binfordw 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2007 I recently got the idea to start fishing a nearby "coldwater" section of tailwaters that hold hatchery rainbows and browns. I've always wanted to pursue trout, but never really had the chance- given my location and all. The idea is the wife and I can frequent the nearby tailwaters and "practice" fishing for trout, and hopefully be more edjucated when we manage to get away to the smokies for some fishing vacations. My flyboxes were filled with "junk". Some flies I had tied 10+ years ago and still had never seen water. Being mainly a panfisher, I never seriously attempted many trout patterns. So I cleaned my boxes out, and plan on starting over, filling them with commonly used patterns for mainly the Smokies in Tennessee. I have a good book on fishing the smokies, which lends alot of advice on what patterns to carry and hatch schedules and such, but would enjoy getting more ideas on what to restock my boxes with. Common patterns, including most commonly used sizes for my needs would be alot of help! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bwo3 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2007 some of my favorite dry fly patterns are the elk hair caddis size 14-20 the stimulator size 8-16 and the light cahill in sizes 12-16. for nymphs it is hard to beat a hares ear and bead head hares ear in sizes 10-20 and pheasant tail with and without beads in sizes 12-22 also i would tye some woolybuggers in black olive white and brownin sizes 8-14 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
binfordw 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2007 Thanks for the reply bwo- it helps for sure. As far as sizes and colors go- it seems a bit overkill to carry, for example, 8 different sizes of humpies in 3 colors each. My boxes would fill in a hurry Should I just be aiming to carry basic attractor patterns in a few sizes and colors, and save the more specific colors and sizes for situations such as fishing during a specific hatch time? So far I have a dozen or so Elk hair caddis, size 12, 14, 16 in light, dark and lime green, and few standard Adams, Wulffs and Humpies in 10-16. Need to gather some supplies for the nymphs and stimulators yet. I'll probably grab some 18-22 dry hooks as well to add some tiny stuff to my collection. Hope I can tie that small Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bwo3 0 Report post Posted April 9, 2007 i would also throw in a few tan elk hair caddis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron Eagle Elk 0 Report post Posted April 9, 2007 All good suggestions. I never leave home without some soft hackles in my fly boxes. my go-to's are Partridge and Orange, Partridge and Yellow, Partridge and Green and a Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle. I usually carry a couple of each in sizes 12 to 16, and the PT softie down to 18. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyboyutah 0 Report post Posted April 10, 2007 sound about what we use out here in Utah for brown and rainbow I wouldn,t go with out a couple diffirent sized pheasent tail nymps bead & no beadhead. You could try a renegade , maybe a stone fly or two brown , blk and a light yelllow. steve Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites