flies to start with

[DarrellP 0]

Unless there is a major hatch, or even during one, for Trout I tend to start with one of a few flies: Troth's Elk Hair Caddis, parachute Adams, Pheasant tail Nymph, GRHE, Carey Special (in lakes), Brown Wooly Bugger, Rickard all pupose nymph, or especially a Royal Wulff. Maybe some sort of foam ant. Or Brassie! I also love a Kaufman Stone fly nymph or a stimulator during a stone fly hatch. Starting to tie a lot of nymphs with soft hackles. I like the result.

 

For warm water, yellow popper with white rubber legs, some sort of Clouser, WB, or a Cajun Coachman, simple ant pattern, or McGinty, or one of the above "Trout" flies. Depending on species of fish, Bass or Bream. Anything with rubber legs tends to work ok.

 

I guess I am simple minded, but these tend to work. If I had to pick one, it would be a PT soft hackle. Do you guys have a similar group of flies you almost always use, or do you carry a fly shop with you?

[yooperflyfisher 0]

I carry a fly shop with but then only end up using a few for trout I start off with a woolly bugger, hares Ear, copper john or Adams.

 

For pike I start with a 7 inch streamer and then down size if no action.

[DFoster 0]

Size 14 Elk Hair Caddis with a #16 PT nymph as a dropper is a good place to start for me. I also like a #14 Royal Coachman/Wulff with a #16 flashback Nymph. In New England either combo can produce fish from April through November.

[utyer 0]

For me, it depends on the time of year.

 

In late fall through early spring, my goto pattern would be a midge larvae, unless I see fish feeding on the surface with a midge hatch. Then I would try either a midge pupae, or a Griffith Gnat. For me late fall would be November to March. Then in April and May a Stonefly nymph, with a PT or Hares ear dropper. Spring hatches would require a BWO emerger. Mid may to June, larger Stonefly nymphs with larger hares ear droppers. June Green drake and Brown drake emergers. Then PMD emergers and X Caddis until first cold in Sept. Then Back to the BWO emerger until sometime in November.

 

Since all my emergers are the same pattern in different sizes, just one pattern for surface mayflies. One surface midge, and one Caddis pattern. One Stonefly nymph will do for me. I could fill a fly box with different sizes and colors of a Girdle Bug and catch something all year.

[mikechell 0]

I would estimate 90% of my fishing is done on two flies. When I move into an area, I first go after the aggressive fish with a top water Flip Flop Fly.

If I don't get any interests, or short strikes on those, I might downsize/less noise style top water.

I always end with my "go to" favorite fly, "Chell's Panfish Attractor".

 

The other 10% is spent trying new or different patterns.

[Philly 0]

For trout, I usually start off with a CDC and Elk. The two insects I always found on streams in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic and Southern Ontario are caddis and midges. So a caddis pattern in riffles and fast water. In pools and flats I use a pattern I call the Wissahickon Midge. If they get wet they both work as an emerger. I'm not much of a nymph fisherman but mainly use a soft hackle PT nymph, sometime with a size 14 or 16 woolly bugger as a dropper. Warm water either yellow or white "spider" pattern or a floating mop fly for pan fish and bass.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

On small trout streams, if I'm working upstream, I start with a #14 Parachute Adams or a #14 or 16 Adams Parawulff, unless it's mid-July through September; then I start with a Madam X or a small hopper. If I'm working downstream, I start with a #14 Hare's Ear Soft Hackle.

 

On larger trout rivers, April through mid-July, if I see surface action I'll try the Adams or Borcher's Drake, usually. Mid-July through September I throw a hopper if I want to fish on top. Most of the year, though, unless there is a compelling reason to fish a dry, I'll go right to the streamer--my go-to is a woolly bugger/zonker hybrid with a cone head, white sparkle chenille body palmered with olive hackle, and an olive rabbit-strip wing.

 

On smallmouth streams, I will sometimes do the streamer (something yellow or olive-over-white, usually), but I try to seek out eddies and slack waters where I can throw my favorite deer hair slider.

 

Nymphs I save for steelheading. It's bad enough I have to use them then.

[Flicted 0]

Depends on what's hatching or likely to hatch. I always have a lot of variety in my fly boxes. I only have go-to's when fishing for panfish, bass, pike, etc.

[RickZieger 0]

Since most of my fishing is warmwater I start with a light and a dark fly on separate rods. Then change to an olive and a brown fly if they don't work. Third is a purple and an orange fly. IF no fish by then I just grab something out of one of the things in the store.

 

Rick

[fshng2 0]

For me, it depends on the time of year.

 

In late fall through early spring, my goto pattern would be a midge larvae, unless I see fish feeding on the surface with a midge hatch. Then I would try either a midge pupae, or a Griffith Gnat. For me late fall would be November to March. Then in April and May a Stonefly nymph, with a PT or Hares ear dropper. Spring hatches would require a BWO emerger. Mid may to June, larger Stonefly nymphs with larger hares ear droppers. June Green drake and Brown drake emergers. Then PMD emergers and X Caddis until first cold in Sept. Then Back to the BWO emerger until sometime in November.

 

Since all my emergers are the same pattern in different sizes, just one pattern for surface mayflies. One surface midge, and one Caddis pattern. One Stonefly nymph will do for me. I could fill a fly box with different sizes and colors of a Girdle Bug and catch something all year.

 

I searched how Girdle Bug got it's name:

It is said that the fly actually got its name because there was a lingerie factory in the area and the inventor of the fly used to take women’s girdles and remove the latex banding from them, cut the latex into strips, and use those for the legs on the fly.

[utyer 0]

Some guy named Pat, re-invented the pattern, simply by replacing the rubber or latex legs with flexi floss. So now they are called Pat's Rubber Legs. Many people tie these with speckled chenille.

 

I changed the pattern again. I went with a wool yarn body, and a darker back strip from turkey tail. To get the third color, I use a marker that is somewhere between the back and the belly colors. Rubber or silicon legs, whatever I pull out that looks good. Oh yeah, it also has a rib to hold the back down. That's 3 changes to the pattern.

 

Now I get to call it by a NEW name. Charlee's Tri-color Rubber Legs, I'm sure Umpqua can't wait to get their hands on my secret recipe. Here are some pictures Bottom, Top, and side view but don't give away the secret.

 

 

 

[fshng2 0]

Nice pattern utyer.

My first thought was it's silhouette is similar to a hellgrammite. I usually see them vary in color from dark gray to black.

I am making a switch from rubber legs to Flexi floss type material. In my opinion it is more durable and stronger than rubber legs.

FYI...Doug from Flytyers Dungeon said the legs in his product are very similar to flexi floss.

[DarrellP 0]

Rubber legs/girdle bugs are all Stone fly nymph patterns, aren't they? Utyer's pattern looks like a good stone fly pattern to me. It would work in warm water, too.

[Abel M. 0]

I'm fishing pan fish here in southern California 7 out of the 10 flies are nymphs or wets the other 3 out of 10 are dries. The nymphs get picked up a lot more.

[DarrellP 0]

I tend to fish a popper dropper for panfish. Around 9 to 1 take the nymph. Except in muddy water.