your 5 top flies

[shademt]

curious as to what everyone else's 5 top flies are. guess i'd say mine are..1. muddler minnow... 2. hares ear nymph..3. copper john...3. wooly bugger... 4 adams dry....5. green weenie...seems like i catch more trout overall with these 5.....how about you?...

 

[The_Sasquatch]

This year its definitely been a tan caddis in top spot.
Second is beadhead hare's ear
Third is an olive bugger
Fourth is a cream midge
Fifth is the IPW

I caught most my fish on these five flies this year.

 

[jayL]

Many, many top flies threads in the past. Here are a few for your reading pleasure: link.

Enjoy.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

1. Bead head hare's ear ; 14 - 18

I've always had a lot of confidence in the hare's ear it is a good general pattern. The fuzzier and buggier the better.

2. Olive bead head wooley bugger; 6 - 12

I religiously keep olive wooley buggers tied in a number of different varieties. They always have worked for me when water is high and off color or for deep fast water. I have also caught lots of larger fish other than just trout on buggers including catfish and walleye as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass while fly fishing.

3. Tungsten bead black stonefly ; 12 - 20

I like stoneflies in all sizes they compliment the hares ear in the "keeping it simple" approach to using a few general patterns that work most of the time.

4. Elk hair caddis ; 16 - 20

Again, another good general pattern. I like them because they ride high and dry, they have a critter look to them, and they catch fish.

5. Foam bi-vis ant; 18 - 22

I could have easily said griffith's gnat, renegade or beetle here, but I really like the tiny foam ants.

 

[tomitrout]

This year it's been:

Adams
Ants in black or orange
cdc & elk caddis
Sulphurs
scuds

sizes 14, 16, 18 of each pretty much covers 83.2% of my trout pursuits...remainder being hatch dependent; midges, bwo's, etc...

 

[streamerguy]

Not in any particular order...

Wooly Bugger-white, brown, or black, size 8 &10, cone or bead head.

Green Weenie and/or green san juan- 12-16

white zonker- 6-10

caddis larvae- 12-16

EHC- 14--18

 

[wsender]

flies matter not, only presentation

 

[pcray1231]

flies matter not, only presentation

I agree with your principle, but wouldn't go that far. Hmm, 5 is tough. Plus, you have the question of is this "if you had to pick only 5 flies, what would you pick", and "what are your favorites?" They are two different questions.

If forced to choose only 5, everyone is gonna pick generalist flies that can pull duty for different bugs, and they're gonna have a dry, a nymph, and a streamer for 3 of them. Mine would be:

1. Parachute Adams - brookie fly and works fine for most mayfly dry fly duty. Even caddis it's not bad for.
2. Black sculpin - my streamer of choice
3. Pheasant Tail - my nymph of choice, covers most species fine. Also float it in the film, and its a great emerger.
4. Spent wing trico - Cut the tail off and its a midge! Clip the wings and it's an ant!
5. Glo bug - need somethin for the steelies and stockers.

Those aren't necessarily my favorites. For instance, I'm not super fond of subsurface work, I only do it because it works and often it's all that will work. My favorite times on the stream are during the major hatches, and thus, what I use then would be my "favorites". So I'd probably pick 5 dry flies, though keep in mind, if this is all I carried I'd be pretty much SOL for 80% of my fishing time.

1. Sulpher comparadun
2. Cut wing thorax BWO
3. March Brown catskill tie
4. Green Drake.
5. yeah, the Adams Parachute.

 

[brookiesRfun]

1. wb
2. marabou streamer in olive or rust w a little flash
3.hare's ear
4.double humpy.
5.pt.

 

[just_jon]

If I were limited to 5 flies for the rest of my life, I would choose:
1. Royal Wulff
2. Sulfur Emerger
3. Shenk's White Minnow
4. Shenk's Sculpin
5. Cress Bug

 

[nealfish]

5 flies the rest of my life
1.) wooly bugger, size 8-12, black orange, dark green
2.)elk hair caddis, 14-20, tan
3.)hairs ear nymph (bead head), size 12
4.)parachute adams size 16
5.)muddler minnow, size 6-12

this is just for trout b.t.w.

 

[boychick]

1. Adams parachute
2. Elk Hair caddis
3. Soft hackle
4. white bugger
5. Caddis larva

 

[rrt]

1. Sulphur dun
2. Adams
3. Tan Wright Fluttering Caddis
4. BWO
5. Beadhead Hare's Ear

Though I far prefer dry-fly fishing, I found myself fishing underwater almost all season this past year. I have started my fly tying for the winter, and I had to tie scads of BHHE nymphs.

 

[Hookerman]

For east coast wild trout:

(No particular order instead depending upon conditions or circumstances)

Conehead Muddler Minnow #10
Poxystone #12
Generic high riding yellow dry #14
Hares ear # 16
Dark giant stonefly (realistic) #6

 

[fisherboy3]

1. Tungstenbead PT
2. Brown/olive woolly bugger
3.Sulpher dry
4.Stimulator
5. Parachute Adams

 

[Fishidiot]

Clouser Minnow
Sand eel
10" eel fly
Borski Slider (or variant)
Large bunker pattern

Wait a minute....Are we talking about trout - like the freshwater version?
:-D

 

[barrybarry]

Czech Nymph

Green Weenie

Elk Hair Caddis

Pheasant Tail

White Marabou streamer

 

[tulenkot]

1. BHPT
2. BHHE
3. Zebra Midge
4. Adams dry
5. Floating Ant

No particular order. If I cant catch trout with one of these patterns, i'll try other patterns, usually in vain...

 

[mcwillja]

1. Comparadun
2. Rabbit's Foot emerger
3. Walts Worm
4. Rusty Spinner
5. biot nymph

In no particular order

 

[Troutbum82]

Cold water- caddis nymph, copper john, little yellow stone fly nymph, blood dot egg, foam hopper. Warm water- deer hair mouse, hang time, cork popper, marabou streamer, whore house special.