My 'go-to' flies

Generally I'll fish with some kind of nymph during 80% of the time. Fish feeds for more than 90% under water so that makes sense. Most streams and rivers I fish contain some species of mayflies and caddis. Some streams also inhabits smaller stoneflies like the yellow sally. And of course insects that crawl around the banks and branches that hangs over the banks like hoppers, beetles and ants.

Over the years I trimmed down the numbers of patterns in my fly box to just a several patterns. Even the numbers of sizes are trimmed down to one or two sizes. Since most of the streams I fish in Europe are some kind of freestone type streams, fish don't have the time to observe whether the fly that swims down is the correct size.

My favorite nymph patterns over the years have been pretty consistent, both in European as US/Canadian destinations. Obviously, local patterns won't be neglected. Although I like to keep my fly boxes to a minimum I'll always have enough of these patterns:

* Bead head caddis pupa in some shade of olive.
* Pheasant tail type of nymph (I got rid of the wing-case to save tying time). I prefer darker shades for these nymphs.
* To imitate smaller type stoneflies as well as a general 'attractor nymph' a Prince nymph (with and without bead head).

Another variant on the general may fly nymph is a rubber legged version. I have used many rubber leg nymph patterns over the years and I found them to be very productive, especially when the regular nymphs aren't producing. My guess is that the fish are fed up with the same dish served by fly fishermen and are looking for a nice juicy cheeseburger.

I'll give the nymph a twitch every couple of seconds during a dead drift. This pattern is based on a general may fly type nymph. Basically any nymph pattern can be adapted to a rubber legged version just by adding some strands of rubber around the thorax area. Sizes 10 and up work great as stonefly nymphs.

The remaining 20% of the time, I'll try a dry fly (or a streamer) of some sort to play a different game. Especially spots with nice undercut banks, overhanging brushes and trees are potential areas to switch. Caddis patterns like the Elk hair caddis, CDC & Elk or even a small hopper pattern will work. Parachute style dry flies, both regular style as well as emerger / Klinkhamer styles, will do. The white parachute posts one usually sees in these patterns aren't visible as well as they should. So I changed my posts to a 'hot orange' color. This color is visible both during light and low light conditions. It's even visible when it rides a heavy current.

I just love the big strikes when fishing with hoppers. Last summer I changed my favorite hopper pattern. The Alien Bug is my hopper pattern to go. It's easy to tie, it floats and it's durable. I haven't tried it in Europe since I got back from my US / Canada trip, but I'm sure it will get its share of playing time.

The Humpy is a very versatile dry fly. It's a searching attractor pattern, it can be used as a beetle imitation as well as a general heavy current dry fly since it floats so well. Just have some in your fly box!

I must admit I've never given the good old ant pattern a try so far. Probably because they are so hard to see! There is no doubt that ants are available as a food almost year round. Probably the most common land insect of all. So, I tied a few dozen ants in sizes 18 to 22 this winter. We'll see what happens.

About streamers, I'll come back in a later posting. We have to wait for about a week before heading to southern Germany. Can't wait!

So which are YOUR favourite patterns?