Trout Diet

All right, so maybe you know a little something about stream side entomology.  If you read the article here on trout food, then you understand the basics of a trout's diet.  The real question is what fly do you use to imitate the insects that the trout are feasting on?  This article will focus on the Mayfly and will give you a place to start.

Just like anything else, if you ask 10 fly fishermen what the best fly is, chances are you'll get 10 answers.  The flies I'm suggesting are tried and true.  They have been around a long time and you'd be hard pressed to find a fly slinger who doesn't carry something close to my flies in his fly box.  Don't go fly fishing without a nice assortment.

Let's start with the adult form.  Hopefully you have paid attention to the mayflies around you.  In a perfect world one may have even landed on your sleeve so you could take a good look and identify the size and color.  I believe size is the more important factor here.  If you have only two flies to choose from and one is the right size but it is the wrong color and the other is the right color but the wrong size, I'd lay my money on the fish going for the one that is nearest in size to what they are feeding on.

My all time go-to dry fly is the Parachute Adams.  The original Adams was tied around 1920 by Leonard Halladay, it was named for Charles F. Adams who was famous for ... catching  a lot of fish with Halladay's flies.  I prefer the parachute style of this fly (and most of my dry flies) because I can see them.  The white post helps tremendously in picking out your fly as it floats on the surface.  Some would also argue that since hackle is tied on the horizontal with parachute flies, the fly sits lower in the water, often creating a more visible and tasty profile.  The interesting thing about the Adams is that it doesn't represent any particular fly, rather it suggests several different mayflies.  Its gray, muskrat fur body and it's brown and grizzly hackle combination for some reason are a killer.  These work where the bugs are big and I keep some as small as size 20.

Another of my favorites is the Blue-Wing Olive (BWO), or Baetis (I should point out that both the genus Baetis and the name Blue-Wing Olive are over used and often cover several types of mayfly.  These flies will share the same name yet vary in subtle and not so subtle ways from tier to tier).  BWOs are quite possibly the most prolific mayflies.  In most U.S. waters they hatch from spring through fall.  In some places, like here in California, they can be seen in the winter as well.  These usually run on the small size, so I carry them in sizes 16-22 in my fly box.  

Another style of adult dry fly to consider, particularly with the BWO, is the Compara Dun.  This style sits in the surface film and can imitate a newly hatched adult or a crippled adult.  It is highly effective when the hatch is in full swing.  It's always a good idea to keep a couple in your fly box as an alternative to the standard and parachute styles.