7 must-have flies for trout anglers in the West—and how to tie them

ELK HAIR CADDIS

No fly vest is complete without a caddisfly imitation, and this one is my favourite. Getting the elk-hair wing stacked properly on this fly is the greatest challenge for the tier, but when done correctly, the Elk Hair Caddis is an ideal imitation for a variety of caddisfly hatches. The hackle wrapped over the body makes the fly super-buoyant, helping it sit upright on the water. It also lets you skitter the fly across the surface.

My most memorable day with the Elk Hair Caddis was on B.C.’s Whitetail Lake. The action had been decent throughout the day, but it absolutely died as evening approached, despite the fact the fish were rising like crazy. As I lifted my rod tip to bring in my Elk Hair Caddis and try a new pattern, the fly danced across the surface and a big rainbow slammed it, breaking the tippet. I quickly tied on another Elk Hair, and instead of allowing it to sit motionless, I began to retrieve it. Instantly, I got another strike. That time I landed a big rainbow. And so went the action for the next couple of hours. Since that day, I’ve used this technique often, even on flowing water, skittering the fly across the surface on a tight line at the end of the drift. Just hang on, because strikes are explosive.

HOOK: Standard dry fly, sizes 8 to 20

BODY: Brown, green or grey dubbing

HACKLE: Palmered brown saddle hackle

WING: Natural grey elk hair

HARE’S EAR NYMPH

Just as the Adams is the ultimate generalist in the world of dry flies, its counterpart in the world of nymphs is the Hare’s Ear. It isn’t a close representation of any particular insect—it just looks buggy. This is a great fly on which the novice tier can learn the art of dubbing. And truthfully, it’s pretty hard to screw up. The gold-wire ribbing is optional, but I find that in stillwater, the additional flash elicits more strikes.

This is one of those flies you go to when nothing is happening on the surface and you have no clue what the fish may be eating. I’ve caught everything from golden trout in the highest reaches of the Rockies to whitefish and goldeye in slow-flowing prairie rivers. I’ve had some great days on Rocky Mountain whitefish with this nymph, too. Its soft, bulky body seems to encourage fish to hold onto it longer—if you’ve nymphed for whitefish, you’ll appreciate just how fast they can spit out a harder-bodied fly. If I find a good concentration of whitefish in a deep hole in the late fall or early winter, this is my go-to pattern.

HOOK: Wet fly, regular or 1X long, size 8 to 16

TAIL: Guard hairs from a hare’s mask (face and ears)

BODY: Coarse dubbing from a hare’s mask or a mix of hare and synthetic fibres

THORAX: Dubbing, either the same as the body or a different shade and/or a coarser texture

WING CASE: Fibres from a turkey tail or similar feather

RIB: Gold wire

THREAD: Black or brown, 6/0 or 8/0

LETORT HOPPER

No fly vest is complete without some sort of hopper, and the Letort is a classic dating back to 1960. The head can make this fly a bit challenging for the novice to tie, but once you master spinning deer hair, it’s fairly simple. I have a real affinity for big cutthroat trout, and this highly buoyant fly is ideal for fishing the fast-flowing freestone rivers that cutties call home. As August rolls around, terrestrials become a major food source for trout in these rivers. If you cast a Letort Hopper close to the bank and allow it to drift freely downstream, it’s usually not long before a greedy cutthroat inhales it.

While the Letort is a near-perfect hopper imitation, in a pinch it can also be used to imitate a big caddisfly. It can even be fished wet to make a serviceable minnow imitation. There are certainly better caddis- and minnow-imitators, but if the Letort is all you have, it will work.

HOOK: Dry fly, 2XL, sizes 10 to 16

BODY: Light olive dry-fly dubbing

UNDERWING: Turkey wing fibres

OVERWING: Deer hair

HEAD: Spun deer hair

THREAD: 6/0 Yellow