KCMark,
The above advice is all good. Once you’re on the stream you’ll want to match whatever you see with the closest thing in your fly box. But if you don’t have an exact match… then what?
Many folks (and I’m one of them) think that the most important features are size, profile, and color (in that order). As a case in point there have been a lot of Missouri fish caught on Cracklebacks and they don’t imitate anything that I know of. Another thing to consider is whether it’s fast or slow water.
You can get a lot of mileage out of generic patterns like the Adams (for mayflies) and Elk Wing Caddis (for caddis) to be able to fish most hatches with confidence.
For someone just starting out I’d recommend a neutral buggy looking fly like an Adams in sizes 20, 18, 16, 14, and 12 to imitate mayflies in moving water. To fish slow moving water where fish can get a better look at the fly a Parachute Adams in the same size ranges, or if you want to spice things up, substitute a tan body Sparkle Dun in the same sizes for the Parachute Adams. (In my opinion the Sparkle Dun is more versatile and will stand up to more fish before it falls apart, but it may be a little harder to find in tackle shops out there.)
For fast water, you’ll want something that will float like a cork and be visible to you, so a fly like a Royal Wulff or Ausable Wulff in sizes 18, 16, 14 and 12 might be a good thing to have. The white wings make them easy to see and trout ususally don’t have time to study them to hard as they flash overhead.
For caddis a bunch of neutral looking Tan Elk Hair Caddis in sizes 18, 16, 14 and 12 would be good in fast or slow water.
So if you see a fly coming off that you don’t have an exact match for, figure out if it’s a caddis or a mayfly. If it’s a caddis (usually an erratic flier with “buzzy” looking wings), pick a Tan Caddis in the closest size. If it’s a mayfly, go with the Royal or Ausable Wulf in fast water, the Adams in moving water, and the Parachute Adams or Sparkle Dun in slow water.
And for those times when you don’t see anything hatching, or if the trout aren’t responding to your dries, swinging a wet fly like a Partridge and Orange Soft Hackle by casting across stream and letting it swing downstream may get you some fish. They imitate a lot of things like emerging mayflies and caddis. A couple in sizes 16 and 14 would be good.
A couple of Muddler Minnows (or black Marabou Muddlers) in 12 and 10 would be a wise investment for pools when there isn’t anything hatching, fished across stream and swung below you the same way you fish the soft hackles. These will imitate sculpins, though you could also grease them up with flotant and fish them as “grasshoppers” too in a pinch.
Over time you’ll want to add more specific patterns to match hatches. A good idea would be to get a Hatch chart for your local water and recommendations from your local shop. That way you’ll know what to expect, and can do some research to get ready including here at FAOL and in books like Hatches II by Caucci … for example you might find there is a size 16 Blue Wing Olive hatch in mid June, so in addition to having some 14 BWO’s you might also have some 14 Rusty Spinners to imitate the same insect in spinner fall and some 14 Pheasant Tail Nymphs to imitate its nymphal form since you’ll know the nymphs will be active prior to the hatch.
The hatch charts will often tell you the approximate time of day of the hatch, and with a little research may also tell you whether they’ll typically be found in riffles, or pools. All these things will help you to be at the right spot as well as the right time. They’ll also alert you to hatches outside of the size ranges covered by your Adams and Elk Hair Caddis like Tricos, which are very small, and green drakes and some stone flies that can be big honkers so you can be ready for them too.
I hope this helps. The whole hatch thing can be very intimidating at first, but you really don’t to learn Latin, The main thing to recap is, get some hatch charts to know what to expect when and where you are going to fish, and have back up plan with a very basic assortment of flies that will match in size and profile 80-90% of the hatches you’re likely to run into.
Good luck!
Peregrines
what great information.