Dry Flies

Chubby Chernobyl

The Chubby Chernobyl is a high-floating terrestrial fly pattern designed to imitate large insects like grasshoppers, beetles, and stoneflies.

With its foam body, rubber legs, and wing profile, this fly creates a big, visible footprint on the water, making it ideal for fishing fast currents and rough water. Its buoyancy allows it to support dropper nymphs beneath, making it a great choice for hopper-dropper rigs.

The Chubby Chernobyl is especially effective during the summer and fall when large terrestrial insects are abundant, drawing aggressive strikes from trout and other fish species.

Chubby Chernobyl (Micro)

It's everything you love about the Chubby in a smaller size. Tied down to size 14, this is a great variation of the classic for small streams and blue lines.

The Micro Chubby imitates everything from beetles to small grasshoppers to large stoneflies. Hungry, wild trout see this small fly as a bite-size full meal.

Elk Hair Caddis

This fly is an excellent pick for turbulent waters, with a hackle body that allows the fly to avoid getting dragged under. It is a highly mobile fly, skittering along the surface and creating enticing movement that is highly tempting to fish. It imitates emerging caddis trying to leave the surface of the water. The hackle and elk hair wing of this dry fly allow it to bounce along the waters surface instead of becoming waterlogged.

That being said, this fly can also be used on calmer waters, as it can catch some serious air before touching down lightly on a lightly rippling surface. It is best used for trout, but also has success with smallmouths and panfish.

Missing Link

The Missing Link Fly is an innovative dry fly pattern designed to imitate a variety of emerging insects, such as caddisflies, mayflies, and midges. Its unique construction features a parachute-style hackle with a trailing shuck, creating a silhouette that suggests an insect transitioning from nymph to adult.

The Missing Link sits low in the water, making it highly effective during hatch periods when trout are targeting emergers. Its versatility and lifelike appearance make it a valuable fly to have on hand for selective fish feeding on emerging insects.

Parachute Adams

This versatile dry fly is a popular choice on rivers throughout the world. It’s easy to cast and easy to see, with a bright white post and dark body. It is visible even in bright sun or dim light, and rises quickly. It can imitate a variety of small flies, such as mayflies, but can also imitate a Caddis fly. This makes it a great option when fish are feeding unpredictably, or if you’re not entirely sure what they’re feeding on in a new area you have not fished yet.

It was designed by Leonard Halladay from Mayfield, Michigan in 1922, at the request of his friend Charles Adams. Since its creation, the Adams has been considered one of the most popular, versatile, effective, and best-fishing dry flies of all time.

Parachute Ant

The Parachute Ant is a highly effective terrestrial dry fly pattern that imitates an ant struggling on the water’s surface.

Its parachute-style hackle helps it land softly and float low in the water, mimicking a realistic silhouette that fish find irresistible. The dark, segmented body and white parachute post make it easy to spot in various lighting conditions, while the fly’s small profile makes it a great option during summer months when ants are common.

The Parachute Ant works especially well for trout in slower-moving pools and eddies, where fish are keen to feed on terrestrial insects.

Stimulator

This fly is somewhat of a spin-off on the Elk Hair Caddis, but sit son a longer-shanked hook with more hackle. It also utilizes hair that is naturally more buoyant, as it is designed to be twitched hard on the surface. It imitates several types of stoneflies and can be tied in various colors and sizes for wherever it is you might be fishing.

Emergers

Improved Blue Wing Olive Sparkle Dun

The Blue Wing Olive is a simple yet effective emerger fly that imitates one of the most common insects in the world’s waters. Especially from September to November, you should always carry Blue-Winged Olives, as these are one of the most abundant hatches during that time of the year.

There are many flies that represent these species (such as the aforementioned Pheasant Tail nymph and the Parachute Adam) but this fly is more simple to use and a must-have in your dry fly box. These flies usually hatch in mid-morning on cloudy days and work well in slower currents along banks. Wherever you live, you are almost guaranteed to encounter the live, actual version of this insect–so make sure you have its replica on hand to land some monster trout.

Nymph & Wet Flies

Bead-head Caddis Nymph

The Bead Head Caddis Nymph is a staple in any angler’s fly box, designed to imitate the underwater larvae stage of a caddisfly. Its bead head provides extra weight, allowing the fly to sink quickly and drift naturally along the bottom where caddis larvae are often found.

The body is typically tied with natural dubbing, giving it a buggy appearance, while the bead adds a bit of flash to attract attention. This fly is particularly effective in rivers and streams with strong caddisfly populations and can be fished year-round, especially in fast-moving currents.

Bead-head Hare's Ear Nymph

The Bead Head Hare's Ear Nymph is a classic and versatile fly pattern that imitates a wide variety of aquatic insects, particularly mayfly nymphs. Its body, made from coarse hare's ear dubbing, creates a natural, fuzzy appearance that mimics the texture of nymphs found in the water.

The added bead head helps the fly sink quickly and adds a bit of flash to catch a trout’s attention. This nymph is effective in both rivers and still waters and can be fished throughout the year. Its versatility makes it a reliable fly for catching trout feeding subsurface.

Bizarro Jerry

The Bizarro Jerry is a variation of the rubber-leg stone fly. It's is a rugged and attractor style nymph pattern, a favorite meal of big trout. Featuring rubber legs & a CDC collar, these features give it enhanced movement and lifelike action in the water, this fly excels in fast-flowing streams and deep runs. The heavy bead head help it sink quickly, making it perfect for fishing deep pockets and riffles where stoneflies are likely to be found. The Bizarro Jerry is especially effective in the spring during stonefly hatches but works well year-round in many waters.

Black Stone Fly Nymph

Smaller black stone flies can be super effective in the winter months right into March. Fished in a bouncing on the bottom method in the cold months these flies need to be in the fish zone, because trout won?t expend much energy to nab a meal.

In the warmer months I fish these much bigger, they imitate the salmon fly nymph and later the golden stones. Use these bugs when nothing seems to be rising.

Bloodspot Egg

Egg patterned-flies aren’t ideal for all situations, but work well during the spawning season (but don't fish over actively spawning fish) and for stocked fish. The reason why these flies work best during spawning is because this is the time of the year when there are other loose eggs from competitors hanging about in the water.

Fish will naturally strive to eat eggs because they are heavy in protein and other nutrients–plus, they’re easy to target as they don’t fight back! Egg flies can be tied using simple egg yarn (such as Glow Yarn) or with impaling beads.

Pat's Rubber Legs (Girdle Bug)

No flybox is complete without a few Rubber Legs in it. Tie this attractor nymph in brown, green, gray, yellow, purple, and black to attract trout of every size to your line.

Tying this fly in different weights – with and without a bead – can be a great way to have a flexible fly for all levels of the water-column.

Pheasant Tailed Nymph

This fly is the quintessential mayfly imitator. With a dark brown color and slim shape, it is deceptive in its imitation as a mayfly and moves quickly in the water.

This fly is easy to tie at home for beginning fly-tyers, as it can be kept slender and made out of natural materials. It’s not a flashy tie, but it mimics a wide variety of bait species and has an established reputation for catching loads of fish.

Prince Nypmph

Prince nymphs are skilled at drawing in fish no matter what the weather. With a classic trout fly pattern, it mostly imitates stoneflies or mayflies. Its wire-ribbing stands out against its dark body, attracting curious trout. This classic trout fly is a must-have in any fly fisherman?s tackle box.

Sexy Walt's Worm

The Sexy Walt's Worm is a modern variation of the classic Walt's Worm, designed to imitate a variety of bottom-dwelling aquatic insects, especially caddis larvae and annelids. It features a simple yet effective body, usually crafted from natural dubbing with a bit of sparkle or flash, and is tied with a tungsten bead for added weight.

The Sexy Walt's Worm sinks quickly, making it a great choice for nymphing in deeper runs and fast-moving water. Its buggy appearance and movement make it highly attractive to trout, particularly in rivers and streams with abundant insect life.

Squirmy Worm

The Squirmy Worm is a simple, effective way to fish for trout with worms. It is simple to tie, made of a single piece of chenille and a hook. It can easily be tied in a variety of colors and weights in just a few minutes. It’s especially effective in muddy, high waters.

Zebra Midge

Zebra midges are often used as a second-fly in a two-nymph setup but don’t have to be. These should be used often in spring creeks as they are effortless and can attract fish of any size.

It is effective on emerging fish or adults on the surface, but can also be used a foot beneath the surface. A glass beads on this midge helps it not sink – with a little bit of floatant it will hang right where you want it to. It works best when small mayflies are active making it a good choice in the fall as well as in the spring.

Streamers

Better Bugger (Wooly Bugger)

The wooly bugger is a traditional fly that works well for catching trout and several other cold-water species. It is an older variety of fly, but combines all the right moves with the best profile for catching tons of fish. It has a specific pulsating action and, when purchased in various sizes and colors, can attract several species of fish.

It can be tied with several strands of tinsel or with a metal cone head to make it flashier and heavier, but the unweighted and unadorned version is more popular.

Mini Sex Dungeon

Hang in there for a longer video packed to the gills with insightful tips to tie this must-have streamer. Although you may think of Dungeons as a big-water streamer, these mini-Dungeons will pull trout out from under structure, out from the bank, and up from the deep. Make sure you have this pattern tied in multiple colors to target aggressive trout and bass.

Muddler Minnow

This scruffy-looking fly can be fished in a number of ways, and has the ability to mimic several different prey species.

When lubricated with floatant, it rides on the surface of the water like a grasshopper. When wound through deep pools, it looks more like a sculpin. It can even imitate mice, crickets, and cicadas. It is best used in darker waters or low-light conditions.

Designed for trout, steelhead, & salmon, it is also an excellent fly for bass fishermen.

The Bug

The Bug is a versatile and innovative streamer pattern designed to mimic a wide range of prey, from baitfish to crayfish and leeches. Known for its minimalist design, the Bug features a combination of natural and synthetic materials that create an enticing movement in the water, even with subtle twitches.

It’s tied with a large profile but remains lightweight, making it easy to cast and effective for targeting predatory fish like trout, bass, and pike. The Bug excels in a variety of water conditions, offering excellent versatility and a reliable option for enticing aggressive strikes.