Flies for Mountain Brookies

[Fishidiot]

It's commonly known that brookies in small mountain streams aren't particularly selective. Neverthless, certain flies can be well suited to fishing for them (for mountain streams with brown trout I prefer more standard patterns). Brookies, in my experience, are impressed by color and movement and I usually do well with visible flies that are fairly large. Lotsa folks like the venerable Wulff type dries and, no doubt, they're killers. Any basic nymph will catch 'em too. Having experimented a fair amount with brookie flies I've come up on some basic designs that suit me well.

For surface fishing, I like a foam bug about a size #12 or 14 hook tied with either black foam or some bright color like chartruese. This fly should be topped with a large, high sitting visibility post. I like orange razor foam for this post. Foam flies don't require dressing and will float all day without false casting.

For sub-surface work, tiny streamers do the trick. I like a flashy fly tied with a small dumbell weight to turn the hook upward. This little streamer's wings are usually made with crystal flash or some similar material - color doesn't matter as long as it's bright and flashy. I'll usually mix in a bit of deer hair for topping and a throat of orange or chartruese to give it a bit more color contrast and bulk. Keep these flies small - a #10 hook resulting in a fly about an inch long is just about right - anything much bigger and you'll still get bit but miss a lot strikes. With this heavy streamer I can get down into deeper runs and probe plunge pools and pull brookies out from under slab rocks and root balls. Brookies back under cover may not see a dry fly or wet fished in the upper water column but a heavier fly won't be missed. Typically, my method is to fish upstream with the foam dry fly and then fish back downstream with the little streamer to try and tempt out any brookies I didn't get on my way up.

What sort of flies do you like for mountain brookies?

 

[SBecker]

Love em

 

[jayL]

Goddard caddis, stimulators, and parachute adams for dry, and heavy beadhead rubber legged stoneflies for subsurface. I fish the stone a lot like you fish the streamers, Dave. It's killer.

I will have to tie some little bright streamers.

 

[MKern]

Fi,
It's funny you bring this up, because everytime I say certain flies are more suited for brookies, everybody disagrees.

My pattern for nymphs, is tied on a 2x fine dry fly hook (for easier penetration) that has contrasting colors (to catch their eyes), no tails (because they get in the way of the hook), enough weight to sink it (possibly a bead), cheap dubbing/or ez dub (because the fly is going to get shreaded), and wire rib for durability.

 

[dryflyguy]

I use #14 crowe beetles - same thing that I use just about everywhere else in the summer and fall.
They're one of the simplest flies to tie - and the brookies just gobble them. Why not use them?

 

[TUNA]

I use Meck's Patriot as a dry, and just about any basic nymph as a dropper, usually a Rubber Leg Copper John, usually in Blue or Purple. Sometimes, flow permitting, I'll use small streamers.

 

[jdaddy]

I use Patriot as well, along with bh PT or HE dropper.

 

[bkasten]

Thanks for sharing this. Iv only fished for brookies out in Colorado and have had no luck at all. Iv had them come up and look at my flies but never had a take. They are a real pain out there...but still a blast to fish for. I havent had a chance to fish for them in PA. Still havent had found a stream to fish for them. When I do I will definitely try your technique. Thanks again.

 

[TossinFlies15]

I'll get some pictures up eventually (camera's in china) but I use a size 8 hook and throw on black chain eyes with some rainbow flashibou and a rap of red yarn around the neck. Works very well on the first or second quick stip in a fast run

 

[ryguyfi]

A Pink SJW. I got more action on that last year than anything else combined. No thanks to Squaretail!

 

[PaulG]

Just use a bare hook, they'll eat anything

PaulG

 

[osprey]

A durable , high floating dry fly that will catch at least a half dozen before i have to change because they either tore it up or it got waterlogged. Foam is nice , so is deer or elk or similar hair , good high quality stiff hackle , light wire hooks , anything in the fly that gives it all or most of those qualities.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Royal Wulff and early season another dry called the " Mr. Rapidan" and the old standby the "Adams".

 

[osprey]

FishI...those flies in your pics look like they'd fit the bill just fine i also like the use of foam but i tie they foam bodies on a needle and then use them to make some caddis looking dry flies that are super durable , durability is a big issue for me when it comes to mountain brookie fishing , i like a fly that will catch as many as i can before i have to stop and change. The flies in the pics look real good for that type of fishing.

 

[Chaz]

I never use a tandem rig for brookies, and have never used a nymph in a brookie stream. For me it's during the hatch season match the hatch, or big attractor patterns. During the winter it's streamers buck tails and wet flies.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I used an adams style parachute size 14. Tyed with a pink floss body white post and dark dun colored hackle. Laugh all you want it flat works

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I'm not laughing I believe you.

 

[osprey]

I'm not laughing either , that pinl SJW works great for me too and also a pink shrimp or scud pattern will surprise you.

 

[sandfly]

Right now a Lt. orange honey bug with a bead head is working, the Oct. caddis is still coming off and they take it for the pupa. Cold nights this week will shut them down from hatching.

 

[osprey]

When you talk about October Caddis are you talking that kinda orange looking version , not really orange more like rust or cinnamon , we call it a cinnamon sedge , in the fall in Pa i've seen that fly from Donegal Springs to Lynn run all over the place and it works too , it's probably the last of what we would call a hatch here.