Fly Assortments: A Practical Approach
We can all remember when we first started fly fishing. All winter you’ve planned for your first early season excursion to your favorite trout stream. Perhaps you spent the entire winter learning to tie flies. Maybe, you received a Feather-Craft Fly Selection from your significant other for Christmas. You might have even convinced your fishing buddies who tie their own flies that you will provide transportation, lodging, food and beverages for the trip if they furnished you with a few dozen of their distinctive patterns.
As the years pass, you gain more experience and knowledge of the sport. Then one day you realize you have six fly boxes in your vest, fully loaded, along with all of your indispensable paraphernalia. Looking like a Transformer from Cibertron, you sit down exhausted after a three-mile hike along the Youghiogheny River, the view of your feet obscured by the vests bulging pockets. Then finally the question arises. Do I really need all of these flies?
This article will help you narrow down your selection, providing you with a practical approach to choosing a fly assortment and arranging your vest for early, mid and late season. At times, deciding what flies to carry is mind-boggling. Lets start with a simple approach: Breaking down the seasons into late winter- early spring, mid spring-early summer and mid-summer-fall.
Late Winter-Early Spring
This season is usually when the weather is the most unpredictable. March, as seen recently, can be uncommonly warm or resemble mid- February conditions. Fishing this time of year, I find myself carrying two boxes of flies. One large box with an assortment of nymphs, wets and streamers that will make up the majority of the flies I use. The second box I carry is a small one that will have an assortment of midges along with early season flies such as Blue Wing Olives, CDC emerger patterns (my personal favorite) and small black caddis/stoneflies imitations. Often on sunny, late winter days, fish can be seen keying in on small midges along stream edges, providing exciting surface action.
Nymph and streamer selections should include the old staples such as hares ears, pheasant tails and San Juan worms in red, brown and tan. Fished in tandem with the pheasant tail, this can be a deadly combo on central Pennsylvania’s spring creeks. Wooly buggers, zonkers, Clouser minnows, leech patterns in black, olive and assorted colored streamers including white marabous will give you a strong arsenal. A white streamer often indicates an injured baitfish and triggers a trout to attack even when water temperatures are not optimum.
Mid-Spring-Early Summer
Okay, this is where it all starts. The waters are warming and the fish are becoming more active. You find yourself bouncing the bottom in the morning, or most of the day if you’re a hard-core nymph fisherman. Perhaps you will throw streamers along the edges to entice that big brownie you missed last fall. As the day warms you notice sporadic surface activity. Then you see those little dark mayflies on the water, struggling to get off the surface. For the next hour or so you lighten your tippet and enjoy some dry fly fishing. This is a magical time of year. Fish metabolisms are increasing. Their need to feed is constant.
Here are some of my recommendations for “prime time.” I find that my streamer and nymph box is pretty consistent throughout this season. Dry fly selection is probably the main concern. Choice of patterns, size, and color are what we tend to dwell on the most. Without any question the Adams is the most fished dry fly than any other pattern. The reason why? IT WORKS! I carry this pattern in #18 to #12. I often tie it in a parachute or with a spent wing. I also tie what is commonly referred to the “Wadams” for midges. This is the wingless version tied in hook sizes #20 – #24. The Adams can be used for many of the early-mid and late season hatches. It can be tied with an assortment of body colors, particularly olive and tan. It is a great searching pattern for when there is no activity and you just want to see what you can “bring up.”
Another pattern that can be used to imitate most of the season’s hatches is the Comparadun. It can be tied in a variety of sizes and colors. A spent wing can also be implemented. The commonly used coastal deer hair can be replaced with any material suitable for spinner wings. I have used it to imitate everything from pale morning duns to sulfurs and large drake patterns. These two patterns alone can solve many of your pattern choices. The other two patterns I would not be without are both down wing imitations used to imitate caddis and the adult stonefly. They are the Stimulator and Elk or Deer Hair Caddis. Tied in a variety of sizes, styles and colors, they will cover most caddis and stoneflies on our waters. If you choose, you can have a few other patterns. I am currently having a CDC fetish with my emerger patterns. Emerger patterns are becoming more popular with fly fisherman as they realize trout, as with any natural predator, seek out “crippled” or struggling insects stuck in the surface film as they attempt to shed their shucks entering the adult insect stage. It is important to realize that it is not necessary to tie a dozen of each pattern. If I have to sit at the bench to replace a certain fly, it’s usually because it’s working. If you’re losing them in the canopy, well, that’s another topic.
Mid Summer-Late fall
As the summer tightens its grip, our streams will begin to warm, often reaching temperatures not suitable for trout fishing. In these conditions, I tend to avoid stressing trout. I will focus my fishing on our state’s spring creeks or stalk warm water species.
If we are fortunate to have a summer with good rainfall and cool evenings, trout fishing can extend well into the fall. On all of our streams, there is one word that describes trout fishing this time of year: Terrestrials. Land based insects such as beetles, ants, crickets and grasshoppers make up a huge part of a trout’s diet. If you are planning on visiting the central part of the state in July, you will also want to have a small assortment of Trico’s. The smallest of our mayfly species, these little jewels can be found on our spring creeks through September.
During this late season, one can really lighten up on the gear. I find myself carrying two small fly boxes with an assortment of terrestrials, small mayflies (trico’s) and a nymph and streamer selection that pertains to the type of water I will be fishing. Terrestrial fishing can provide some of the most exciting dry fly fishing you will experience all season. Trout will often move across the stream to intercept a beetle or hopper plopped on the water.
Some Final Thoughts
I know, this sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. Three years ago I went on my first bonefish trip to the Bahamas. I spent months preparing and tying flies. I carried three boxes totaling ten-dozen flies. By the end of the week I landed over 80 bonefish and used six-that’s right, six-flies. On a more recent trip I carried one box with a few dozen flies that proved to be plenty.
In time you will find what patterns you feel confident with. You will develop your own arsenal. What is most important is to learn how to present the fly. As one of the true ambassadors to this great sport,Leon Chandler once said: “The three most important aspects of trout fishing are; presentation, presentation and presentation.” I believe without a doubt that a competent fly fisherman could get by with a dozen assorted flies all season if he or she presented them properly. So it’s not always about why your fly isn’t working effectively. It’s usually about the way you are effectively working the fly.
Ken Vallino
Edited by Lisa Sajna