Your most productive fly of 2021

[laurelrun]

I had another great outing yesterday. I have yet to catch a fish on a dry this year which I am hoping soon changes. But thinking back on the number, type, and quality of fish I’ve caught this year, the great majority of fish I’ve caught have been on a sexy walts worm. Size 16 with a tungsten bead on a barbless jig hook. It’s reached the point where I am either fishing that exclusively or always having it as one of my tandem flies. Is it confidence? Bias for use? Or just a good choice that looks like food? Stocked, wild, big, small, it just is working for me.

What’s been your best fly of the year?

 

[blueheron]

Size 14 Catskill dry with a grey body and grizzly wing. Who knew?

 

[dryflyguy]

All I fish are dries.
And I've had a pretty good year so far.

Of course, timing is everything.
And being recently retired has made it - finally - easy for me to get out while the getting is good.

As for what fly, things have followed the usual routine for me:

BWO's in March.
Grannoms in April.
Sulphers in May.

And hopefully, cicadas in June!

 

[Swattie87]

By numbers, a Yellow Humpy, size 12...Brookies, they’ll eat anything though.

By size, I caught a couple nice Browns late Winter on a size 12 BH Golden Stonefly.

 

[dc410]

Soft hackle wet fly ... hands down. I’ve had 3 or 4 different soft hackle patterns that have produced well for me this year. At least 90% + of the trout that I have caught in 2021 have been on a soft hackle wet.

 

[Baron]

Warm water species guy here.....12 jig hooked Clouser Deep Minnow. Olive over white.

 

[McSneek]

Subsurface - Bird of Prey caddis
Dry fly - three way tie: Elk Hair caddis, Red Quill, Sulphur

 

[jdh2550]

So far this year I've had great success with a very simple sulfur nymph, size 14, tied on a jig hook with a black bead. Recently had a 20+ fish day with this fly.
In my experience, confidence in a specific pattern can make the difference.

 

[LetortAngler]

Glad to see you’re taking a liking to dry flies. Fishing the dry fly is what it’s all about this time of year when the opportunity presents itself. I think there is too much of an emphasis today among anglers where their primary goal is to try and catch every trout in a river with a nymph instead of enjoying some of the other great challenges that a good hatch presents with a dry fly.

As for my favorite fly so far this season - it would probably be a X-Caddis, or Para-Ant. Ant throughout the day, and the Caddis in the early morning and evenings.

 

[Dave_W]

I'm not sure as I'm not tracking this (some years I keep a journal).

However, I'd guess it would be a toss-up with the San Juan Worm accounting for most of my trout earlier this year and a soft hackle wet fly working best since about mid-April.

 

[Susquehanna]

Sex dungeon.
Killed trout, Smallmouth, largemouth and stripers with it so far this year

 

[lycoflyfisher]

I had found a stash of bedhead prince nymphs I tied a few years ago. They have been doing very well for me. I will need to tie some more lol. Typically for my small stream dry fly fishing I am using a dry dropper rig with an ehc or small stimulator. This year I have been having more success with pattern similar to a royal Wolff.

As far as not catching fish on a dry fly yet, man sometimes you just have to throw a dry fly even if you don't see rising fish. Eventually you are going to get a stockie or fish on a smaller stream to look up. To each their own, but I would be going insane if I hadn't caught a fish on a dry by the end of May.

 

[Tigereye]

Hands down, the Frenchie in size 16. I have yet to tie on a dry . Probably have seen less than a dozen risers all year.

Hares ear and prince round out the top 3.

 

[phiendWMD]

Other than a parachute BWO I fished on the first day I was out, all I've used is an elk hair caddis. I've had a couple really good days, a few ok days, and one day that was probably my best ever.

 

[just_jon]

#16 Partridge and orange. I’ve spent quite a few evenings during the sulfur hatch and have found no need for a dry fly. Pity as I tied a bunch of different sulfur dries this winter.

 

[larkmark]

Deer hair caddis. Same for every year.

 

[Swattie87]

For the guys fishing the wet soft hackles...Are you primarily swinging it during pre-emergence periods? Anything else in particular you’re doing? I’d like to get into fishing those more. I really struggled to get takes and hookups this year during the Sulphurs. Contemplated trying a wet soft hackle, but never committed to it.

 

[shakey]

This year and last, I caught more on a Maurice than all others combined.

I have only had to resort to dry flies for ten or so fish each day of the jam, most of those were a dry Maurice ,some Catskills dry cahills and sulfurs.

During drakes I used a deer hair extended dry. It was way too easy ,so I switched back to wets.

For drakes, green Maurices, green soft hackles and green and yellow wets ,grizzly kings etc worked , I used size 8-10 cahills for the male .

I also caught a lot this year on
Queen of waters
Professors
Blue professors
Grizzly kings
Stewart’s spiders

 

[shakey]

Swattie87 wrote:
For the guys fishing the wet soft hackles...Are you primarily swinging it during pre-emergence periods? Anything else in particular you’re doing? I’d like to get into fishing those more. I really struggled to get takes and hookups this year during the Sulphurs. Contemplated trying a wet soft hackle, but never committed to it.

A soft hackle IS an emerged.

For a sulfur hatch , you can just swing them, or dead drift them, or fish them upstream like a dry.
In center valley , a starling,dun hen,partridge,etc and yellow will outfish an xxx and orange for sulfurs

For caddis you can throw some action bu pulsing the line.

You can dress a wet or soft hackle with floatant and keep it in the film.

 

[barrybarry]

Hares ear soft hackle with a tungsten bead tied behind the hackle. I've always been a pheasant tail guy but this year changed that.