Generic Dry Flys

[littlelehigh]

One of my goals this year is to catch trout on dries when there are only sporatic risers. What can I say its a common thing on the LL. So while going through my fly boxes from last year evaluating ties I found compartments of large Renegades and Bi Visibles and when doing a quick search of theflystop.com I realized it's not easy to find generic flies under size 16.

Not sure why but I think the 2 listed above may do quite well in small sizes with variations to match insects the way Gfen alters the Usual to meet almost all hatches.

I'm thinking a small black and grizzly bi vis would make a heck of an ant or trico imitation.


So what other "must carry" generic flies and there.And what variations do you guys prefer.

 

[flipnfly]

i tend to carry a ton of hares ears but i do tie generic nymphs i tie them in olive and browns and sometimes tan all these nymphs are are hen hackle for the tail dubbing and i use pheasant for the wing case and legs like a pt and they are dynamite fished in the film like an emerger with floatant on top another pattern i use is called a wing knot emerger its in the dave hughes handbook of hatches

 

[littlelehigh]

Sorry guys title shoulda been Generic Dry Flies

 

[gfen]

Any pattern really works, and lets you concentrate on just the materials and refinement of that pattern.

 

[bam]

Don't remember what they're called, but basically a griffeths gnat without the peacock. Heard they're used as a midge imitation out west. Lay a base of orange thread, tie in a hackle and a strand of flash. rib the thread with the flash and wrap the hackle to the front. Tie off. I've had good success with em in a size 20.

 

[tomgamber]

I am willing to use an Adams just about anytime and anywhere and have had much success.

 

[flipnfly]

bam,
are you talking aboput the crackleback? i agree tom an adams can be a good imposter for alot of bugs i also like but cannot tie an irresistable and various humpys but i think those are more attractors than generic....

 

[tomgamber]

he's talking about a renegade I believe...or a version of a bivisible.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

A parachute adams and hares ear can cover alot of fly's except the tric's n midges. All you gotta do is vary body color. I tye em in orange, white, pink, yellow, brown and grey.

 

[littlelehigh]

PACOFRANSICO wrote:
A parachute adams and hares ear can cover alot of fly's except the tric's n midges. All you gotta do is vary body color. I tye em in orange, white, pink, yellow, brown and grey.

Do you mean a HE tied catskill style? with what material for a wing?

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Cdc I use for the wing on the hare ear. The thin skin wing case splits the cdc into even wings

 

[wsender]

littlelehigh wrote:

PACOFRANSICO wrote:
A parachute adams and hares ear can cover alot of fly's except the tric's n midges. All you gotta do is vary body color. I tye em in orange, white, pink, yellow, brown and grey.

Do you mean a HE tied catskill style? with what material for a wing?

On Catskill styles I use Mallard Flanks for the wings. It's tricky but once you get the hang of it, it looks pretty good.

 

[dryflyguy]

IMO. terrestials are perfect to use for sporadic risers
A crowe beetle is my first choice whenever I can't tell what they're taking

 

[BrookieBuster101]

For me, my number one dryfly that I carry and fish on nearly every time out is a size 16 and 20 costal deer hair caddis. I dont use hackle and i just do a dubbing body. I catch alot of fish on that fly.

Another good one is the adams of course and beetles. But honestly fish love caddis for some odd reason and they are almost always on the water.

 

[afishinado]

BrookieBuster101 wrote:
For me, my number one dryfly that I carry and fish on nearly every time out is a size 16 and 20 costal deer hair caddis. I dont use hackle and i just do a dubbing body. I catch alot of fish on that fly.

Another good one is the adams of course and beetles. But honestly fish love caddis for some odd reason and they are almost always on the water.

BB,

A CDC & Elk is the same pattern as you described except the body is wound with CDC instead of dubbing. Killer generic caddis pattern. The CDC adds life to the fly and it's as easy to tie as a dubbed body. BTW, the name is a misnomer, the wing is coastal deer hair. Here's the tute from Charlies Fly Box:

http://www.charliesflyboxinc.com/flybox/details.cfm?parentID=150

 

[wsender]

I fish a lot of caddis's as well. I think an elk/deer hair caddis does a great job of imitating a realm caddis as well as a bunch of other insects.

 

[RLeep2]

I'll substitute "searching" for "generic" in the original thread question and say that both in PA and out here in the Midwest, the searching fly I use way more than any other is a big (usually a #10..) simple two-humped deer hair ant. Fish it like a bass bug, tight to the banks and along in-stream logs and whatnot.

In other flies, where I am now, I most favor a Hare's Ear Parachute in 14-18 depending on time of hear and water levels. This is just an Adam's parachute with a hare's ear body. It seems to help if you tie these a little rough looking, with slightly oversized hackle or some hairs hanging off the body, etc. If you tie like I do, your flies come out looking this way anyhow. If you're a more talented, exacting or precise tier, you could cover one eye with a strip of duct tape while you tie.

On PA small to moderate freestone wild trout streams, one fly I would never be without is a simple deerhair caddis with the wings tied delta-style out at a 45 degree angle and the hackle clipped flush on the bottom. This fly floats like a cork in the faster runs and lays flat and looks good in the pools. Very versatile and saves changing flies all the time to accommodate varying water types. I tie it with a hare's ear body that is figure-8'd once around the wings and a brown hackle wound from the base of the wings forward to the eye and then clipped flush on the bottom.

It's also good in tan or black. #14-18

 

[franklin]

One of my better generics is a size 18 hook with a dark olive or grey biot body and a natural CDC wing. Often use a couple greyish hackle fibers for a tail.

 

[BelAirSteve]

My list is pretty short, as my home water is the Gunpowder. CDC Caddis, CDC & Elk, BWO Emerger (if you count that as a dry fished in the film), sulpher emergers, and Rusty Spinners. I tend to tie most of my flies with a narrow profile.

 

[fritz]

Parachute Adams, Parachute BWO and Royal Wulffs.