What is the most buoyant dry fly pattern?

[jreichel]

I am looking to ty up some dry flys to use in a dry dropper rig. Just wondering what patterns and materials you all prefer?

I would like one that floats like a cork or as close to it and doesn't need much on the water maintenance. I know I'm asking a lot but just want to know if there is anything that comes close.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I like the Royal Wulff and the Adams Irresistible. They seem to work very well in rough faster water.

 

[dc410]

Stimulator. Hackle it heavy and grease it up. It will float for a long time and is very visible as the top end of a dry/dropper set up.

 

[RLeep2]

My vote would be for the stimulator as well. The only additional thing I might do is make the body out of narrow strip of foam wound onto the shank like you would chenille or such. This increases buoyancy even more..

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Last season I used a foam-back humpy as my super-buoyant pattern. The trout ate it and it did pretty well supporting a nymph on on a dropper. As a bonus, I tied it with tan foam and colored the back with bright orange marker for visibility.

 

[Dave_W]

Foam is your friend.

All of my terrestrials, hoppers, and big attractor dires are tied with foam now.

 

[RCFetter]

Rough Water Caddis

 

[GenCon]

There are many choices. A lot depends on the situation. I have used a size 14 parachute with a midge pupa trailing and done very well.
As others have mentioned stimmies work well EHC works well.
I base my choice on the stream I am fishing and what kind of bugs are around. For example: if there are grannoms hatching or egg laying I will use a grannom dry fly with a caddis pupa of soft hackle as the dropper. Same idea for any mayfly hatches. Match the hatch above and below. If no bugs are around a attractor pattern with a soft hackle of PT nymph can be a good choice.

Experiment

GenCon

 

[3wt7X]

Another vote for the stimulator... On Freestones I like the foam body caddis with a deer hair wing... For picky fish, I like a parachute Adams with an unweighted rs2 or pt.

 

[jreichel]

Thanks everyone. I now have several new patterns to add to my box.

 

[jkeating]

#8-10 Letort Hopper

 

[PennKev]

Two words: Chubby Chernobyl

They are typically tied in ridiculously large sizes, but you can effectively scale them down to #14 2xl hooks. With some ingenuity you can reduce them even further in size while still having a very buoyant fly.

 

[REDNECK_FLYFISHER]

I used to use A stimulator and still do on occasion but mostly now A foam hopper or foam humpy.

 

[just_jon]

The bivisible has worked well for me in chapter water.

 

[jeremymcon]

My personal go-to dry flies for dry-and-dropper rigs are other modifications of common flies.

One is an elk hair caddis, except I tie the wing with polypropylene yarn instead of elk hair. I use Congo hair from a website called fly tyers dungeon - I believe it is polypropylene, and it's super cheap and comes in lots of colors. I tie the wing pretty busy.

Another I've been enjoying is a parachute adams. I use Congo hair for the post. Except the trick is that I tie a ridiculously large post, which I fluff to look like a miniature version of a yarn indicator.

I have also had goo luck with a beetle pattern tied with foam. You should be careful about which foam you buy - I've found that the craft store foam tends to like to float just barely at the surface rather than high and proud of the surface. I also tie a tuft of yarn or spun deer hair on the back of the beetle so I can see it easier.

 

[jeremymcon]

Oh! By the way, frog's fanny is your friend when fishing a dry and dropper. That is one product I'm not sure how I could live without now that I know it exists. Just brush some of that powder on a waterlogged fly, blow off the excess, and it'll float like a cork again.

 

[steveo27]

PennKev wrote:
Two words: Chubby Chernobyl

They are typically tied in ridiculously large sizes, but you can effectively scale them down to #14 2xl hooks. With some ingenuity you can reduce them even further in size while still having a very buoyant fly.

This.

Stimmies and foam humpies do work well too.

 

[PennKev]

jeremymcon wrote:
Oh! By the way, frog's fanny is your friend when fishing a dry and dropper. That is one product I'm not sure how I could live without now that I know it exists. Just brush some of that powder on a waterlogged fly, blow off the excess, and it'll float like a cork again.

I'm going to have to disagree on the last part. I've never had luck just reapplying Frogs Fanny. Sogged flies need to be dried IMO. Vigorous brushing with FF can get a fly floating again but I think it's best to dry it with desiccant beads or amadou.

 

[MKern]

Hoppicator

 

[phiendWMD]

A foam hopper will float like a hovercraft all day long without floatant.