David Klausmeyer - 101 Favorite Dry Flies: History, Tying Tips, and Fishing Strategies

101 FAVORITE DRY FLIES: HISTORY, TYING TIPS, AND FISHING STRATEGIES contains a fistful of patterns you can use to catch trout wherever they swim. I have included a few of my own flies, but have also relied on the help of many friends in compiling this small collection. They are all expert anglers and fly designers, and when they recommend a pattern, we should all listen.

But I am writing in the present tense, which is not entirely accurate: two of the contributorsFran Betters and Warren Duncanare no longer with us. Their influence on fly fishing and tying, however, will remain timeless.

My heartfelt thanks to the following gentlemen (and ladies) for helping with this project:

Tom Baltz

Al and Gretchen Beatty

Fran Betters

Gary Borger

Bill Black

David Brandt

Dennis Charney

Warren Duncan

Jay Fishy Fullum

Keith Fulsher

Aaron Jasper

Claes Johansson

Craig Mathews

Dennis Potter

Jesse Riding

Al Ritt

Mike Romanowski

Ted Rogowski

Ed Shenk

Mike Valla

Ken Walrath

Sharon E. Wright

CHAPTER ONE

Matching
the Hatch:
Mayflies,
Caddisflies,
and Stoneflies

Hook: Standard dry-fly hook, sizes 20 to 16.

Thread: Olive 8/0.

Tail: Dark pardo Coq de Leon.

Body: Stripped peacock quill, dyed olive.

Thorax: Olive Superfine dubbing.

Wing post: White Hi-Vis polypropylene yarn.

Hackle: Grizzly.

THE SLOW-WATER, BLUE-WINGED OLIVE IS EXTREMELY productive in slow-water scenarios where the trout are ultra selective. The body is very slender, and when combined with a light-wire hook, this pattern is extremely buoyant.

The parachute-style hackle on the Slow-water, Blue-winged Olive makes the fly float on the surface with the body resting in the film like a real emerger. This pattern creates a realistic-looking silhouette on the water, which is necessary when fishing for very discerning trout in slower moving sections of a stream.

Feel free to swap other colors of yarn for the wing post. Hot pink and orange are easy to track on the watereven in failing light, and the fish do not seem to notice these bright colors.

Hook: Partridge Klinkhamer hook, size 10.

Thread: Brown 6/0.

Tail: Dingy olive marabou tips.

Abdomen: Dingy olive marabou.

Rib: Extra-fine copper wire or clear monofilament.

Thorax: Peacock herl.

Wing bud: Cul de canard.

Hackle: Grizzly, dyed tan, or Cree.

Indicator: Closed-cell foam.

AS AN AUTHOR, ITS FUN TO SHARE SOME OF YOUR OWN patterns, and this is one of minewell, sort of. I made several changes to the classic Quigley Cripple, so many, in fact, that most fly designers would claim it as an entirely new pattern. When I look at the Hovering Green Drake Emerger, however, I still see the basic form of Bob Quigleys famous fly, so I think of it as more of a second or third cousin. Its different, but there is no denying the family resemblance.