How to Choose Trout Flies
Choosing flies for trout is an important skill every angler must develop. It can be overwhelming at first, but becomes simpler with experience. While the presentation of your fly will catch you more fish than the selection of your fly, having the right fly tied on is nonetheless a key element in fishing success.
But how do we choose the right fly to fish? In this guide we’ll go over the steps in choosing the right fly, from observing the natural forage to matching the hatch with your fly.
Key Points for Choosing Trout Flies
Selecting a fly to fish for trout is important, but don’t overthink it! If it looks like food and is presented naturally, trout will eat it.
When choosing which fly to fish, observe your surroundings and see what forage is naturally occurring. Pick up rocks or see what’s flying around to get a sense of the natural food sources. Then match the profile, size, and color of that natural forage with your fly. It doesn’t have to be exact, but get as close as you can!
What is the Best Fly for Trout?
The best fly for trout is the one that gets eaten. Just kidding! But, not really.
While it’s impossible to say that there is one singular “best trout fly” that will always work, there are key elements to flies that make them more likely to get eaten.
The best flies for trout, in its most simple terms, look like food. Trout have a reputation for being “selective” feeders, only eating something very specific and difficult to decipher. Once they key in on this food source, nothing else stands a shot at getting eaten.
While this isn’t necessarily true, trout can in fact be picky eaters. They can scoff at well-presented flies if they don’t match what they’re preference is, or if the flies resemble something totally foreign. However, they will eat well presented flies that look like food!
From my experience, mimicking the natural forage that trout are feeding on goes a very long way in catching fish. Other types of flies certainly work, but nothing beats matching the real thing.
So how do we determine what food trout will eat and in turn, which flies they’ll eat? Let’s get into it…
Observe
Taking a moment to slow down and observe what is going on around you is an important skill that every angler should be reminded. It’s very easy to get to the water, tie on a fly, and immediately start fishing. This can certainly be effective, but we may be losing some insight by rushing to the water.
Observe what the fish are doing. Do you see fish rising? Maybe some splashing at the surface of the water? That will give you a sign that fish are feeding on or towards the top- tie on a dry fly or an emerger. What about if you see no surface activity? Time to go subsurface and tie on a streamer or nymph.
These observations can go a long way. They’ll give you indications on maybe not what the fish are feeding on, but rather how they are eating. That in turn, will help us choose which fly to actually fish.
See What’s Flying Around
When we observe what is going on, we may see flies flyin’ around. Fish may not be actively feeding on these flies, but they can help us funnel down which flies fish are or will be munching on.
Do you see small mayflies with their upright wings? What about caddisflies, clumsily tumbling through the air? Or, perhaps you don’t see many flies and perhaps a terrestrial is the best fly to use.
If you’re quick enough, you can even catch these flies with a net or a hat. This isn’t always necessary, but if you really want to hone in on the exact flies that are in the air you can capture them. Once you do so, you’ll be able to closely match the natural forage with your fly.
Pick up Rocks
Your local body stream or river is home to many different types of bugs that trout prey upon. You can ask the internet, your local fly shop, or you can find out for yourself with a little bit of muscle and wet hands.
Flies spend most of their lives as nymphs that live under rocks and swim along the stream bottom. Next time your our fishing or hiking your fishery, reach into the water and pick up rocks to find out which nymphs are inhabiting the water and in turn, what trout are munching on.
Pick up larger rocks to increase the chances of finding bugs and simply pick a fly that resembles the natural forage. It doesn’t have to be exact, but pick a fly that mimics the profile, size, and color of what you see under the rocks.
You’ll not only get the confidence of fishing close to the natural forage and “matching the hatch” as best you can, but also learn more about the life cycles of flies. You’ll become a better angler and an entomologist in the making.
Choosing Flies for Trout?
By observing what is (or isn’t) flying around and what is under rocks, we get a general idea of what food is available for trout. Now, we need a fly that looks like what the trout are naturally feeding on. In essence, we are “matching the hatch” when we select our flies.
So what actually matters in a fly? When determining what fly to fish for trout, there are 3 important elements to consider: the profile, the size, and the color.
Profile
The profile of your fly describes the general shape of your pattern, which should mimic the bugs you see in the water or flying in the air. The profile is the outline of the fly, not necessarily the granular details of the materials that make up the fly.
Most anglers believe the profile of your fly is the most essential element, surpassing the color and even size. From my experience, honing in on flies that match the profile of the natural forage yields more fish than anything else.
Having a fly that replicates the profile of natural forage will get the fish’s attention. If you’ve ever noticed a trout swim up to your fly as it inspects and eats it, you’ve seen the process at work. The profile of the fly likely got the fish’s attention and any stark difference from the natural forage would probably not be worth the effort.
So now that we understand how important this is, let’s put it to practice. If you see a mayfly hatch going off, fish a fly with upright wings. You kick over a rock and see a thin bodied nymph swimming around, tie on a similar thin-profiled fly. Or maybe we see a thick bodied grasshopper floating through the water- time to tie on a hopper pattern with a thicker thorax to mimic that.
Matching the profile of the natural forage is the first step in selecting a fly. While it doesn’t have to match exactly, a fly with the general outline of what is available in the water is sure to get the trout’s attention.
Size
The size of your fly is another important factor. Once your fly has a similar profile as the bug you’re mimicking, the size must be within range of what is naturally occurring.
If you see tiny mayflies flying around and fish rising, they’re more likely to eat a bug that relatively matches that size, versus one that is too large. Conversely, if trout are eating large stonefly nymphs, that’s an indication that they’re in the mood for a hefty meal. They want a cheeseburger, we can’t be serving up salads!
Don’t overthink this part. As long as it’s within range and looks like the food they’re keyed in on, you are likely to get bit. If you see fish inspect, then refuse your fly, you likely are locked in to the right profile, but the size is too big or too small for their liking. Switch it up either by sizing up or down and you’ll likely trigger a strike.
Color
While it’s a hotly debated topic, the color of your fly also matters. To what extent it matters is argued amongst anglers, but all would agree that it does play a role.
One belief is that the color of your fly should exactly mirror the natural forage, whereas others believe the color only needs to be roughly the same. If you go into any fly shop and see the bins of flies, you’ll notice that many come in every color in the rainbow. Can a different tone of brown really make that big a difference?
From my experience, the wrong shade of color on your nymph or dry fly doesn’t really matter as long as the profile and size match. Trout are not color blind, but they’re also not snooty interior decorators that scoff at the wrong hue that doesn’t match their taste.
So like we’ve mentioned with profile and size, as long as the color of your fly somewhat resembles the natural forage, you’re in the right ballpark. Don’t worry too much about finding the exact shade or hue, if you’re in the general realm, you’re definitely going to catch fish!
Extra Tips for Choosing Flies for Trout
So we have our 3 simple rules choosing flies for trout: pick a fly that resembles the profile, size, and color of the natural forage and you’re ready to fish.
But it can’t be that simple can it? Well, yes it can, but there are other factors to consider. Use these tips to help hone in on what fly trout will and won’t bite.
Conditions
Consider the conditions of the water when choosing a fly for trout. Clear, murky, or stained water can play a significant role on what flies are effective.
In general, the clearer the water, the more closely we need to “match the hatch.” Clearer water makes it easier for trout to see your fly, so our fly should closely match the natural forage. If the water is stained or muddy, the trout don’t see nearly as well and we can get away with flies that slightly differ. In muddy water, we need to fish flies that trout can see, which means we may have to fish larger, darker flies in order to stand out- even if they aren’t exact replicas of the natural forage.
Considering the water conditions can play a pivotal role in fly selection. In general, keep it simple- clear water calls for “matching the hatch” as closely as you can where darker water calls for fishing flies that fish can see and perfect imitations matter much less.
Confidence
Fishing flies with confidence goes a very long way in trout fishing. If you truly believe that the fly you’re fishing isn’t going to work, ditch it. Even though it may be the perfect imitation, you simply aren’t going to fish it with much focus.
Conversely, fishing a fly that may not resemble the natural forage but is fished with the upmost confidence will catch you more fish in the long run. That fly will be fished with more focus, diligence, and be presented more effectively. The “wrong” fly fished with confidence will outperform the “right” fly fished without focus all day, every day.
Change Presentation before Changing Flies
It is very common to think that if you aren’t catching trout, it’s because of the fly. The reality is that improper presentation is likely the culprit of an empty net.
Once you have a fly that mimics the natural forage (i.e. “looks like food”), the presentation of the fly should be the main focus.
So let’s say you’re fishing a nymph and aren’t catching fish. Before switching out to a different pattern, mess around with the depth, weight, and drifts. More likely than not, the reason the fly is not effective is not because of the patterning, but because it was not fished to the trout’s liking.
Once you’ve tried a variety of different depths and drifts, then maybe it’s time to switch out flies. Take the ownership as an angler to improve your presentation before jumping to the conclusion that the fly is wrong!
Starter Flies
Tom Rosenbauer goes over his basic starter flies for trout in this short video. Check out the video below, along with a list of essential flies.
Conclusion
Choosing the right fly for trout fishing may seem overwhelming, but it becomes simpler when you break it down into key elements: observing, understanding natural forage, and matching the profile, size, and color of your flies to what you see around you. The presentation of your fly is crucial and often more important than the exact fly pattern itself. By taking the time to observe the environment, pick up rocks, and see what’s flyin’ around, you can better understand what the trout are feeding on and select your flies accordingly.
Remember, confidence in your fly and presentation is essential. If you’re not getting bites, consider adjusting your presentation before switching flies. Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a more successful and knowledgeable angler.
… Or you can forget all this and just fish a Wooly Bugger and catch fish anyway.
