Help Identify Flies (pic heavy)

[thebassman]

Hey guys,

I have a topic going already on what would be the essential flies to have to fish PA streams. It got me wondering if some of what I had already would work. When I started to look at some of my flies I had no clue what they were and what size they would be considered. I was wondering if you experts could help identify a few and take a stab at the size you thought think they are. I know what some are already, but do not know the sizes of them. Also let me know if you think they would work here in PA or if they should go into a box reserved for the overstocked trout in the Missouri trout parks. For a reference to the size of the fly I have placed a Mustad 94840 #12 hook in the picture with the flies......here we go

glo balls....trout park dynamite....worth keeping for the PA trout or don't waste my time with them here

No here are the flies that I really need help with...I know a few, but do not know their size, and some I just have no clue about at all. If you need a better pic of a certain one just let me know.

Thanks for looking through all those pics and helping me out. It really means a lot.

Steven

 

[beeber2]

Maybe it's me but I don't see the pics. In that case I would guess...no see ums.

 

[jdaddy]

Too much work.

They are all great PA trout stream flies. Match the size of the naturals you are seeing to the flies. Generally speaking, local fly shops are going to sell flies and sizes that represent local bugs. I mean some idiot may tie a Royal Wulff on a big saltwater hook but you have to ignore those people.

You can obviously see those that are the same size as your hook sample ie 12. Little bit smaller is a 14. etc.

Go to a local fly shop and buy a 20,18,16,14,12 Pheasant tail and compare.

Or go online and find a printable hook chart and compare your flies against it.

Beeber2 the pics are there. Must be you.

 

[thebassman]

hmmm.....I see them just fine when browsing the topic....anyone else have this problem?? is there a limit to how many pics you can have on a thread??

 

[gfen]

jdaddy wrote:
I mean some idiot may tie a Royal Wulff on a big saltwater hook but you have to ignore those people.

HEY!

I took that to FL with me, and intended to nail a largemouth with it, but promptly forgot because gurglers were way too much fun.

 

[thebassman]

Too much work.

I just did not know if someone could tell by skimming through the pics what a few are and their size...by no means to I expect someone to identify all of them

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I'm no help w/ this stuff. I didn't even know what a merpet was.

 

[thebassman]

I'm no help w/ this stuff. I didn't even know what a merpet was.

I saw that in the other thread....come on man....I even know what that is....gosh..

totally kidding by the way.....I don't even know what the heck I own.

also Sasquatch....sorry, but Man City all the way this year!

 

[theeel89]

Honestly I think most of your flies will work. In the 8th pic down you have some nice elk hair caddis that should work( the larger ones look to be about size 12 and the smaller ones about size 16). Most of your beadheads look good and should work. If you dont have any, i would recomend getting some size 16 hares ear beadheads on a curved shank hook. they work great on freestone and limestone spring creeks equally well. in the 10th pic down you got some grasshoppers and ants that should work well this time of year, especially the hoppers if you can find a stream that goes through a meadow. I dont know about the glow balls. they might work as a sucker spawn imitation in the spring. i think on any given day any of those flies could work. just do some experimenting and try them out. good luck 🙂

 

[The_Sasquatch]

thebassman wrote:

I'm no help w/ this stuff. I didn't even know what a merpet was.

I saw that in the other thread....come on man....I even know what that is....gosh..

totally kidding by the way.....I don't even know what the heck I own.

also Sasquatch....sorry, but Man City all the way this year!

Please. The Best Team Oil Can Buy still ain't good enough.

I'm pretty sure the Murpet is made up. At least when I google imaged it, some funny shart came up.

 

[jdaddy]

thebassman wrote:

Too much work.

I just did not know if someone could tell by skimming through the pics what a few are and their size...by no means to I expect someone to identify all of them

I am sure most can identify all of them. They are all solid and common flies that you will use. You didn't buy junk! Most people do, so you did good. However, I would again suggest that you take the fly, go onto Orvis, flyshack, etc and try to look them up. This involvement level will help you in a number of ways. First it will help you identify the flies out of the box. Second you will see the "families" or groups of flies. Third, there may be reviews or helpful hints given on the sites to tell you when, how, why etc.

 

[gfen]

jdaddy's challenge accepted.
beadhead glowbug x2, glowbug x2

unknown. foam hoppery thing.

damsel fly

i dunno, but its awful clever and some kind of mayfly nymph

bh pheasant tail, bh hares ear, bh copper john x2, unknown x2, zebra midge, bh hares ear, bh hare's ear soft hackle

quill gordon, bh pheasant tail, weird mayfly emergery thing.

adams, loopwing whatsit, bwo, humpy (?), adams, cdc-no-hackle sulphur (?)

cdc-n-elk or another...elk hair caddis x4

royal MF wulffs x4.

parachute hopper, fur ant, letort hopper

no idea, extended body caddis of some sort

hare's ear, prince, bh pheasant tail, pheasant tail, some sort of soft hackle

bh pheasant tail, prince, hare's ear.

5 minutes i'll never get back.

 

[thebassman]

Thanks Gfen!!

I have been looking at orvis and other website and have been reading through what they all are and what they do.....now comes actually experience time once the water cools down....

 

[ryguyfi]

#1 – attractor pattern, maybe a stonefly
#2 – damselfly nymph/dragon fly nymph
#3 caddis nymph
#4 – smaller nymphs, mostly generic – brassie, hares ear, midges, etc.
#5 – light cahill/sulphur dun, bead head pheasant tail, emerger of some sort (possibly caddis)
#6 – match the hatch dry flies – if it looks close to the natural, tie it on.
#7 – assortment of caddis flies – clumsy and moth-like bugs
#8 – royal wulff’s – great pattern for wild brook trout.
#9 – hoppers and ant
#10 – no clue, and possibly a yellow stonefly
#11 – hares ear, prince, pheasant tails
#12 – same as 11

 

[JackM]

For ease of reference, let's label them as follows:

Picture #2 (left to right and then down and left to right if needed🙂

Terrestrial, hopper or cricket.

Picture #3

If that has eyes, I'd call it a helagramite. Looks like it could be used for searching the depths.

Picture #4

I'd call this a caddis pupae/nymph

Picture #5

The ones without any tailing are caddis pupae or if under 20, call them midge emergers.

Picture #6

Leftmost looks like a light hendrickson dry or a cahill or even March Brown (but only if at least #14). In the center is a pheasant tail and on the right looks like a generic cripple. Use it when that size and color of dun is emerging.

Picture #7

These look mostly like variations on the Adams. It is hard to get a clear picture of the color of each. The third from left looks like a black gnat, of classic reknown, another attractor for generally dark bugs. Aand the far right look like a sulfur (colors are not clear, but it looks pale yellow to me).


Picture #8

These are all, of course, caddis dries.

Picture #9

All Royal Wulffs, two of one size two of the other.

Picture #10

left to right, parachute hopper, black ant, cricket Hopper (Letort style?).

Picture #11

Griffiths Gnat or bi-visible (though it should have white and brown hackle).


Picture #12

various pheasant tail pattern, including the variation in the middle above the bare hook, which I would call a prince nymph.

Picture #13

More pheasant tail variatiions.

As for size, use hooks to compare. It is too hard to guess by pictures alone.

 

[Swattie87]

I think Gfen's pretty spot on with those. A couple are tough to tell from the pictures, but patterns differ between different tyers anyway, so it's really not that important.

For instance the leftmost fly in the 6th pic could be a PMD (Pale Morning Dun) too. Either way they both represent a fairly light colored mayfly.

And the 5th fly from the left in the 7th pic could also be a Mosquito pattern...but one man's Adams, is another man's Mosquito...and realistically they represent the same thing (darker mayfly) on the water.

That's definitely a good enough mix to get you into some wild trout. If all else fails, try some small BH Woolly Buggers...size 12-14.

As you mentioned, looking online helps with IDing them too. I got a bunch of different catalogs with pics in them to help learn too. Just call Cabelas, Orvis, etc and they will send you their fly fishing catalog...usually for free.

Edit: Everyone else who posted in the meantime while I was drafting this post has plausible lists too...Really goes to show that it's not that important what you call them, just when you use them!

 

[pcray1231]

Agree with other ID's. All will work in PA.

The glo-bugs are especially dynamite on stocked rainbows. I sometimes use them for wild bows too, rainbows are genetically programmed to eat eggs. Brookies eat anything so they'll work there too, though maybe not better than a lot of other stuff. Browns, well, stocker browns rarely take eggs. Wild browns will only at certain times, namely when there are natural eggs in the water (match the hatch). This occurs mostly during the sucker spawn in the early spring, but there are other isolated situations. In these situations, they are excellent, but not a lot of other times.

The other flies will all work in PA. For the dries, use during a hatch, when fish are feeding on the natural insects of similar size and form.

The nymphs can be used anytime and produce, but again, match size and type to the insects emerging or expected to emerge in the near future, the natural nymphs become active before the hatch. For ease, you can split up the nymphs into mayflies (Hare's Ear, Pheasant tails) and caddis. Use the mayfly nymphs in mayfly heavy streams and the caddis in caddis heavy streams.

 

[jdaddy]

Yellow dude in 11 is a Caddis Pupa tied dry as emerger. Some call it Caddis Poopah. Its tied with chenille and is very effective.

 

[flipnfly]

pic #2 looks like a hexagenia pattern to me