Understanding Flies and How to Select Them

Types and Common Terms

In fly fishing, the fly is the lure. Instead of using live bait, anglers cast lightweight artificial flies made from materials such as feathers, thread, fur, foam, wire, and synthetics. Each fly is designed to suggest something fish naturally eat, including insects, baitfish, leeches, worms, shrimp, crabs, or other small prey. The best choice depends on what the fish are feeding on and where they are feeding: on the surface, just below it, near the bottom, or while chasing larger prey.

Main Types of Fly-Fishing Flies

• Dry flies float on the water’s surface and imitate adult insects such as mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, midges, ants, beetles, and grasshoppers. They are most useful when fish are rising, meaning they are feeding on or near the surface. Dry-fly fishing is exciting because the angler can often see the fish take the fly.

• Nymphs sink below the surface and imitate immature aquatic insects before they hatch. Because fish often feed underwater, nymphs are among the most productive fly types. Popular examples include the Pheasant Tail Nymph, Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear, Prince Nymph, Zebra Midge, and Perdigon.

• Wet flies are traditional subsurface flies that drift or swing below the surface. They often imitate emerging insects or drowned adults. Their soft hackle fibers move naturally in the current, making them a forgiving choice for beginners.

• Streamers imitate larger prey such as minnows, leeches, crayfish, or sculpins. They are usually retrieved, stripped, or swung through the water to create movement. Streamers are especially useful when targeting larger fish, fishing stained water, or covering more water quickly.

• Emergers imitate insects caught between the underwater nymph stage and the adult flying stage. They often sit in or just below the surface film. Emergers can be very effective when fish are rising but refusing fully floating dry flies.

Common Fly-Fishing Terms

• Pattern: The specific design or recipe of a fly, such as an Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, or Woolly Bugger.

• Match the hatch: Choosing a fly that imitates the insects currently hatching or being eaten by fish.

• Presentation: How naturally the fly lands, drifts, sinks, or moves in the water.

• Drift: The way a fly floats or travels with the current. A natural drift usually looks like real food moving downstream.

• Drag: An unnatural pull on the fly caused by the line or leader moving faster or slower than the current.

• Rise: A visible surface disturbance made when a fish eats something on or near the top of the water.

• Surface film: The thin layer at the water’s surface where many insects hatch and where emergers often get trapped.

• Indicator: A small floating aid used to detect strikes when fishing nymphs.

• Leader and tippet: The clear line sections between the fly line and the fly. The tippet is the thinnest final section tied directly to the fly.

• Size: Fly sizes are numbered; smaller numbers are larger flies, while larger numbers are smaller flies. For example, a size 8 fly is larger than a size 18 fly.

Saltwater Flies

• Saltwater flies are built for coastal flats, beaches, bays, mangroves, jetties, and open water. They usually imitate baitfish, shrimp, crabs, squid, sand eels, or other saltwater prey. Compared with many trout flies, they are often larger, tougher, flashier, and tied on stronger hooks to handle fast, powerful fish and abrasive saltwater conditions.

• Baitfish patterns imitate small fish such as minnows, mullet, anchovies, silversides, or bunker. Popular examples include the Clouser Minnow, Lefty’s Deceiver, Surf Candy, EP Baitfish, and Crease Fly. These flies are commonly used for striped bass, bluefish, redfish, snook, tarpon, jacks, and false albacore.

• Shrimp and crab patterns are especially important on flats where fish feed near the bottom. Shrimp flies may be fished with short strips or allowed to sink and drift naturally. Crab flies are often weighted so they ride hook-point-up and crawl or hop along the bottom. Common examples include the Crazy Charlie, Gotcha, Spawning Shrimp, Mantis Shrimp, Merkin Crab, Flexo Crab, and Alphlexo Crab.

• Surface flies such as poppers, gurglers, and sliders create noise, bubbles, or a wake on top of the water. They can be exciting to fish because the strike is visible. These patterns are useful when fish are feeding aggressively near the surface or chasing bait in shallow water.

When choosing saltwater flies, match the fly to the local prey, water depth, bottom color, and light conditions. Natural colors such as tan, olive, gray, white, and brown work well in clear water, while chartreuse, pink, orange, black, and flash can help in stained water or low light. After fishing in saltwater, rinse flies with fresh water and let them dry before storing them.

Popular Fly Pattern Examples

• Dry flies: Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, Parachute Adams, Griffith’s Gnat, Stimulator, Royal Wulff, Blue-Winged Olive, and Hopper patterns

• Nymphs: Pheasant Tail Nymph, Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear, Prince Nymph, Copper John, Zebra Midge, Perdigon, San Juan Worm, and Pat’s Rubber Legs.

• Wet flies and soft hackles: Partridge and Orange, March Brown Wet, Leadwing Coachman, Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail, and Spider-style wet flies.

• Emergers: RS2, Klinkhammer, CDC Emerger, Sparkle Pupa, Barr Emerger, and Comparadun-style emergers.

• Streamers: Woolly Bugger, Muddler Minnow, Zonker, Clouser Minnow, Sculpzilla, Sex Dungeon, Game Changer, and crayfish patterns.

• Saltwater baitfish flies: Clouser Minnow, Lefty’s Deceiver, Surf Candy, EP Baitfish, Crease Fly, Half and Half, and Sand Eel patterns.

• Saltwater shrimp and crab flies: Crazy Charlie, Gotcha, Spawning Shrimp, Mantis Shrimp, Merkin Crab, Flexo Crab, Alphlexo Crab, and Avalon-style shrimp patterns.

• Saltwater surface flies: Bob’s Banger, Gartside Gurgler, foam poppers, sliders, and crease-style surface flies.

Fly Type, Target Fish, and Best Conditions

How to Choose a Fly

A simple way to choose a fly is to watch the water first. If fish are rising, begin with a dry fly or emerger. If there is little surface activity, try a nymph or wet fly because fish may be feeding below the surface. If the water is stained, high, or you want to target larger fish, use a streamer. In saltwater, start by identifying the main prey—baitfish, shrimp, crab, or surface activity—and choose a fly that matches its size, shape, color, and movement. Beginners do not need hundreds of flies; a small, balanced fly box with a few surface flies, subsurface flies, streamers, and saltwater patterns can cover many situations.