Most reliable fly?

[krayfish2]

Open Swattie's fly box..... nothing but Picket Pin pattern. Don't let him fool you

 

[Swattie87]

Haha. And a couple GW's.

 

[shakey]

Also,if the op does well with a griffiths gnat,they might want to try a crackle back

 

[724flyfishing]

Stimulator on top if trout are rising. Black wooly bugger if there's no surface activity. I'd have to say a sz 16 sucker spawn would be high up there too. Even picky trout have a hard time passing one up if presented with a good drift. Those are my standby's, if all else fails flies. I'm always trying new patterns and color combinations when I'm out though. I recently tied a dark peacock dubbed hares ear, sz 16 with gold wire ribbing and a tungsten bead head that might be moving up on the list. I've caught a fish with it the past 4 times I've been out and tried it.

 

[raftman]

For trout - a version of the hare's ear I tie up. I've caught tons of fish on it in many different types of water and conditions (and landlocked salmon!).

For bass - a crayfish pattern. I caught over 40 in the last week on it alone.

 

[TimRobinsin]

For dry, a stimulator
For wet, a scuddisoworm
For Streamer, black bugger

but Griffith's Gnat is pretty hard to beat. And year round you could probably fish it any of those three ways and catch fish.

 

[dryflyguy]

For the warmer months of the season - from may through october - a crowe beetle is about the most reliable (dry) fly that I've ever used

 

[SBecker]

Walt's worm /thread

 

[LetortAngler]

^^^ +1 on the Crowe Beetle.
A few other reliables for me during the warmer months are Para-Ants, or regular, Wet/Dry (Black & Cinnamon)
X-Caddis, Zebra Midges, Black Buggers, and a olive scud.
When midges are hatching, I also find myself tying on a Griffiths Gnat. From Spring Creek Centre Cty to the Letort, it's caught fish consistently. Would hate to be without a few of them.

 

[NPflychucker]

Dry fly - adams or stimulator
Wet- Dark Hendrickson or Light Cahill
Nymph- Hares ear or PT
Streamer- Black Nose Dace or crayfish pattern

These are the flies I fish the most by far and keep a steady stock of in my box. It always seems like I tie a ton of different patterns each year and try them, but they never produce for me like my go to flies

 

[redietz]

I'm going to limit this to just dry flies, because there are so many soft hackles that fill the bill that I can't pick just one.

It's an easy choice with dries, though: a Renegade in a size 16. It's midge cluster, it's an ant, it's a caddis, and it's any number of other things. It even works fished wet, swung, or fished like a nymph and even stripped like a streamer. I'd estimate that 80% of the fish I've taken on dries in the last seven or eight years (and that's a lot of fish) have been on a Renegade, and 100% of those taken on a dry in spring creeks.

 

[ICM]

Dry anywhere, Parachute Adams 12-18; Streamer anywhere, Black/Olive Wooly Bugger 6-10; Nymph Pa, Pheasant Tail 14-18/ Upper Delaware, a barbell head red and black 14 given to me by a guide in Iceland. It worked great for big browns on the Laxa Myvatn there and just as well on the Upper Delaware. Don't know why, maybe the trout haven't seen it before.

 

[afishinado]

If the "right" fly is the key to catching fish, how come just about everyone seems to catch the most fish on different ones?^^^^^^

 

[Fly-Swatter]

afish: Commitment and technique (that was probably your point, right?).

Commitment: We fish with more focus and longer with confidence flies.

Technique: It's generally agreed that presentation outweighs fly selection.

Those two things go together and usually result in more hits.


I am a hypocrite, though. I am habitual fly changer. I hate myself for it. Some days when I return from a great day of fishing I can hardly look myself in the mirror.

Wow, that felt good to get off my chest.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

BTW, I love how the OP asked for THE fly we go to and most replies are 3 flies or at least more than one with caveats.

It's a sickness I share.

 

[mcwillja]

The first one you tie on for the day

 

[Wild_Trouter]

#14 Yellow Stimulator up top, and #8 Golden Retriever down below.

 

[Coughlin]

When nothing else seems to work, I go to the zebra midge in black 8-10 inches behind any sort of nymph. If that doesn't work, it's Miller time.