Adding to my fly box

[gochs]

I fish mainly the Little Juniata and Spruce Creek, and I'm hoping to get to Spring Creek soon. I like to be well prepared on my outings, so I've been ordering a mess of flies from The Fly Stop every month. The past two shipments it's been pretty obvious the selections I should be making, but now heading into June there's a lot different hatches going on. I could go through the hatch charts for the Little J and spruce creek and order them all, but that'd be a lot. So what I'm asking is: Anyone from around this area that's fished the Little J and adjacent waters, what are some flies that I'll definitely need? Of course, I'm not holding my results to your responses, but out of all the flies on the hatch charts, what seems to be the "must-have" flies?

I already have a bunch of:
Sulphurs
Hendricksons
Adams
Olive/Black/Grannom Caddis
Blue Quill
Blue Wing Olive

And I can't remember the rest.

 

[hammertime]

Tricos

 

[bam]

griffith's gnats!

and aside from maybe a terresterial or two, you have pretty much every dry you should ever need.

 

[Padraic]

ants (I like them really small, 18's down to guessing where they might be 'cause they are too small to see anymore sized) or 8's and 10's but I've never done much with the typical size 12,14 &16.
Beetles 8-14.

If you want to keep the selection small, just get cinnamon ants in 18 and black beetles in 12's or 14. Black ants are great too. Everyone has a favorite beetle, but they all work. Remember you'll need a heavy leader/tippet to turn over a beetle.

I think you should have some nymphs as well. Are you a diehard dryfly enthusiast? or have you just not gotten there yet?

If you are learning to nymph try a San Juan worm. You should be able to see it and so you'll learn how a nymph drifts. Pink is a good color. Size isn't so important. Green weenies (14) are good too.

I'll leave it to the nympho-maniacs to give you more recommendations on the subsurface stuff.

 

[gochs]

Thanks guys. I'm definitely gonna try them out.

And as far as nymphs go, I have a few, but just haven't gotten there yet. I've tried them out, but just can't figure it out. There's just so many different aspects that I need to read up on/figure out on my own.

So for right now, I think I'm just going to stick to drys, considering I'm finally somewhat satisfied with my casting/presentation.

 

[gfen]

1) Go somewhere open.
2) Tie on a big size 12 Royal Wulff to some 4x, then 18" of 5x and a size 14 or 16 hare's ear.
3) Fish your dry fly.
4) Marvel at the extra fish you catch on the along-for-the-ride Hare's Ear.
6) Write off dedicated nymphers are boring people.

Six easy steps.

 

[gochs]

gfen, I don't think nymphing is boring, considering I haven't had much experience with it. This is my first year fly fishing, and I just haven't gotten to that stage of fly fishing yet. I most certainly plan on attempting it, though.

And I've tried the dropper setup, but it seems like I get tangled up more when I do it. I could just grin and bear it, but for right now I'm content with trying to catch fish with one fly at a time.

 

[gfen]

No, its boring. Would I lie to you?

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

gochs,

If I were going to tell you what to keep handy:
* Sulphurs in various sizes... duns, emergers, spinners
* Ant, beetles, crickets... you'd be amazed what you'll catch on those streams with terestrials.
* Any / every caddis pattern you can find.
* Blue winged olives in 18-20 should be in every fly box and a few Tricos for the streams you're fishing.
* With June close by, get some ISO's / Slate Drakes in the box ASAP.

If you are around Saturday afternoon into the evening, I'm coming up that way and would fish w/ ya. Headed to Spring or Lil J. Not sure yet but the rainfall will determine where I go.

PM me if you want to fish.

 

[Bruno]

I would add scuds to the box for that trip.