Pattern Database

The parachute style BWO is one of the most important dry flies in a trout angler's box. The flush-floating wing and horizontal hackle present a perfect silhouette for selective fish on flat water.

The speckled dun of lakes and spring-creek stillwaters. Callibaetis hatch reliably from late morning onward all season, and cruising fish take the duns with slow, confident rises. A gray-tan parachute with a speckled tail matches the natural's mottled look; drop it ahead of a cruiser and leave it.

A minimalist CDC dry that relies on the feather's natural oils to float flush in the surface film. No hackle means a perfect flush silhouette on still water — exactly what selective tailwater fish demand during BWO hatches.

A simple, deadly BWO emerger relying on CDC's natural water-shedding oils to float the fly in the film. The trailing Z-Lon shuck suggests a dun that never quite made it out, which is exactly what selective trout want to eat.

Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi's Comparadun concept changed dry-fly design. The fanned deer hair wing sits flush in the film like a natural, and the split tail provides perfect balance without hackle.

The third of Flick's Variants — all cream, for the big pale evening mayflies of high summer. A stripped cream quill body under an oversized cream hackle, no wing: at last light, when the golden drakes come off and everything on the water is a silhouette, its high stance and pale glow are exactly enough.

The F-Fly was developed in Europe as a highly impressionistic mayfly and midge imitation, designed specifically for pressured trout and technical water. Rather than imitating exact details, the pattern relies on profile, posture, and movement—key triggers that trout respond to when insects are trapped in the surface film. Using only CDC for the wing, the F-Fly excels at riding low, mimicking spent or emerging insects that trout feed on confidently. Its simplicity allows it to match a wide range of small mayflies and midges, making it a favorite on spring creeks, tailwaters, and slow glides. The F-Fly's minimalist design and effectiveness have earned it a permanent place among modern dry-fly staples. This ultra-simple recipe creates a low-riding silhouette with exceptional natural movement—perfect for selective trout feeding in calm, clear water.

Craig Mathews and John Juracek's caddis emerger — the summer-evening fly on the Madison and everywhere else caddis outnumber anglers. The arched Z-Lon loop over the thorax catches light like an unfolding wing; fished dead-drift in the film with no floatant on the body, it takes the fish that refuse every high-riding adult.

The Light Cahill Spinner represents the final stage in the life cycle of Light Cahill mayflies in genus Maccaffertium (formerly Stenonema), when spent insects return to the water to lay eggs. These spinner falls often occur in the evening and can produce some of the most selective trout feeding of the season. Traditional quill-bodied spinner patterns emphasize slender translucence, outstretched wings, and a low-riding profile — all critical elements when trout are sipping spent mayflies from smooth water. The Light Cahill Quill Spinner excels during late spring and early summer hatches on both freestone rivers and tailwaters. Its understated appearance and classic construction make it a staple pattern whenever trout are feeding confidently in low-light conditions. The traditional material selection creates a slender, translucent body with a soft, spent-wing profile — ideal for spinner falls and selective trout.

The loop wing — a style pioneered by André Puyans in the 1960s and since adapted to CDC by many fine tiers — traps air and floats in the film with a naturalistic silhouette. The looped CDC suggests a dun wing just pulling free of the shuck, which is exactly what selective fish key on.

The Pale Evening Dun imitates the evening-active pale mayflies — sulphurs and PMDs — that hatch in the last hour of light. A cream or pale yellow body and dun wings are essential for the selective fish these hatches produce.

The PMD is one of the most important Western hatches and increasingly common in the East. Its pale yellow-olive body and upright dun wings demand a precise imitation for selective trout on spring creeks and tailwaters.

The Adams was created in 1922 by Leonard Halladay of Mayfield, Michigan, tied for his friend Charles F. Adams. It was built as a general mayfly impression rather than a match for one specific hatch, and that versatility is why it has never left anyone's box. The parachute version came later, winding the hackle flat around an upright post instead of around the shank. It sits the fly lower and shows a crisper wing profile from below — a small change that makes a real difference on selective fish.

The PMD Biot Nymph is designed to imitate the nymphal stage of Pale Morning Dun (PMD) mayflies, a prolific and important hatch on many Western and Eastern tailwaters. PMD nymphs are slim, active swimmers, and trout often key in on them heavily in the days leading up to—and during—the hatch. Using a goose biot abdomen gives this pattern its defining feature: crisp segmentation and a natural taper that closely matches the real insect. Combined with soft natural materials in the thorax and tail, the PMD Biot Nymph excels at imitating drifting and emerging nymphs in clear, technical water. This style of biot-bodied nymph has become a favorite among anglers who value realism over flash, especially when fishing pressured trout or subtle presentations. This refined material combination creates a slender, segmented profile with lifelike texture—ideal for PMD hatches and selective trout.

The Rusty Spinner imitates the spent female of many important mayfly species — Hendricksons, Sulphurs, and Blue-Winged Olives all produce rusty-bodied spinners. Dead fish on the surface, and trout are absolutely locked on them.

A no-hackle CDC caddis designed for flat tailwater pools where drag and silhouette matter more than floatation. The sparse CDC wing sits naturally in the film while the dubbing body and Z-Lon shuck sell the imitation.

A flush-floating BWO emerger using snowshoe rabbit foot hair for the wing. Snowshoe hair is more water-resistant than most materials — it floats in the film naturally without floatant and creates a perfect silhouette. Exceptional during heavy BWO hatches.

Craig Mathews and John Juracek's Sparkle Dun pairs the Comparadun's fanned deer hair wing with a Z-Lon trailing shuck suggesting an emerging nymph. This combination triggers strikes during the most selective BWO hatches.

Vince Marinaro's thorax style features a centrally-tied hackle clipped on the bottom that allows the fly to sit flat and natural in the film. For glass-smooth water during BWO hatches, few patterns are more effective.

The Trico spinner fall is one of the most demanding hatches in trout fishing. Thousands of tiny spent spinners on the surface demand a small, accurate imitation. This pattern nails the black body and white spent wings.

R.S. Austin's Devon pattern (1890s), named for the famously secret pinkish dubbing from a tup — a ram. Yellow silk at the rear, a blush of pink mixture at the thorax, and blue dun hackle: the enduring pattern for pale wateries and other small light mayflies on smooth water.