Top Five Flies for Spring Trout

My Top Five Flies for Spring Trout

Spring is one my favourite season for fishing. We start to get more insect hatches as the temperature rises from March to early June. Below are my Top Five Flies for Spring Trout. As my confidence flies, I always make sure that I have some in my fly box before a fishing trip. Most of these flies are easy to tie yourself. Read up to the end to see a for a video of the flies and the list of materials I use to tie them.You can also buy them online, or pick some up at your local fly shop.

San Juan Worm

First on the list is the San Juan Worm. You can fish this with a tight line or under an indicator. This is very effective on early spring, especially after the rain. Pink is the most popular color for this pattern, but brown is also very effective. Personally I use sizes 8 to 12 depending on the conditions.

Zebra Midge

This is a fly that you can use all year long, even in the winter months. My go to size ranges are from 12 to as small as 18, some people use smaller. Black thread with silver wire is effective, but I personally like olive and copper wire as it resembles the naturals in my area. Tan or brown may work as well. Dead drifting or swinging this fly works well.

Woolly Bugger

This fly can imitate a lot of food items for a number of fish. It can be used as a dragonfly or a damselfly nymph, as a streamer to imitate bait fish, a crayfish when fished at the bottom, and a leech. I use this to search for fish who are willing to chase food and to cover a lot of water. Black, Olive, or White are my go to colors in sizes 6 to 10. 

Pheasant Tail Nymph

I never go out fly fishing without at least half a dozen of the pheasant tail nymph in my fly box, because they work just about anywhere. I fish these in sizes 12 to 18. The bead head version works great when I need to get the fly deeper in the water. Weightless works well when used under an indicator or as a dry dropper. I've fooled a lot of brown trout when swinging this fly, so swinging definitely works as well.

Parachute Adams

Probably the most fun to catch fish on is the Parachute Adams. Highly effective when you see rising fish. This imitates Mayflies that are hatching on the surface of the water. Fishing this fly is visually engaging since the takes are on the surface, and sometimes fish even go airborne to eat them. I use size 14 to 18 depending on the area I am fishing. Cast it upstream of the fish, let it drift down (without drag if possible) and watch the fly get taken.

Are there other flies that you swear by in the spring? Feel free to comment below on what is your go to fly, how you fish it, and what you've caught on them.

Please check the video below to view the flies and see what I use for materials to build them.

Thank you again for dropping by.