Illustration by Thom Glace – rainbow trout [Oncorhynchus mykiss], brown trout [Salmo trutta], and brook trout [char genus Salvelinus fontinalis]. Image used with permission.
Ordinary guy picks his must have Salmonidae flies
By Skip Clement
Experience/Destinations Fly Fished: Home waters of Pennsylvania [mid 1960s to 1989], North Georgia [2014 to date], Argentina [pre-war with Great Britain and post war], New Zealand [1990 for almost six months], Iceland [1970s], Alaska [1960s, 70’s, 80s]; New York, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland [1960s, 70’s, 80s], Idaho [1992 entire trout season], Montana [1970s and 1992], Oregon [late 1980s], Washington [late 1980s], Canada [1960s, 70s, 80s].
NOTE: 1990 to 2013 spent in South Florida.
NOTE 2: Some flies mentioned below were not yet on the scene when I started fly fishing in the 1960s. For example, Russell Blessing’s Woolly Bugger was created in 1966 but reported as 1967, Chernobyl Ant, and Sex Dragon, of course.
Nymphs:
Prince
Hare’s Ear
Zebra Midge
Pheasant Tail
Worms
Adult Atlantic Salmon by Thom Glace, award winning watercolorist, dedicated fly fisher, and conservationist,
Dry Flies
Any Hatch Match
Royal Wulff
Griffith’s Gnat
Chernobyl Ant
Elk Hair Caddis [CDC]
Parachute Adams
Foam Terrestrials
Kelly Galloup‘s famous Sex Dragon Fly.
Streamers
Woolly Buggers – many variations. The Russell Blessing’s Bugger is believed to be, in some quarters, the most productive fly ever?
Muddler Minnow
Kelly Galloup’s Sex Dungeon
Red Setter [New Zealand]
Eastern Green Drake Mayfly by Thom Glace.
Other:
Bunny Leeches: Salmons and Steelhead; nymph it, swim it, dead drift it
Eggs: Pacific salmons and Alaskan rainbows.
Many more fly types in each list are favorites of anglers with a lot of rubber on the road, but this is a must-have list for this ordinary angler with travel miles.
NOTE 3: Featured image Envato.
