Sparkle Dun
A dry fly pattern designed to imitate a mayfly during emergence. Its deer hair wing and shuck tail create a lifelike silhouette on the water.
How to Tie It
The Sparkle Dun is typically tied on a dry fly hook, sized 12 to 22, depending on the mayfly species being imitated. The body consists of fine dubbing, usually in natural hues to match local mayflies.
A key feature is its deer hair wing, tied in a comparadun style—flared over the body—giving the fly a low, realistic profile and enhancing buoyancy.
The tail, often made of Antron or Z-Lon fibers, mimics the nymphal shuck left behind during emergence. This subtle yet effective detail proves crucial when trout selectively target emergers.
What It Imitates
The Sparkle Dun replicates a mayfly dun during its most vulnerable stage—emergence—when trout find it irresistible. Its design accurately captures the mayfly’s silhouette, upright wings, and trailing shuck.
Where to Use It
This fly excels in rivers and streams during mayfly hatches. Fished on the surface, it mimics a freshly emerged mayfly preparing to take flight.
Highly versatile, the Sparkle Dun can be tied in various sizes and colors to match specific mayfly species, making it an indispensable pattern during hatches.
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Copper John
A fast-sinking nymph that imitates mayfly and stonefly nymphs, featuring a weighted copper body for rapid descent.
How to Tie the Copper John
The Copper John is tied on a short or medium shank hook with a weighted profile. Its body is formed by tightly wrapping copper wire around the hook shank, creating a cylindrical shape and adding substantial weight. Wire ribbing enhances segmentation and durability. The thorax is crafted from peacock herl for a contrasting texture, while the wing case is made from thin, flat materials like Flashabou or Thin Skin, secured behind the bead head. The fly is finished with a tungsten or brass bead for extra weight and visual appeal.
What the Copper John Mimics
This versatile pattern imitates various subsurface insects, including mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies. Its realistic profile, heavy weight, and natural movement make it highly effective for targeting fish that feed on nymphs and aquatic insects. The Copper John acts as a generalist pattern, suggesting multiple food sources to fish.
Where to Use the Copper John
Effective in rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds, the Copper John excels when fish are feeding near the bottom. Its weight makes it ideal for deep or fast-moving water, ensuring quick descent. Fish it using dead drifting, swinging, or nymphing techniques with an indicator or tight line. Adjust depth and retrieve speed to match feeding patterns for optimal results.
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How It’s Tied
The Daddy Long Legs Fly is tied in sizes 8 to 14, depending on the target species and crane fly variation. The body is crafted from dubbing, synthetic fibers, or natural materials like deer hair or chenille. Its signature long legs are made of rubber, silicone, or monofilament, while wings are constructed from hackle feathers, synthetic fibers, or thin foam.
What It Mimics
This fly imitates adult crane flies—commonly called "daddy long legs"—a key food source for freshwater fish, especially in late summer and fall. Its lifelike profile and movement make it highly effective. Available in various sizes and colors, it can match regional crane fly species, appealing to a wide range of fish.
Where It’s Used
Primarily effective in freshwater streams and smaller rivers, the Daddy Long Legs Fly excels when fish are surface-feeding during crane fly season. Since its success depends on matching the hatch, it’s less productive when crane flies aren’t active. Target species include trout and other surface-feeding fish.
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What It Is
The Czech Nymph is a specialized, weighted fly pattern designed for effective subsurface fishing, primarily in streams and rivers.
How It’s Tied
Tied on a curved or jig hook (sizes 8–16), the Czech Nymph is heavily weighted with lead wire or a tungsten bead for quick sinking. The body uses materials like dubbing, synthetic fibers, or floss, often segmented with wire or contrasting thread. A built-up thorax—using extra dubbing or shellback material—creates a pronounced profile, mimicking the swollen thorax of aquatic insects.
What It Mimics
This fly imitates caddisfly and mayfly nymphs in their larval stage. Its weight and shape help it hug the riverbed, accurately representing bottom-dwelling insects. Available in various sizes and colors, it adapts to local nymph populations.
Where It’s Used
Ideal for fast-moving rivers and streams, the Czech Nymph excels in targeting trout and grayling that feed on dislodged nymphs. It’s fished using Czech or European nymphing techniques—short, controlled drifts with a tight line to detect subtle strikes.
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How to Tie a Woolly Bugger
The Woolly Bugger is tied on a standard streamer hook, typically in sizes 2 to 10. The tail consists of marabou feathers, creating lifelike movement in the water. The body is formed with chenille or dubbed fur, wrapped around the hook shank. A hackle feather (often from a saddle or neck) is palmered over the body, giving the fly its signature bushy appearance—though variations exist (see images). For added weight and flash, an optional bead or cone head can be included.
What the Woolly Bugger Mimics
This fly imitates a wide range of prey, including leeches, baitfish, crayfish, large nymphs, and drowned terrestrial insects. By adjusting size, color, and materials, anglers can tailor the Woolly Bugger to match specific prey in different fishing environments.
Where to Use the Woolly Bugger
The Woolly Bugger excels in nearly any water—rivers, ponds, and even saltwater. Its adaptable design targets species like trout, bass, pike, and saltwater predators. Smaller versions can even tempt carp. Anglers can fish it using various techniques: dead drifting, swinging, or stripping, depending on the desired presentation and the target species’ behavior.
For more tips, check out our article on Fly Fishing with Woolly Buggers.
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What It Mimics
The Red Tag fly imitates various aquatic insects, such as mayflies, caddisflies, and midges. Its namesake red tag replicates the egg sac of a spawning insect, triggering fish to strike. The bushy hackle collar mimics legs and wings, while the peacock herl body adds an enticing iridescent shimmer.
Where It’s Used
A favorite among fly anglers worldwide, the Red Tag excels in rivers and stillwaters, effectively targeting trout, grayling, and other species. It performs best in insect-rich waters, closely resembling natural prey. For optimal results, fish it near the surface or slightly below, using a dead drift or subtle twitches to imitate struggling insects.
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How to Tie a Clouser Minnow
Start with a sturdy, straight-shank hook (sizes 2–10). Use two bucktail colors—typically white for the belly and a darker shade (chartreuse, blue, or olive) for the back.
The fly’s signature feature is its weighted lead dumbbell eyes, tied near the hook eye. These create a jigging motion and ensure rapid sinking. Add flash material for extra attraction. The result is a slim, lifelike baitfish profile with an enticing up-and-down action.
What It Mimics
The Clouser Minnow replicates small baitfish, a key prey for predatory species. Its nose-first dive mimics the darting movement of a distressed baitfish, triggering strikes.
Where to Use It
This versatile fly excels in both fresh and saltwater. Target smallmouth bass, pike, bonefish, redfish, and striped bass. Fish it on a sinking or sink-tip line, retrieved at varying speeds to imitate fleeing baitfish.
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Bread Fly
This ingenious fly mimics a floating piece of bread—a common food source in urban waterways.
How It’s Tied
The Bread Fly is typically tied on a wide-gap hook to match the size of bread pieces found in urban waters. The body is crafted from buoyant materials like white or cream-colored deer hair or foam, ensuring it floats realistically.
The material is spun or tied onto the hook and trimmed into a bread-like shape. Success hinges on color and texture accuracy—the fly must closely resemble real bread to fool fish.
What It Mimics
This fly replicates bread, a frequent food source for fish in urban and suburban waters. Though unconventional, it excels in areas where fish are accustomed to bread tossed in by park visitors or picnickers.
Where It’s Used
The Bread Fly shines in urban and suburban settings like park ponds and canals, where fish are habituated to human activity and bread. Carp, in particular, readily strike this pattern.
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A classic attractor pattern, the Royal Coachman is renowned for its eye-catching appearance and effectiveness in targeting trout and grayling.
How to Tie It
The Royal Coachman is tied on a short or medium shank hook using a combination of vibrant materials. The body consists of peacock herl and red floss, creating its signature colors. The tail is made from golden pheasant tippet fibers, while the wing is crafted from white or cream-colored calf tail or duck quill slips. A brown or grizzly hackle is tied at the head and wrapped to form a full, bushy collar.
What It Mimics
As an attractor pattern, the Royal Coachman doesn’t imitate a specific insect. Instead, its bright colors and bold profile provoke strikes from opportunistic fish. It’s an excellent generalist fly, ideal for testing surface-feeding activity.
Where to Use It
This fly excels when fish aren’t focused on particular insects or in turbulent, discolored water where its visibility stands out. It performs well in all freshwater environments, including streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs.
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How to Tie It
The Shuttlecock Fly is crafted with a short-shank hook, fine thread, and minimal materials to replicate an emerging insect. The body, made from dubbing or floss in natural hues, is wrapped to form a slender profile. A small CDC feather tuft at the front mimics the wing of an emerging insect, while an optional hackle or synthetic fibers add leg-like movement. Customize size and color to match local hatches.
What It Mimics
This fly imitates mayflies, caddisflies, and midges during their vulnerable transition from nymph/pupa to adult. The CDC wing creates a lifelike silhouette on the water’s surface, enticing feeding fish.
Where and How to Fish It
Effective in rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds, the Shuttlecock Fly shines during hatches when fish target emerging insects. Present it gently on the surface, allowing a natural dead drift. For added realism, employ subtle twitches or lifts to mimic struggling insects.
(Note: "Shuttercock" in the original was corrected to "Shuttlecock" for accuracy.)