Fly Fishing for Beginners: What Fly do I use

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Selecting flies can be a difficult task. With the thousands of different patterns in existence, and the dozens of different patterns that may be in your fly box now it can be overwhelming. When your on the river and your first and second choice flies just aren’t working there may be a few things to consider.

Are you matching the hatch

Fish like to eat food that their used to. If they see something that is even remotely close to the food that they eat on a regular basis, then chances are you’ll get a bite or two. However, the more realistic it is, the more bites you’ll get. I’m not telling you to go out and buy a fly that is the exact replica, but you need to match color, size, and general shape (wings, body, tail) in order to bring more bites.

To match these food sources you’ll need something to match.

• If you already know what they are feeding on then great, but if not…
• try looking around and under rocks for food sources.
• Think of the bait fish that are in the water, and try to match a general size.
• Look for flies that are buzzing the top of the water and try to match one.
• If you see a fly on the top of the water and a fish takes it, then use this fly over all others. This will get you results because your sure that at least some fish are eating these flies.

If matching doesn’t work improvise

Try looking for bugs and insects that are around the water match them. If this doesn’t work, then it comes time to improvise. Try thinking of what the fish you’re trying to catch eats on a regular basis. This is a list of some of the more common aspects in flies that bass, trout and pike eat.

Bass

• Like bright colors in the spring time when the water is murky or on cloudy days, and darker colors on the brighter days.
• Worm and fish imitating lures work great for these fish if you’re wanting to fish a wet fly. Flashy, fish-like lures work great at all times of the season.
• Poppers and oter top water lures that make a lot of disturbance also work great for these fish.

Trout

• Trout love flying insects and their nymphs. They also like worm like insects. Some of the wet flies I like to use are prince nymphs, wooly buggers, san juan worms, copper johns, muddler minnows, and caddis fly imitators.
• When it comes to dry flies places vary greatly for trout. Some of the flies I like to use are wolfs, humpys, hoppers, addams, and mosquitoes.
• In most cases nymphs and dry flies with a small amount of flashy colors will attract fish more. Don’t shy away from using pinks, purples, oranges, reds, and flashy tinsels or flashy bead heads just because thry aren’t the right color. These flies work great in my experience because they stand out.

Pike

• Pike love large flies that imitate fish, frogs and even mice. These flies make a lot of noise on the surface and the fish are usually brightly colored.
• Using large, flashy flies under the surface will increase your odds, but on bright days I find large, dark colored flies work the best.
• If you’re fishing top water use large flies that make a lot of ripples and make some noise. Pike are attracted to movement and noise, so these flies should work well.
• Some of the flies I like to use for pike are perch, sun fish and white colored fish-like streamers, frog and mice top water flies, and large poppers of any color with long tails coming off the back.
  Fly Fishing for Beginners
  Fly Fishing Guide Book
  Fly Fishing From Scratch