5 Must Have Flies

[wichaka]

1. Parachute Adams

2. Olive Sparkle Dun

3. Royal Wulff

4. Fox Squirrel

5. Partridge & Yellow

[fflutterffly]

1 Parachute Adams -soft water
2 Elk Hair Caddis -top or subsurface
3. Humpy -faster riffles
4 3 gram czech nymph
5 wooly bugger or Leech

[meb]

CDC Sparkle Dun
CDC and Elk Caddis
Stimulator
Parachute Caddis
Leech or Wooly Bugger

MB

[beachbum]

For the Sierras, in various sizes:

1) parachute adams
2) flashback pheasant tail
3) CDC/elk hair caddis
4) black wooly bugger
5) bubble gum san juan worm

I load each destination's flies right before I fish, so it always varies what I carry with me.

[mike.s]

Five? Wow. Five is a gift. I can pare it down to two (for the Eastern Sierra) for you...

Standard Adams with upright wings.
Hares Ear Nymph - unweighted.

Two could do it..except mine would be an 18 to 20 bead head flash back PT and for a dry an 18 para adams......however you wont stop at 2 or even 5 different flies...
this is coming from someone who has 10 boxes of flies

[Pescatore]

It has been quite interesting and informative reading all of your posts and suggestions-thank you-there have been over 50 patterns mentioned....the top five patterns (includes various variations) you have all suggested are:
Parachute Adams -- 18
Elk Hair Caddis --- 14
Stimulator --- 12
Woolley Buggers --- 9
Pheasant Tails -- 8
I appreciate the thought and humor that went into all of the posts!

[bassman]

There was a thread on another board very similar to this with great response also. Just like here, I believe the top two were Parachute Adams and Elk Hair Caddis.

I'd have those and to add to them,
Beadhead and lead weighted nymph.
My own woven small beaded Flymph
Wooly Bugger...Anyone on the list who did not include a Bugger or some favorite form of streamer is passing on a lot of fish. If I had to limit to one fly to fish anywhere and could have variations thereof...Wooly Bugger hands down.

Understand, what you ask is an impossibility since most of us are in the process of ordering more fly boxes right now to fill the overflow we've tied this winter and I'm no exception. If I'm going to fish a predominantly rocky creek with brookies I won't go without a Mickey Finn and Royal Coachman streamer tied sparse on a 10-12-14 hook.

[DrCreek]

...Anyone on the list who did not include a Bugger or some favorite form of streamer is passing on a lot of fish.

Look at it this way... most of the guys on here are so super-successful at continually banging topwater fish they just don't find it necessary to have to dredge subsurface. Our arms can only take so much abuse.

[WanderingBlues]

...Anyone on the list who did not include a Bugger or some favorite form of streamer is passing on a lot of fish.

Look at it this way... most of the guys on here are so super-successful at continually banging topwater fish they just don't find it necessary to have to dredge subsurface. Our arms can only take so much abuse.

I should learn, though... I just don't get to hit waters where it's applicable.

[midger]

...Anyone on the list who did not include a Bugger or some favorite form of streamer is passing on a lot of fish.

Look at it this way... most of the guys on here are so super-successful at continually banging topwater fish they just don't find it necessary to have to dredge subsurface. Our arms can only take so much abuse.

Yeah, right. The size of the locals wears you out.

A bugger is on my list.

[DrCreek]

Is that a microbugger thread I see ???