I’m curious as to what you experienced fly tyers would say are the top 5 fly patterns that a beginner should learn to tye.
Raiderhunter, what are you fishing for? I’m sure that snook flies are great for some people, but Here on the coast of Washington State they are pretty worthless.
The top five trout flies to a Bass Man aren’t necessarily helpful give us an Idea of what your fishing for and I am sure we can suggest flies.
If you have to start tomorow, I would start with Buggers wooly etc. then learn to tie other flies I can use from there.
Eric
But I would say
- Wooly Bugger
- Elk Hair Caddis
- Phesant Tail Nymph / Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear
- Clouser Minnow
- Para Adams
Actaully 6—but with those will catch just about any fish known & teach you all sorts of tying skills.
Brannon
“Should” makes it sound like there are rules in this game. There are not. Pick 5 you might find yourself fishing with, pick 5 that might challenge your tying skills, pick 5 that randomly appear in the tying book.
Guess I better clarify a species! Ok lets say Top 5 Trout flies.
that would be the 5 flies you feel confident in to catch trout. For each individual that top 5 will be different.
Your favorite five flies to fish. List them and you can get some feedback on which one to tie first. Tying any fly is a matter of applying a group of basic techniques. You might as well learn to apply them to patterns you fish. For what it is worth the first fly I tied was a simple brown bi-visible but the second was an extended body spinner that still looks complicated to the uninitiated. I caught fish on both and still tie and fish both. I do hope the current models look a little better.
Hi Raiderhunter,
If your talking up in New Mexico, I would say go for: 1. elk hair caddis, 2. stimulator, 3. gray Wulff, 4. gold ribbed hares ear, and 5. pheasant tail.
Once you can tie the basic fly, for the three drys listed above, then you can tie it in any color, and thus tie flies that will fish any mayfly, any stonefly, any caddis fly, as well as two basic mayfly nymph.
Variations of the GRHE can fish for stonefly nymphs, and a simplified variation can fish for a caddis.
If you can find your way up to Borger some of these times I will get you started fly tying.
Regards,
Gandolf
Bear paw
Wooly buggers
Ants
Adams
Caddis
That?s about all I fish.Start around size 12 hooks and as your skill improves shrink the hooks I tend to fish size 18-22.
Hi,
I would suggest the following :
- partridge and orange
- hare and copper
- wooly bugger
- royal wulf
- greenwell’s glory
All catch fish, the first teaches neatness, thread control, and the less is more principle. The second teaches you dubbing, and working with wire ribs, and weighting the fly (if you allow bead head varient, lead under body varient, non weighted, etc). The third works adds in palmering hackle, ribbing through it, etc. Generally, these three will work well even if tied roughly (especially 2 and 3). The Royal Wulf may seem a bit more complicated, but the only real new thing to learn is the hair wings. Finally, in greenwell’s glory you learn quill slip wings and you can tie it with a false hackle for a new method too.
Once you’ve got all those under your belt, most traditional flies are within your abilities. Parachute flies would be good to learn too, so for a 6th fly add a parachute adams.
- Jeff
i would pick 5 flies that gives me a variety of techniques to be learned while tying them
example
gold ribbed hares ear would teach me:
weighting; wrapping the thorax area with lead/lead free wire
tailing: using guard hairs for tails
ribbing: tying in a wire to rib the fly
dubbing: how to use a somewhat unruly material and how to apply it to the tying thread
wing case: how to make a wing case using a variety of feathers and how to prepare them if you desire
you tube videos can show you how flies are tied but dont seem to be geared towarads beginners and explain what techniques are being used
I think bspitt nailed it. I would perhaps substitute a Royal Coachman for the Clouser.
Hard to argue with that list. Those flies, tied in appropriate varieties of size and color, should be able to catch any trout that swims, as well as a good number of other fish too (slightly larger sizes of bugger, clouser, and nymphs for bass, same sizes, brighter colors for panfish, larger buggers and clousers for toothy feeshes, much larger clouser for many saltwater species, etc.)
It not only depends on what fish we’re going after, but if you look at trout, it depends on where you are fishing. bspitts list if good but I would take out the Clouser and add in a small midge. Gotta have them midges on the tail waters in Arkansas.
Five Flies Necessary to Catch Fish:
- Wooly Bugger
- Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear
- Elk-hair caddis
- Parachute Adams
- Beetle
Five Flies to tie to be a better tier
- Wooly Bugger
- GRHE
- Elk Hair Caddis
- Catskill-style May Fly Dun
- Parachute Style May Fly Dun
wooly bugger
pheasant tail nymph
gold ribbed hares ear
soft hackle (any kind, but partridge & orange/green are simple ties)
modified adams (forget about the hen hackle tip for now. it will still catch fish. add the hen hackle tip when you become a more proficient tyer)
modified adams (forget about the hen hackle tip for now. it will still catch fish. add the hen hackle tip when you become a more proficient tyer)
Good advice. I’m still fairly new to tying, and hackle-tip and duck flank wings sometimes give me major aggrivations. I’ve tied a single wing of calf body hair almost like a parachute post on a catskill dry already, just so I could switch to it at dusk and still have a fly I could see in low-light conditions, but with the profile of a catskill dry.
By and large though, for me, parachutes fish far better than catskills. That’s just me though, not the flies…there’s been far too many fish caught on the venerable catskill tie to doubt its effectiveness in the least.
I’m very old fashioned about my fishing. I use antique boo fly rods, even.
I find
- Adams
- Caddis
- Ants
- Mosquitoes
- Bee’s
And in that order, work best where I generally fish. And that’d be for trout.
After my favorites, I’ll fool around with other fluff flys, or san juan worms or such.
But I rarely have to fool around. After all, I’m not after the big one’s. 
You might consider a griffiths gnat. A simpkle fly to tie and fills the need for small patterns at this time of year.
Just for giggles and Grins, I tallied up the responses so far.
In First place:
It’s a tie!
Woolly Bugger - 5 votes
Gold-ribbed Hare’s Ear Nymph - 5 votes
Elk Hair Caddis - 4 votes
Para Adams, Adams, and Pheasant Tail Nymph 2 votes each
The rest of these received 1 vote each
Clouser
Ants
Partridge and Orange
Hare & Copper
Royal Wolf
Greenwell’s Glory
Royal Coachman
Beetle
Catskill
Para Mayfly Dun
Soft Hackle
Bear Paw
Now, I’ll add my own votes!
PTN
GRHEN
EHC
Soft Hackle (Wee Wet) in various colors.
A foam beetle/Gurgler/spider
Just as an aside, I only fish warm water down here in SE Texas. These are more intended for panfish and small bass than for trout. Notice the similarities in the list? The Woolley Bugger doesn’t make my list because I don’t fish it. No reason, I just never have. Given it’s reputation, though, I probably ought to be on everybody’s list.
James-FS,
Do you have a pic of the Bear Paw? I’ve never heard of it.
Kirk