40 to hook two more, all on 6x flurorocarbon.

Good fun!

Tailwater fisheries tend to proliferate tiny flies and patterns. These are Cutthroat caught on the Lamar in Yellowstone near the bank where small terrestrials are the key...

Shrap,

That is a great Cutthroat. I have fished the Firehole, the Madison and the Yellowstone in the park but not the Lamar. Looks like I missed the best fishing.

You likely won't find these and they are under your nose. Here's one from the Yellowstone..

Not just the South, and not just fished hard. I swear bluegill/redear can show trout a thing or two when it comes to inhaling and exhaling a fly in the blink of an eye. I also know I'm the only fly angler targeting these fish, and yet in August/July getting them to really commit to a bite just doesn't happen. Same spot in October, and it's a good sized (relatively, right?) 'gill per cast. One thing that I found worked fairly well for me in summer, was "Czech" nymphing when the fish got picky. No line outside the rod, a tight leader and hitting any hesitation in the movement of the sighter. A-N-Y hesitation...

Another vote for wooly boogers. I like olive the best, anywhere from size 14 up to 2/0.

Well for me, an Adams for dry flies, a size #18 or 20 just works 98% of the time, nymphs hare's ears and Pheasant tails, then a # 8 or 10 Wooly bugger black with peacock herl for the body and a couple of strains of pearl flash a bou in the tail dose it for me! Over the years I notice that from my records on the stream, my average sized fly has gotten smaller and sparser over the years! Commercial tied flies have to much material on them! Oh Griffiths Gnat in 22-26, those are a must have in your box!