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Sometimes, choosing the right fly (and by “right,” we mean the one that’s going to draw a big, beautiful rainbow from the depths of water and onto your line) is simple. And sometimes, it requires a delicate balancing act of art, science, and good olefashioned observation. But either way, it’s not nearly as complicated as you might think. Here’s how to decide which fly is most likely to put a fish in your net.
The Fly Guide
The first step is to know and understand the different categories of flies. A dry fly is fished on the surface of the water and generally represents an aquatic insect that has recently hatched from it’s larval stage. A wet fly can mimic a swimming insect or small minnow and is fished below the surface – near the top or bottom of the water column. Streamers are similar to wet flies, and are fished below the surface; they generally imitate larger baitfish, crustaceans or leeches. A nymph is an aquatic insect in its larval stage and is usually fished toward the bottom, around the rocks and other structures that comprise its natural habitat. An emerger is the stage in which an aquatic insect has risen to the surface of the water and is hatching into an adult. Finally, a terrestrial is a non-waterborne insect or bug, such as a grasshopper, that has blown or fallen into the water.
DRY
WET
STREAMER
NYMPH
EMERGER
TERRESTRIAL
Attractor vs Imitator
An attractor (aka “seeking fly”) is a general purpose fly that’s not necessarily meant to represent a food source the fish is familiar with, but is simply too flashy and curiosity-provoking to ignore, while an imitator fly is just what it sounds like: A fly that imitates, as accurately as possible, a known food source.
ATTRACTOR
IMITATOR
Before deciding which fly to put on your line, first take a few minutes to observe the water
What fish-friendly forage can you find? Do you see bugs? Minnows? Are there grasshoppers floating downriver? If these food-sources are present, then the fish you’re targeting will be familiar with them, and familiarity is the first step in filling your creel. This process is known as “match the hatch,” which is really just a clever way of saying that it’s usually best to use a fly that represents a food source the fish know, at the proper stage of development in its life cycle.
QUICK TIP:
It’s also helpful to look for clues regarding where and how the fish are feeding. For instance, if you see ripples on the surface, you’ll know that the fish are feeding at the surface, which means you’ll want to use… you guessed it… a dry fly.
There will be times when it won’t be immediately obvious what the local fish are feeding on; this is a great time to try a general purpose attractor or terrestrial fly. Think of it this way: Even if you don’t know what a specific food is, you probably have a sense of whether or not it will be good to eat. And fish are no different.
Finally, don’t stress and simply fish like you mean it. Often, confidence and close attention to your technique and your surroundings are better “bait” than the perfect fly. It’s often said that you can fish the wrong fly pattern the right way and catch more fish than someone fishing the right pattern the wrong way, and it’s true.
More Fishing Tips From Ryan and Janice
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[00:00:00.50] A giant boot sits at the entrance of LL Bean. Text, Catching On with Ryan and Janice. How to Pick the Right Fly presented by LL Bean. Janice O'Rourke.
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[00:00:10.19] We are going to answer some questions that you have today around fly fishing. I'm a complete novice. You might be as well.
[00:00:16.83] So we are going to talk to the man, the myth, the legend, Ryan Pappas at the Hunt Fish Store at L.L.Bean. He's going to help us out today, particularly around how do you choose the right fly for fly fishing. There are so many of them.
[00:00:30.26] Ryan, help us out, please.
[00:00:32.03] I am so happy you came in to see us because choosing the right fly is one of the most-asked questions we get in our store. There's going to be two flies that we'll recommend. One's above the surface, what we call a dry fly. And the other one is a below the surface, which is going to imitate things like nymphs or streamers.
[00:00:51.98] OK.
[00:00:52.85] Before we even get into this, we're going to talk about being observant of your environment. You want to see, are there flies landing on the surface? Do you see fish rising? Do you see the ripples in the water from where fish are feeding? It's going to be important.
[00:01:07.17] If you don't see any activity going on on the surface, you may want to go up to the water. Flip over a few rocks that are under the water, you'll see some bugs under there. We'll see some nymphs. We'll have all different sorts of insects that are living in that area.
[00:01:19.56] And it's important that we know what's living in that area so that you can match the hatch. OK?
[00:01:24.18] Match the hatch.
[00:01:25.53] When you match the hatch, you're imitating the fish's natural bait source at that exact period in time. So you're going to increase your odds exponentially of catching fish just because you're matching what they're actually eating.
[00:01:38.64] Awesome.
[00:01:39.09] All right.
[00:01:39.45] OK.
[00:01:39.87] Now let's talk about our two favorite flies here. The first one is going to be the Adam's dry fly. This is probably the most broad appealing mayfly variation, which is going to help you catch the most fish.
[00:01:52.26] That's good.
[00:01:52.80] So when we say dry fly, it's usually drifting in the current, and you're seeing a fish rise to eat it. And it's that instant gratification of my fly just got taken. I have a fish on, time to reel them in.
[00:02:05.40] I want that, Ryan.
[00:02:06.24] But fish only feed like that on the high side 20% to 30% of the time is what we're finding, especially with trout, OK. Most of the trout are going to feed below the surface.
[00:02:16.17] Oh. So this will not do the trick?
[00:02:18.30] That will not do the trick. So we're going to want to cover the below the surface for you. And that is where our next fly, the woolly bugger, comes in.
[00:02:25.99] So this one feels a little different.
[00:02:28.71] It's heavier.
[00:02:29.22] It's going to be a little heavier because it's actually going to sink below the surface. It's going to imitate tons of different things under the surface depending on the color variation and the size. It could be anything from a leech, to a bait fish, to a larger nymph. They're extremely versatile, and that's why we like to fish them.
[00:02:47.49] So this one fly can imitate the things you've just said?
[00:02:49.35] All those things.
[00:02:49.83] All of those things.
[00:02:50.46] And more.
[00:02:51.69] Awesome. Can we see what it looks like? How it imitates all those things you just said?
[00:02:55.86] Absolutely. So this tank is going to imitate a woolly bugger in the current as it picks up.
[00:03:00.63] I love like her little hair floating in the water.
[00:03:03.60] Yeah. So does the fish. It's a great fly to have in your arsenal, whether you're an expert or you're just beginning.
[00:03:09.07] Thank you so much for today. This was incredibly helpful. I hope you learned a lot. I learned a lot. And now, Ryan and I are going to go put this woolly bugger to work.
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[00:03:17.47] Ryan and Janice turn away from the camera and walk through the store. LL Bean. Be an Outsider.
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