Your basic go-to trout flies...

[Hellgrammite 0]

I guess PT and light cahill nymphs, soft hackles in a few colors - Black Gnat, Hare's Ear, Grey Hackle - and some winged wets, the cahills. These, plus a good generic caddis or mayfly, like an Adams or, once again, the Cahills.

[Al Beatty 0]

Gretchen & I tend to use traditional wets or soft-hackle patterns a lot. Take care & ...

[mojokayak 0]

Dry-Royal Wulff size 10

Nymph-Flashback Pheasant Tail sizes. 12-16

Streamer-Wooly Bugger sizes 4,6 black or olive

[m_grieb 0]

there are 3 flies that I use every time I fish and have failed to not catch anything.

 

1. Roberts drake (varying sizes)

2. borchers drake(varying sizes)

3.elk hair caddis(also in varying sizes)

 

 

 

Matt

[upperdelawareriver 0]

If I had to pick just one?

 

PT's! (for those feisty wild Upper Delaware River 'bows!)

 

 

 

 

[notenuftoys 0]

This summer I bought a Cliff Super Day's Worth box to keep the most common trout flies. In it I have BWO & Adams parachute dry flies, a few yellow Wulffs, pheasant tails, copper johns (red, green & copper), prince nymphs, Madam X, some hoppers, olive and black woolly buggers, and zebra midges in black, rust, brown, olive and red.

 

In traveling to new rivers, I've found that these will often work well in any new river I get to. Then I have other boxes that have flies that are for a specific hatch or region. It's easier to pack this way. Or at least it is so far.

[Hellgrammite 0]

This summer I bought a Cliff Super Day's Worth box to keep the most common trout flies. In it I have BWO & Adams parachute dry flies, a few yellow Wulffs, pheasant tails, copper johns (red, green & copper), prince nymphs, Madam X, some hoppers, olive and black woolly buggers, and zebra midges in black, rust, brown, olive and red.

 

In traveling to new rivers, I've found that these will often work well in any new river I get to. Then I have other boxes that have flies that are for a specific hatch or region. It's easier to pack this way. Or at least it is so far.

 

To be fair, this is likely all anyone of us would need 95% of the time; MAYBE add an EHC and a couple assorted soft hackles, and zoom.

 

I could force myself to do this... right?

[Sundance 0]

I know of no "generic" best fly. It depends on the type of water, the time of year, the time of day, what is hatching, etc. You tied an elk hair caddis so I assume that means you live/fish where caddis actually hatch. So here is an example...

 

On the Madison in MT, which I fish almost daily, the most common caddis is the hydropsyche. Don't worry about the Latin, it is simply a size 16 caddis that hatches daily in the late evening June-August . During the day, egg laying occurs and you need an adult. So you elk hair will work just fine. As evening nears, but before the hatch starts, a soft hackle is dynamite. It works during the hatch as well, but by then you can also go to an emerger. An iris caddis, floated in the film is terrific - and it is the easiest fly on the planet to tie . An X-caddis will work then too - and if you can tie an elk hair caddis you can tie an X-caddis.

 

Go to the website of the shop in West Yellowstone called Blue Ribbon Flies and you will find videos on how to tie all of the above.

 

So when fishing a stream with a good caddis hatch like the Madison, which is my go-to fly? Depends on the time of day.

[Will K 0]

Picket Pin wet flies... catch everything, but man, just a great brookie (or other trout) fly in moving water and ponds.

[gr8outdoorz 0]

Two of my favorites:

 

Rosenbauer's Rabbit Foot emerger

 

Silvey's Caddis