Late Winter Trout Flies

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PayetteRucker

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Aug 4, 2009
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What do you gents keep handy for your late winter/early spring wet and dry flies for fishing trout in creeks and mountain lakes? I was told to pick up some Chronomid nymphs and Stoneflies. Started fly fishing this year, and just picked up a fly tying kit, but I'd like to start with a few broad use patterns. Thanks.
 
Closed here in Winter so fly tyin is high on the list . To answer your Q, I like streamers and big nymphs. I can't give names cause
they my own patterns. Early season, (catch and release only) starts March 1, not much buzzin around here this time of year.
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Earthy bead head nymphs and earthy streamers with bright bellies, eh? I like the big segmented guys on the right. What kind of material are the thick fiber legs on those guys?

Thanks for the input.
 
Thanks AugustWest. I spent 8 hours on Saturday with a brown/tan stonefly at my favorite hole and no bites. Then I discovered an Otter kit as I was leaving crawling into his den immediately across from my fishing spot... may have something to do with the empty local holes :)
 
Hellegramate patterns for stony creeks, make sure they have legs and distinct carapace segments. Those big crawling nymphs don't last too long out in the open, hard strikes on these.
My biggest dollie/9lbs was on a #6 3x long hellegramate pattern dubbed in black with a little red sparkle mohair mixed in.

Put it at 12:00 right into the edge of fastwater adjacent to some slow water or a pocket, like a stonefly they can't swim and tumble in current when dislodged until they can grip something. If their is a decent trout there it will hammer it.

Some more good ones would be a shaggy gold ribbed hare's ear, a sparsely tied small doc spratley in black ribbed with red wire, and a #16 pale green 52'buick.
 
If you just started tying I would try the Woolly Booger or Bugger(don't believe there is a difference) It is one of my most productive flies for trout and other game fish. The options are up to your imagination; my favorite is black with a lead wrapped shank. You can add eyes, a cone head, or a bead head in any color combination you want. It's a great starter pattern that you can catch fish with while not worrying about "matching the hatch" with the one pattern you don't have with you. When you start tying them don't throw away any that are too ugly they may be the ones that catch the most fish.
 
I mainly fish the Eastern Sierra and for late winter into early spring, the name of game is baetis. This means BWO's (blue-winged olives) for dry flies when the hatch is on and something along the lines of a pheasant-tail nymph or Barr's emerger with an indicator when fishing wet. Sizes range from 16 to 22, though smaller is usually more productive. The stones don't really show up until April and May.

Midges are also popular, such as WD-40's, Serendipities, Optimidges and Zebras.

As others have said, streamers (e.g. Wooly Buggers) are always a good option, especially when nymphs won't work and nothing is rising off the surface. When the trout begin to spawn streamers are great, as the spawning trout hit them out of aggression. Streamers are also easy to cast for the beginner. Although they are heavy and ungainly in the air, as long as you can get them down stream and retrieve them along and undercut bank or through a pool, you will usually get a strike.

All of these are fairly broad-use patterns, at least where I fish!

Good luck and stay with it! It's tough on beginners, but you're in a great place for fly fishing.

ERG

ERG
 
I find small olive scud patterns almost always work at least once, but find that if I miss the strike it's time to move on.
 
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