What should i be tying?

[RH1]

Hey all, I have a 4 day trip planned to the Laurel Highlands area in mid-May. Im curious of what patterns I should be tying in preparation. Im hoping in 4 days that I have time to target all 3 species of trout but really want to catch my first Brook and Brown trout. Any certain patterns to be stocked with?
Thanks friends!

 

[salmo]

I've never fished the area before. May is a great month to fish for trout. Depending on the size of the streams you intend to fish the following are go to patterns: 1. Dry flies; standard Adams, parachute Adams, sulfur/Cahill, elk hair caddis, Yellow Sally or Humpy; 2. Nymphs; Pheasant tail, cased caddis, sulfur, hare's ear, any smaller perdigon, stone fly, cress bugs, Walt's worm, green weenie.

 

[dc410]

Fish some soft hackles in mid May and you should be into fish. The bugs are moving and the fish are working all levels of the water column, feeding on bugs working their way to the top. Pheasant Tail soft hackle, Hares Ear soft hackle and Sulphur soft hackle - if you want to focus on one size, size 14. Hang on! The takes are usually not subtle. Good luck!

 

[Arminacast]

Woolly bugger, ehc, bead head flashback pheasant tail.
Good luck!

 

[dudemanspecial]

Standard generic / attractor type stuff like Salmo mentioned is all you need. Any bugs will be 12-18, maybe 20 if you are into small stuff.

 

[tomgamber]

Smallish stonefly nymph patterns do really well in that area. Lots of pocket water.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

All previous suggestions are great! Here are some other options...

Flies for wild trout in PA freestone streams:
Nymphs: It's hard to beat a Hare's Ear from #12-16, with a gold bead and without. You could put 3 or 4 turns of lead-free wire in the front 1/3 of a beadless hook for a bit of weight and bulk in the thorax. Vary the color from natural to brown to imitate anything from smaller stoneflies to whatever is hatching.
If you want something darker that's money, try a Prince or Pheasant Tail, same sizes and weight configurations. If you are feeling creative, you can tie a PT abdomen and a HE thorax, but it probably won't matter.

Dries:
Parachute Adams #12 - 16, roughly imitates the hatching mayflies. Vary the post color for visibility. I like hot pink as an all-around color. White is usually good, but poor when casting into glare. Orange is also good and can be a triggering color, especially for brookies.

Elk Hare Caddis, #12 - 16 is a great searching pattern in May. Tan body is standard. You could tie a few in olive to mix it up.

Good luck!

 

[RH1]

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys..
Now..Off to the lab!