Favorite easy dry fly patterns

[troutaholic]

Hi everyone, I usually like to fish nymphs but I'm preparing my flybox for the upcoming season and I don't have a whole lot of knowledge about effective searching, matching, or attractor dry flies for primarily westside rivers and streams. My question is: What are your favorite effective, simple to tie, dry fly patterns for Northwest local waters? Also If anyone has any good chironomid and/or emerger patterns, I would really appreciate it. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your input! :thumb

[hutch]

"simple to tie" is a relative term. That being said...

I have had great success in local Western Slope rivers with a couple of flies that are pretty easy to tie: Parachute Adams, Renegade and Elk Hair Caddis.

Great blind fishing patterns for searching rivers when you are not matching a specific hatch.

I wouldn't leave home w/o them...

-hutch

[Ron Eagle Elk]

My favorite dry fly and a great producer is the CDC and Elk. Tied in several colors it will fit most hatches.

[troutaholic]

Thanks Ron, which CDC pattern you like most though, there's about a ton of em!:beer1

[troutaholic]

Thanks Hutch, The renegeade? thats the one with hackles at both ends innit?:dunno

[gotchasr]

A tan EHC is my fly of choice, although I tied some CDC and Elk that I can't wait to try this year.

[FISHFACE]

EHC and stimulator:thumb

[Mike Etgen]

New River Mike

I agree with votes for the Elkhair Caddis and the Stimulator. For versatility, it's hard to beat the Stimulator. I've drowned them to catch smallmouth bass and caught silvers when I fished a size 8 like a popper. I'm sure SRC's would hit it too, and of course it's a good searching pattern for trout.
I'm just learning the Royal Wulff and hope I can add that to the list of versatile dries.

Easy? Not so the Stimulator! ;)

Practice, practice, practice.

:thumb

[luv2fly2]

for something easy to tie, try a brown hackle peacock and a grey hackle peacock. get good material and work on the proportions. these are old patterns like the renegade but they still work.

[Phillip Muwayderz]

If you fish anywhere with mayfly hatches then a PMD or sparkle dun are pretty simple.
Also an X-Caddis is not that difficult.

[hutch]

That's right. Very simple to tie w/ Peacock herl and light hackle (i use ginger/grizzly colored) and dark hackle on the other end (i use copper)...

[troutman101]

Trude Caddis (See Chuck's Caddis Variant)

[DLoop]

I'll throw another vote in for X-Caddis. Simpler to tie than EHC, and for me at least, more effective.

[troutaholic]

Thakns for the input everyone! I found a great video on how to do the x-caddis on the WSU tv website.Here's the link:

http://kwsu.publictelevision.org/videos/outdoors/flytying/x-caddis.ram

I also found a terrific article on the CDC and elk that so many of you recommended. Here's the link for that one:

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/010702fotw.html

It was very interesting to me that the vast majority of recommended flies were variations of the elk hair caddis! Gee I thought all dry flies were suposed to be mayflies (just kidding!)
:thumb

[DEREK]

A comparadun is very simple and deadly effective as a mayfly imitation. Doesn't use any hackle either, so its cheep.

[Old Man]

I like the simple flies so I can tie them up myself. EHC,Stimulator,Comparadune(sp), I also like the Adams family of flies but can't tie them so I buy them,along with Royal Wulff and humpies. I have found by changing colors on the EHC as to what rivers they work best in.

Jim

[dmoocher]

Learn to tie a parachute hackle and you're on your way. Stimulators are a bear to learn...the proportions are critical...an easier way to match stoneflies is to do deer hair "Bullet head" madame-X patterns...pretty easy and will always ride upright (unlike EHC's or stimmies). I don't like the long palmered hackle 'cuz they sit so far off the water and they roll. I've got 'em and tie 'em but I always clip the bottom hackle flat first.

[Wakemaster]

If the emphasis is on simplicity and ease of tying I would start with black/white or brown/white bi-visibles in sizes 12 to 16 or 18. Once comfortable with dry fly hackling I would move to either a goofus bug (easier) or humpy (harder) to get used to incorporating deer hair. Note that all three of these are older generic patterns that are uniformly high floating--and very good for rough streams where imitators are not as necessary as on flatter water. My final candidate would be a dark foam beetle of any one of a number of patterns with a bright indicator on top. Once that one is comfortable with tying these one is ready to move on to the more complex flies such as the stimulator and the parachute patterns. The elk hair caddis is an excellent pattern that could be inserted in with or just ahead of the goofus bug.

I was reminded of the versatility of the bi-visibles this past season when I was tying #22 and #24 Griffith's gnats and I tied a few straight grizzly hackled bi-visibles just for fun. Both worked equally well on large resident cutts in flatter water of Rocky Mountain streams.

:thumb

[Kent Lufkin]

You want en effective, easy to tie dry pattern? Two posts already named it: Hans Weinmann's CDC & Elk. Same great profile as an EHC and floats like a cork, but takes just two ingredients. Go here for step by step instructions: http://www.danica.com/flytier/hweilenmann/cdcelk.htm It's a kick-ass pattern for trout streams everywhere. Just remember not to put floatant directly on the CDC.

[Curtis King]

Since you asked for an effective chironomid pattern, I have a brief description of one that, at least for me, works exceptionally well. You will need the following:
a) Size 16 or 18 straight eye nymph hook (don't use cheap hooks)
b) Tiny brass bead (3/32), nickel finish preferred
c) Brown or black flexifloss
d) Fine silver wire
e) White ostrich herl
f) Black 8/0 thread

1) Slip on the bead and tack with Zap-a-gap
2) Dress the hook about 1/3 of the way back, then tie in the silver wire with about 6 wraps.
3) Now tie in the Flexifloss and as you wrap back towards the rear of the hook, start to pull it so it necks down. This gives the body a nice abdomen and a thinner tail.
4) Wrap the thread tightly until you are starting down the bend of the hook towards the point, then wrap back to just below the bead.
5) Wrap the Flexifloss towards the front, starting very tight and gradually lightening up, then tie off and trim. Be carefull, since if you pull the floss too tight, it can snap back out of the tie down.
6) Reverse wrap the silver wire using a wide gap between wraps (4 or 5 wraps should do it), then tie off.
7) At this point, I add 3 or 4 half hitches and put a drop of head cement over the hitches.
8)The last step is to tie in the ostrich herl just below the bead. 3 or 4 wraps in place will do the job. Finish with 5 whip finish wraps.

I used this pattern last year with UNBELIEVABLE success. Fish it with a strike indicator and hang on. Hope it works for you too!
:professor

[SG]

I live in sweden so I don't know wich insects to imitate.
Is it much ants swarming in the summer? Caddis swarms, or mayflyinvation...

Becouse i only fish in Scandinavia I don't know any good flies for you, but if you show me some insects maybee I can rekommend some swedish patterns with american colors.

"Sorry for my worthless english"
// Simon Kjaeldgaard Greising

[troutaholic]

Thanks Spey! I've gotten great responses on the dry flies but none on the chironomids except for yours :-) I'm going to tie some of your pattern up this week! I've seen some other small fly patterns (like the original RS2) that require a straight eye hook. Why is that necessary? Is it for better hooking qualities or a more lifelike shape of the fly? Thanks again for the great recipe and detailed instructions... :beer1

[troutaholic]

Hey Simon thanks for your reply. Here in the Northwest, we don't typically see alot of mayfly hatches (at least I don't on the rivers that I fish- except maybe the Yakima). What I see alot of though are small dark caddis flies (about size 14-18). I think they may also be called "sedges". They're almost always around, and then occasionally I see a mini "hatch" of somewhat larger caddis flies a little larger (12-16) and a little lighter in color. I guess this is why out here we use alot of attractor patterns, chironomids, and terrestrials. What patterns do you use in Scandanavia that might work? By the way, I spent some time years ago in northern Norway- such beautiful country, I 've always wanted to return :D ...

[SG]

Ok. Then I got some patterns for you.
First of all you have the superpupa.

Hook: Dryfly size of your choice.
Tyingthread: Colour that is similiar to the head of the imitated insect.
Body: 2/3 In your case dark flyrite. 1/3 (The colour on the frontbody of the insect your'e imitating.
Bodyhackle: Use similiar colour as the legs on the insect to be imitated.
The hackle should be hakled all over the body with the fibres facing slightly forwards.
After tying the fly, cut the hacklefibres over and under the fly, so that the hackle only sticks out on the sides.

This fly is very popular in Scandinavia and it can be tied in millions of colourcombinations.

Good luck!:professor

[gotchasr]

If you are looking for an easy chironomid pattern, there is nothing easier than a snowcone. White enamel bead head, wire rib, and a thread body tapered to the bead. Tie it on a Tiemco 200R, or equivalent. Very, very effective.

[troutaholic]

What colors/sizes do you find to be most effective?

[SG]

>What colors/sizes do you find to be most effective?

In sweden, yellow/black, olive/yellow olive/brown is common colorcombos.
Sizes between 14-18. 16 is a good size.
Make sure that the hackle isn't to long.
Good quality hackle is required.

[Curtis King]

Hey trouty,
The reason I use straight eye hooks, right or wrong, is related to the chironomid and how it hatches. Next time you are on the water and you see them hatching, look closely below the surface for rising larve. My observations indicate that they swim (float) STRAIGHT up from the bottom. A curved eye hook can cause the bug to rise in a zig-zag pattern when drawn throught the water. To best mimic their pattern, I use straight eye hooks and a loose loop to tie them on. That way they stay STRAIGHT up even as you draw them through the water.

:beer2

[troutaholic]

Thanks Spey! I'll check out the naturals the next time I can....

[gotchasr]

I don't know if the size/color question was directed at me, but the colors I use most are black and olive. However, you should probably also have some brown and red. Sizes...well, that depend in part on where you plan on fishing. As a general rule I tend to carry sizes 10-22.:P , but if you want something more reasonable I'd say sizes 12-18 would cover just about any situation.

[darik]

hey 'holic.
The dries I use almost exclusively for searching are a sz 14 Parachute Adams, sz 12 Olive EHC, and a sz 8 Yellow Stimulator (especially summer/fall). I think it's just a matter of personal preference more than the fish's selectivity.

Here's a good midge emerger pattern, maybe someone can help me remember what it is or where it came from. Seems like I got most of the idea from a pattern discussed on this group last year.

Standard dry hook, sz 18 or so.
Body of stripped peacock herl (keep it thin), small thorax of Black fine dry dubbing, and a deer hair wing. The wingcase is tied in tips facing backward between the body and thorax, and then pulled forward over the thorax and secured with a few thread wraps. There's about 1/8" or so of deer hair flared out at the top of the fly, which floats really low in the film.
It's a great pattern, I caught a few large rainbows taking emerging chironomids at Lenice last spring with it. Kudos to whoever originally found/invented it.

[troutaholic]

Sounds like a great pattern Darik! I've been mostly getting sinking chironomid patterns and I've been hoping for one that I could fish just under the surface, especially under a foam line. Last year nearly all my larger trout were caught fishing through a foam line but I couldn't get my nymphs to stay in an emerging kinda float (they eventually just sank!) and I could sometimes see chironomids emerging! I can't wait to tie some up!
:thumb

[pwoens]

The Madam X or Ugly Rudemous. Both are simple to tie yet they are the most affective patterns I own.

~Patrick ><>

[troutaholic]

Thanks Patrick! Love that name- "Ugly Rudemous" you don't happen to know where I could find the pattern? I'm hoping to head over to the Yak for this weekend with some new experimental flies :-)
Charlie

[Flip]

try an ice cronnie, ill try to get a picture of one here sometime real soon. very simple tie, and it fishes very well. for dries, my personal favorite i only saw mentioned once, the humpie. want somthing deadly? tie it with a green body. dont know what it is but i have had great success with it