Pattern Database

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.

Ants blown onto the water surface trigger some of the most selective feeding trout exhibit all summer. Two foam bubbles — abdomen and thorax — perfectly suggest the pinched waist of an ant. Black is most common; cinnamon matches carpenter ants; red imitates flying ant swarms that trout gorge on in late summer.

George Griffith's cluster midge pattern has been fooling trout for decades. The palmered grizzly hackle through peacock herl perfectly imitates a clump of midges on the surface.

Inch worms drop from overhanging trees onto streams in spring and early summer, and trout key on them heavily. A bright chartreuse-green body on a hook is all it takes — simplicity at its best.

Sylvester Nemes's soft hackle classic. The sparse partridge collar pulsates in the current suggesting legs or gills — trout can't resist it swung or dead-drifted through runs during caddis and mayfly hatches.

Frank Sawyer's deceptively simple nymph is one of the most effective subsurface patterns ever created. The natural pheasant tail fibers perfectly suggest a range of Eastern mayfly nymphs.

Rim Chung's impossibly simple tailwater nymph — gray dubbing and snowshoe rabbit wing, nothing more. The RS2 consistently outperforms more complex patterns on heavily pressured tailwaters where fish see everything.

Named after the San Juan River in New Mexico, this simple worm pattern represents aquatic worms that get dislodged in high water and during runoff. Controversial in some circles, devastatingly effective in all circles. Red is the most popular color, but pink and wine produce on pressured fish.

Controversial in some circles and devastating in all of them, the Squirmy Wormy uses a silicone worm material that moves seductively in current. Particularly effective in high, off-color water after rain when actual aquatic worms wash into the stream.

Walt Young's impossibly simple nymph — just a curved hook and rough hare's ear dubbing. The shaggy, segmented appearance imitates sowbugs, caddis larvae, or whatever the fish imagine it to be.

René Harrop's WD-40 is a masterclass in minimal fly design — wood duck legs, dubbing body, and snowshoe rabbit wing suggest a midge pupa or BWO emerger just below the film. One of the most effective tailwater nymphs ever created.

Ted Welling's Zebra Midge is the go-to tailwater midge larva pattern. Two materials — thread and wire — tied on a beaded hook. Deceptively simple and devastatingly effective.