Buyers Guide - How to buy the flies YOU need

When you look at all the gear you have on you for a day of fishing, the right flies should be at the top of the list of things that help you catch fish.  We spend tons of money on everything from waders, packs, accessories, rods, reels and more but at the end of the day, the fly is what catches the fish.  Lets go over what flies you need to have in your boxes and why.

First thing, before we go over what actual flies you need is to say that you should have a few of the exact same fly.  It's never a good day when you find what's working and you only have 1 or 2 of those in your box.  You lose flies to snags, trees, and fish so be sure you have a small handful of your best producing flies for those good days on the water.

NYMPHS 

Everyone wants to pack their boxes with dry flies as that's the pinnacle of fly fishing.  However, the adult fly in the life cycle accounts for around 1 day of its entire life.  The nymph form accounts for the remaining roughly 364 days.  With that being said, nymphs are going to be the majority of the fish's diet any given day.  Not only will fish key in on nymphs more often, but in some ways they can be easier to fish than trying to achieve a drag free drift on a dry fly.

Keep it simple. Add generic patterns like a bead head pheasant tail , bead head hares ear,  Perdigon, or Frenchie. These don't match a specific fly but can be a good all around fly to mimic a few things.   

Talk to your local shop or pull up a hatch report to see what's active and add a few hatch matching nymphs for situational fishing only.  If the fish are keying in on certain bugs, it's helps at times to have what they're looking for.  We are talking about things like BWOs, PMDs, and Cahills.

STREAMERS

I personally love fishing streamers for a few reasons.  One, you can't mess them up.  I tell many of my beginner anglers to fish streamers for this reason too.  You can dead drift them, swing them, retrieve them, and more.  A swimming baitfish may look like all of these.  So if you're not confident in how to present a fly, a streamer may be the easiest way to get flies in the water and catch some fish.  Also, a big meal sometimes brings out the big fish.  

Have some good generic patterns in your box like wooly buggers, slump busters, and clousers.  Add in some articulated flies that give some movement as well as an extra big meal like game changers, dungeons, and butt monkeys. 

EGGS

Some people see eggs as "junk flies", but there are times they are one of the top sources of food for fish and a must have for your boxes.  Eggs serve as a huge source of protein as well as an opportunity to match the hatch.  Different fish species spawn at different times of the year and many of the eggs are eaten by other fish.  

Pick up a few egg patterns like glo bugs, Y2Ks, and sucker spawns.

DRY FLIES

We got here finally.  Yes everyone wants to catch fish on dries, but honestly sometimes it's pretty difficult.  Then you have that magical day where all the fish in the stream are looking up and you need to have that correct dry fly in your box to have the day you tell all your buddies about. 

Let's start with some basic dries.  These are great for having dries in your box to match a handful of things for those days the fish start rising.

Make sure you have some parachute adams, elk hair caddis, stimulators.

These will at least give you a pattern that imitates mayflies, caddis flies and stone flies in a pinch.

Depending on where you are in the world, your hatch matching flies will vary a ton by location.  Check your local shops or hatch charts to see what is coming off the water each part of the season but make sure you have a few for the time of year you are fishing.  Patterns like BWOs, Drakes, and Sulphurs may give you the best day of your season if you have the right fly at the right time when the bugs are hatching. 

We hope this helped reduce the stress of not knowing what flies to have in your box.  If you have any other questions be sure to reach out to us or comment on this blog.