Most Used Fly?

[dryflyguy]

With the recent onset of cold winter weather, it looks like I'm probably done fishing until next spring.
And I've started doing inventory of my fly stock to see what I have to replace over the winter for next year. I always enjoy pulling all of those chewed up flies out of my boxes, and reflecting back over the past year however
I guess I've become a creature of habit though, because it seems most of my reties involve the same 5-6 patterns year after year now.

By far, my most used flies are beetles. And I'm sure that's because I fish them all summer and fall. On tiny brookie streams, on up to our biggest trout rivers - fish really hammer these things just about everywhere I fish

As for aquatic insects, I go through more sulphers than anything else. Due to the fact that hatch for quite a long period of time, and because they're so widespread I'm sure
I also usually have to retie lots of BWO's, hendricksons, and grannoms

 

[surveyor06]

Im a sub-surface guy, so I go through a ton of scuds mostly, and soft hackle PTs. My most heavily used dry fly is an Als Trico. I fish them all summer here on the Little Lehigh and Tully. Its my favortie have and longest lived of the year.

 

[David]

Ditto on the sulphers. Compara sulphers is the most used (and lost) for me. Not only is the hatch long, but it is also my go to fly for brookie streams...it's likely they have seen sulphers before, but more importantly it's a fly I can see on the water.
Olives and midges compartments are empty because the typically lighter tippets aren't very tree resistant.

 

[mute]

Mine is probably als rat and zebra midges, basically 4 or 5 variations of the same small flies

 

[fadeaway263]

Bugger...Did I say Bugger?

 

[MKern]

Pheasant Tails -- in all shapes and colors.
Plus they get chewed up after a few fish. Most of my other patterns a more durable.

 

[Alpabuck]

The killer!

 

[goodfortune]

My most productive/favorite flies this year:

Dry Flies:

Stimulator - #12 & #14; Yellow or Olive
CDC Caddis - #16; Tan

Subsurface/Nymphs:

Caddis Larvae - #14 & #16 Green, Cream, or Chartreuse
Copper John - #16 Red Wire & #18 Green Wire

Smallmouth/Warmwater:

Bead-Chain Crystal Bugger - #6 & #8; Olive or Black

 

[jayL]

Spiky dubbed hare's ear on a scud hook.

Second place is a BHPT soft hackle.

For dries, cdc and elk or WMD.

 

[ryguyfi]

sz 20 and 22 griffiths gnat for a dry
sz 14 olive bugger on a streamer hook for fresh stockies and wild browns
sz 10 egg yarn egg for steelies
and sz 14 Hares ears for general nymphing in all colors.

 

[ant]

For dries I use a lot of comparaduns and EHC.

For wets I would say copper johns and a big bertha, a pattern I tie that is a essentially a all black nymph with silver ribbing and a silver bead head.

 

[pcray1231]

1. Parachute Adams - Handles the bulk of my brookie fishing and occasionally hatch matching dry fly situations, in which case it does perfectly fine.

Sulfurs - nah. Not because I don't use sulfurs, but because I use too many variations. I've got spinners, catskill ties, parachutes, comparaduns, several emerger varieties, weighted and unweighted nymphs, etc. Add em all together, sure. But any of them individually are nowhere near #1.

My 2nd place has to be: trico spinner. I use the same pattern, with the tails cut off, as a midge, so they get fished at least occasionally from July-March.

Honorable Mention:

- Glo-bug - missed the cut because too many color variations.
- PT
- Scud
- BWO thorax tie - my favorite hatch, spring + fall.
- sculpin - if I was only allowed to use 1 fly, this might be it.

 

[gfen]

dryflyguy wrote:
I guess I've become a creature of habit though, because it seems most of my reties involve the same 5-6 patterns year after year now.

Been thinking about this alot recently, and I believe I could reduce all dry flies patterns to:
The Usual.
Parachutes.
Wulffs.

Specifically, usuals in 14 through 18, different, "common" colours like cream, olive, dun, and browns.
Parachutes for 12 through 20, again common colours including a healthy supply of the Adams.
Wulffs mostly in the Royal variety, but a one or two 14 sized jobs in generic colours.

Nymphs will probably end up being pheasant tails, hare's ears, and uncased caddis larva.

I could reduce wets to pennells, partridge-and-peacock, and a few spiders with floss or silk bodies.

A couple of "others" (ants, griffith's gnats, al's rats) and I'm ready for whatever.

So, with that in mind, I've got alot of flies to hang up in trees and rocks.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Gold-ribbed Hares ear, Beadhead PT and Copper Johns for nymphs. Beetles,Ants(sinking) and Crickets for terrestrials. Hendrickson, March Browns,Sulphurs,Greendrakes,Slatedrakes,Cahills,Tricos and BWO for drys. Adams and Royal Wulffs for native streams.

 

[k-bob]

I am to flies what the Ramones were to chords: just use three of them, with rare exceptions... EHC, stimulator, and for water under 40, pink san juan worm.

 

[jdaddy]

Dry: Green Elk Hair X-Caddis with brown antron shuck. Maybe some cdc mixed in there if I am feeling saucy.

Nymph: Limestoners = scud. freestoner streams = copper bead head, spiky dubbing, copper wire.

 

[muskratnymph1]

Olive x-caddis. Olive caddis larvae. Those are my mainstays and have caught trout, and a lot of them from the Delaware to the Madison. I think that caddis are just so readily available. I have seen tons of trout that were killed by neckbreakers during the season and they were full of caddis. I would also throw in Sulphur parachutes, BWOs, adams, and rusty spinners. But while you are at it you should have ants in sizes 12-20, light cahill, march browns, isos (each in comparadun, catskill, parachute, cdc comparadun, snowshoe comparadun, and thorax style dries). Don't forget about green drakes, hexes, craneflies... Holy s**t you have a lot of tying to do!

 

[JAD]

No.1 would be Sulphur Comparadun
2. Griffith's Gnat
3. Beetels.

 

[sandfly]

only one fly needed= The willy Tilley

 

[gfen]

sandfly wrote:
only one fly needed= The willy Tilley

Well, I'm stumped and so is google.