Dry Fly Patterns
Dry flies, are in some respect, the embodiment of fly fishing for trout themselves. History and angling lore have often paid tribute to the dry fly and its role in joining the angler with the most sought after event of the sport known simply as the hatch. What better symbol of a dry fly than this picture of a Quill Gordon created by the father of American Fly fishing; Theodore Gordon.
In most cases, dry flies imitate the winged adult stage of aquatic insects. Our Fly Recipe Library has been categorized as such by dividing dry flies into their insect heritage as; caddisflies, mayflies, midges and stoneflies. Since those categories do not cover all of the various insect families we have also included a section for mosquitoes, gnats and others.
We have also categorized other forms of tying dry fly patterns such as comparaduns, parachutes, no-hackles, thorax duns and sparkle duns. Within these categories you will find many of the same adult aquatic insect species represented, however they are tied with a different profile.
In all cases, fly pattern recipes will include hook size range to adequately imitate the adult or in the case of a generic pattern sizes that are being tied on a historical basis. Pattern recipes will also include the designer where possible as well as any known color or material variations.