Field and Stream magazine has listed these 5 flies among the top 25 flys of all time. It is no coincidence that my top 6 flies are the some of the most popular among the small stream and creek fly fishing angerlers of the NorthWest.
1) Woolly Bugger
Style: Streamer
Although best known as a streamer fly for trout, Buggers work well for bass and myriad other species in fresh- and saltwater. The basic Bugger is all black, in sizes 2/0 to as small as 12 for panfish. Historians see this pattern as nothing more than an ancient Woolly Worm wet fly with a wiggly marabou tail. Often it is tied with strands of flashy tinsel or with a heavy metal cone head for a jiglike action, but the original unweighted version is the most versatile.
The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a trout and species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to fresh water to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean.
2) Elk Hair Caddis
Style: Dry Fly
Here’s the one dry to have if you’re having only one. This pattern was the brainchild of the great Montana guide Al Troth, who knew his trout flies. In sizes 10 to 20, and in tan, gray, or black, this high-floating dry often works best when twitched, then dead-drifted. That motion imitates an emerging caddis trying to get off the water, and slashing strikes are often the response. They aren’t just for trout, either. Smallmouths and panfish love them, too.
In 1922, Leonard Halladay, a Michigan fly tyer conceived the Adams as a general mayfly imitation. It was first fished by an Ohio attorney and friend of Halladay, Charles F. Adams on the Boardman River near Traverse City, Michigan. Charles Adams reported his success with the fly to Halladay who decided to name the fly after his friend.
3) The Adams
Style: Dry Fly
This Michigan pattern is the prototypical trout dry fly. Or it was until contemporary tiers got all wussy over things like hopped-up, semisuspending emergers with foam-bubble hackle. Nuts to that. The old Adams with its looks-like-everything gray body and two-toned hackle still gets the job done. A great searching pattern, it also lends itself to scissor work. Trim away the top and bottom hackle to turn it into a spinner imitation. Trim more and you’ve got a nymph.
The Fly fishing industry estimated annual sales revenues at $748.6 million for 2016. It is also estimated that there are 3.38 million Fly Fishing anglers that consider Fly Fishing as their preferred method of fishing.
4) Royal Wulff
Style: Dry Fly
Despite the name, Lee Wulff did not invent this fly. It’s based on a version of the hair-wing Royal Coachman called the Quack Coachman. It took Wulff’s renown to make his adapted Royal Wulff a huge success. In sizes 6 to 20, the Royal Wulff is a trout-stream standard not because it imitates anything in particular but because the white wings make it easy for fishermen to see. Use the larger sizes when dry-fly fishing for browns after dark in the summer. You can see it. The fish can, too.
In the man-versus-nature category of activities, fishing ranks as one of the most satisfying challenges. And trout fishing, which requires knowledge of fish habits, stream characteristics and weather patterns, may be the pinnacle of the sport. Perhaps that's why almost 7 million Americans spend 76 million days a year on the hunt for brookies, rainbows, cutthroats and their spotted kin
5) Stimulator
Style: Dry Fly
Western tier Randall Kaufmann came up with this one, which is kind of a takeoff on the Elk Hair Caddis but on a longer-shanked hook with more hackle and more buoyant hair for the wing. It’s designed to be twitched hard on the surface to elicit strikes from trout; hence the name. Generally tied in sizes 6 down to 16, in various colors, the pattern imitates a variety of stoneflies. One tip: After twitching it on the surface, pull the fly underwater and fish out the retrieve twitching it as a wet fly. You will be pleasantly surprised.
The Art of Fly FishingFly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial "fly" is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. ... Author Izaak Walton called fly fishing "The Contemplative Man's Recreation".