11 Spring Trout Flies That Top Trout Guides Use

Wouldn’t you love to peek into a river guide’s fly box to see what trout flies he is using to catch trout in the spring? Do guides use the same standard flies that everyone else uses, or do they have special patterns that work even better?

The best spring trout flies are ones that match early-season hatches like midges, mayflies like the Pheasant Tail Nymph, the Frenchie Nymph, and the Polish Pheasant Tail Nymph. Other great trout flies for spring would include stoneflies, and caddis patterns like the McPhail Caddis Pupa.

Other great flies include”

• Higa’s SOS
• Woolly Bugger and Micro Bugger
• Walts Worm and Sext Walts Worm
• Diamond Dub Scud
• Plus, there are plenty more, which I’ll discuss below.

Spring Trout Flies: The Mayfly

The mayfly is a very common fly on most North American rivers, and it can be one of the earliest aquatic insects to become active. Most mayflies can be initiated by a few simple fly patterns.

Mayfly species like the Blue Winged Olive start hatching very early in the spring and can be imitated with small size 16, 18, and 20 fly patterns like:

• Pheasant Tail Nymph
• Frenchie / Hot Spot Pheasant Tail Jig Fly
• Davie’s Polish Pheasant Tail Nymph

I fish these flies with an indicator, or I use the Euro Nymphing method. If you are a spin fisherman, check out my page How To Fish Flies With Spinning Gear: 2 Best Methods or Float Fishing With Flies.

Spring Trout Stonefly Nymph

When anglers think of the stonefly nymph, they often think of a big dark fly that big trout love to eat, but the stonefly comes in many sizes, and in some rivers, there are very tiny stoneflies in the spring.

There is one species of stonefly called the tiny winter black, which is a small size 16 to 18 fly, and it can be one of the best early spring flies for catching trout.

A great fly pattern that I use to imitate the small stonefly nymph comes from long-time guide, Spencer Higa, and it’s known as Higa’s SOS fly.

I have tied this fly pattern in its original black, which works great as an early spring trout fly, but I have also done well with this fly in brown and olive.

Caddis Larva and Caddis Pupa

Most rivers in North America have some sort of caddis. Some call them green rock worms, and they look like little green maggots, but whatever you call them, they are one of the best flies for spring trout.

My favorite spring caddis patterns are the McPahil Caddis Pupa and the Egan GTI Caddis from competition angler and guide Lance Egan.

Scud and Isopod Patterns

One of my favorite spring scud patterns is the Diamond Dub Scud or the Humps Cress Bug used by guide George Daniel.

I tie my own flies so I can be sure I replicate the size and color better. If you tie your own flies, check out The 7 Best Fly Tying Hooks For Dry Fly, Nymphs, and Streamers.

Attractor Fly Patterns For Spring Trout

Attractor fly patterns are flies that don’t imitate natural aquatic insects but instead are designed just to get the trout’s attention. Attractor patterns are great flies for catching spring when no natural insects are active in the river, and every angler should have a few of the top attractor patterns.

I have done very well with attractor patterns, even during a hatch. Some of the best attractor patterns are the Rainbow Warrior, which is another guide fly from Lance Egan, and the traditional Prince Nymph.

The Lightning Bug Nymph is another great attractor pattern

Worm Fly Patterns

The classic San Juan Worm and the Squirmy Wormy fly pattern are my best springtime trout flies and are a must-have in any anglers fly box.

My San Juan Worm pattern has caught over 75% of the large spring trout and steelhead that my clients catch. For all trout, I like a 3-inch worm on a size 8 or 10 hooks.

Woolly Buggers

This is one of the most versatile fly patterns, and it can be used as a nymph and as a streamer. My best woolly buggers for nymphing are micro buggers that are about 1 inch long, but I have also done well with woolly buggers up to 3 inches long when nymphing.

Black is my best color for woolly buggers, but I have done very well with olive and white.

Most Effective Spring Dry Flies For Trout

There are tons of dry fly patterns to choose from, and this leaves anglers confused or wondering which ones they should try. Guys, don’t overthink this.

Maybe I think differently than most fly anglers, but I’ll be brutally honest with you, after 38 years of fly fishing for trout in the spring, all I need to catch more large trout than 99% of fly anglers are two dry fly patterns. That’s it, just two patterns!

On my page called the 21 Best Dry Flies, I discuss these two flies along with plenty of other great flies that you can try as well, but these two would be all I would need to catch trout in the spring. But there is a catch!

1. The Most Effective Dry Fly Mayfly Pattern For Trout!

In the spring, I will see size 18 – 20 BWO, then size 14 -16 Hendricksons, then size 12 -14 Grey Foxes, then size 16 Sulfers, and I’ll see them all before the end of May. By simply changing the color and size of the Mayfly Dun pattern to match each fly, I can imitate all of these mayflies.

When I look into guide boxes, I see a lot of very similar patterns to this Mayfly Dun pattern, however, the only exception is many guides and competition anglers like to use CDC as the wings. It’s easier to tie with, and it floats. FYI, I use a CDC version as well.

To make this fly even better, or should I say more effective based on the conditions, I do two things to it.

I riffle water, I’ll add an extra hackle to make it more bushy which will keep it floating higher for longer.

In slower water, and when targeting big weary browns, I keep it very sparsely hackled. Although it does not float as well, it sure fools those larger trout. Whether bushy or sparsely tied, just be sure you follow my fly floatant and desiccant method to keep them floating high and dry.

Guide Tip #1: I trim a V-shape into most of my dry flies on the bottom to ensure that the fly rides upright and prevents the fly from rolling.

Guide Tip #2: While many fly tiers like to split the wings of their dry flies, I would guess that 95% of dry flies floating on the water surface have their wings closed tight and straight up like a sail.

Therefore, to make it easier to tie and to look more natural, I rarely split my dry fly wings anymore. See the above image.

Guide Tip# 3: When tying very tiny flies with hook sizes of 18 or 20, or smaller, instead of using dubbing for the body, I simply build up the body with thread. This is easier and faster, and it prevents bulk, which keeps the fly more proportional.

2. The Most Effective Stonefly or Caddis

If there are stoneflies or caddis on the water, this is the fly I use.

In faster ripple water, I tie it bushy. In slower, flat water or when targeting large trout, I tie it more sparsely, or I will trim a V-shape in the bottom so the fly sits up-right and sits lower and so it doesn’t roll.

Guide Tip: For the body dubbing on any Elk Hair Caddis pattern, a good guide and author told me that if you add a bit of flash to the body it will increase bites, he was right. I will add a sparky-type material like ice dub to some of my patterns.

Attractor Dry Fly Patterns For Spring Trout

The above dry flies are my go-to big fish dry flies for spring trout and for early summer trout fishing, and they also catch plenty of small trout. However, when I’m fishing a river full of smaller aggressive trout, attractor patterns are hard to beat, and they last longer without getting destroyed, and they float higher longer.

More Great Trout Flies

Another article on trout flies that our readers enjoy is 29 Best Trout Flies: Modern and Traditions Flies.

I plan on updating this annually so check back soon.

Tight lines,

Graham

References:

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/qb98mh66r

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/1040/2015/10/Pope-et-al.-2009-Freshwater-Biol.pdf

https://environment.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Files/assessing-aquatic-invertebrate-prey-indices-for-fish-trout.pdf