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Nymphing for Trout: Essential Flies for Spring Fly Fishing

Published: 24th March 2023 | Author: Fulling Mill

Spring is here, which means it’s time to go trout fishing. Because water is still very cold in most areas, many anglers find nymphing for trout to be the most effective strategy. This is a great way to get your flies down to depth and in front of trout if they’re not willing to move far to feed. To help you in your nymphing this spring, we’ve prepared a list of core flies that you should have in your box for just about any river. They cover the bases, such as stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies and some larger meals. These are the patterns that we consider essential, especially if you’re just looking for a place to start and are newer to nymphing. With that said, you’re going to know your local river better than we do. So, if there’s a specific hatch that always comes off early, make sure you’re ready for that as well!

Every river is a little different, but if you’re nymphing for trout this spring these are some patterns we’d recommend having with you.

Duracell Nymph

The Duracell nymph comes from the modern school of nymph flies. Tied on a jig hook with a tungsten bead, it gets down in the water column quickly. This is a generalist attractor nymph, and can be fished while euro nymphing, under an indicator or on a dry dropper setup. It will perform at it’s best when there are caddis in a river system, though it works well across the board. This pattern is offered in the original silver bead coloration, but we also now offer it with a copper bead and with a hot pink bead and fluorescent ribbed option as well.

Hot Rib Walt’s

The Hot Rib Walt’s is a stand-out performer as a caddis nymph. As far as trout flies go, this is one we would never be caught without. Tied on a jig hook with a tungsten bead, it has a thin profile. The buggy dubbing counter-ribbed with fluorescent coloration makes for great body segmentation and lots of attracting power for trout. This is especially important when there are lots of naturals in the drift.

Jiggy Pat’s

When it comes to stonefly nymphs, there are few flies more effective than the Pat’s Rubber Leg. While this is one of the best trout flies out there, we made a few improvements to make it even more effective. First, we tied it on a jig hook so it rides hook point up and is thus far less likely to snag on the bottom. Second we added a tungsten bead to help it sink even faster. This is particularly important for large flies like this. As is standard for the pattern, we also wrapped the body with non-lead weight. Serving as an excellent stonefly nymph imitation, this is a great anchor fly to fish in the spring

Hares Ear Nymph

The Hare’s Ear Nymph is a tried and tested classic. While there are lots of twists on this fly these days, you can never go wrong with its classic form either. It serves as both an effective mayfly nymph and a caddis nymph. Not only that, but in black it can be taken as a midge or a stonefly. Overall, this is one of the best flies to ever hit the water. If you’re nymphing for trout and you don’t have a hare’s ear or one of it’s variations, you need to change that.

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Like the Hare’s Ear Nymph, the Pheasant Tail is an iconic fly. As far as mayfly imitations go, there is nothing better. There are lots of variations of this pattern and they all have their merits. You can fish it unweighted as a dropper, or use one of our Anchor Collection options as a point fly. Whether you are imitating hendricksons, blue winged olives, sulphurs, or basically any other mayfly, you can never go wrong with the pheasant tail. Many trout will take this as a stonefly nymph as well, so it does double duty!

Weiss’s Simple Pheasant Tail Nymph

This version of the pheasant tail nymph is so good we had to talk about it separately. Fishing Team USA Member Pat Weiss added his bleached version to our lineup, which is a great option when fishing in rivers with a light substrate. It’s an extremely effective mayfly imitation. Not only that but it can imitate small stoneflies as well. Offered in our Anchor collection, this fly is available in 2 bead sizes per hook size. This is especially effective when euro nymphing as it will help you dial in the perfect drift.

Blue Wing Olive Nymph

The Blue Winged Olive is a mayfly in the baetis family. While there are many different mayflies under the baetis genus, blue winged olive is what most anglers are accustomed to calling the small mayflies with olive bodies that they see. Regardless of their specific identification, these blue winged olives come in small sizes and are abundant in many rivers. Additionally, because they are so small, several generations can grow per year, which leads to multiple hatches per year. While a pheasant tail nymph can be used to imitate them, we also have these more specific imitations.

Weiss’ Penny

Like your favorite lucky penny, Pat Weiss’ Penny Perdigon will bring you good fortune while on the river in any fishing situation. This little magic nymph seems to work in any condition throughout the year. The color and thin profile does a great job of representing a host of mayfly species, so is a great option whenever mayflies are active in the drift regardless of the specific hatch.

Croston’s Chenille Worm

Howard Croston never ceases to amaze with his new fly patterns. This time is new different. Because the spring can often bring high and off-color water, larger and brighter meals are effective when fishing for trout. Available in a couple of sizes, this fly can either be fished on the point or as a dropper depending on where the fish are feeding in the column and what size worm they generally take. Pay special attention to using this fly if you’re fishing near a muddy bank as worms will come out of the soil there and fish will key in on them.

Daniel’s UV Polar Jig

Designed by George Daniel, his UV Polar jig is another great fly to have in your fly box when you’re nymphing for trout in the spring. As a heavy point fly that’s hydrophobic it will sink fast, yet hold a great baitfish profile in the water. It can be fished on a dead drift, or twitched and jigged back in on a euro nymphing setup. Additionally, the UV Polar flash is excellent for helping this fly to stand out in off-colored and high water. When trout are looking to feed heavily after winter, this fly is irresistible.

Tungsten Jig Woolly Bugger

A variation on the ultra-classic Woolly Bugger, the Tungsten Jig Bugger is a must-have spring nymphing pattern. Fished in small sizes it can represent large mayflies, damselflies, and stoneflies. Fished in the larger sizes it can be a sculpin, stonefly, batfish crayfish, or leech. The Woolly Bugger is one of the most versatile trout fly patterns ever invented, and this jig version is no exception. You can dead drift this like you would any nymph, or animate it with some twitches. See what the trout prefer!

If you’re planning on nymphing for trout and want to buy some of our flies locally, check out our dealer locator to find a fly shop near you that carries them!

If you want to read more about nymphs on our blog, check out this piece on our Top 10 Euro Nymphs.

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