Top 8 New Dry Flies for 2025 from Fulling Mill USA
Published: 24th January 2025 | Author: Fulling MillThis week we have another installment of our blog series that discusses new fly patterns for 2025. This time we’re discussing the top 8 new dry flies. Whether you fish big golden stones, small baetis emergers, or something in the middle we have some cool new patterns to show you. If you want to see all our new fly patterns for 2025, you can find them here.
Olsen’s Front End Loader Ant
Many of you may be familiar with Signature Tyer Devin Olsen’s Front End Loader Caddis, which is an extremely popular pattern when dry dropper fishing for trout. The Front End Loader Ant was a logical and natural progression for this pattern. In the summer terrestrials become a prevalent food source for trout around the US, which brings this pattern into its own. Tied in the “Spanish” method, it incorporates CDC split wings and a hi-viz post, which makes it look super buggy with a low profile. However, our treated Tactical Dry Fly dubbing and stacked hackle make it float well and suspend a lot of weight.
If you’re not familiar with Devin’s Front End Loader Caddis, here’s some info Devin shared about the fly: “During practice for the 2013 World Fly Fishing Championship in Norway, I found that the brown trout preferred flush riding dry flies in the low gradient rivers we were fishing. However, the caddis patterns I had with me which rode flush were poor at floating tungsten nymph droppers. I have long been a fan of Quigley’s Hackle Stacker style mayfly patterns. So, I figured the flush riding but buoyant hackle on these patterns would create the perfect combination when added to an elk hair wing to make my Front-End Loader Caddis. I ended up catching many of my fish in Norway on this pattern. It’s still my go-to caddis pattern to appeal to discerning fish while still being able to float tungsten nymphs.”
Burkus’ Cripples
Signature Tyer Ken Burkholder has been hard at work developing a new method for tying trailing shucks on his dry flies. When submerged, they look just like the nymphal shuck on a mayfly that’s struggling to emerge through the surface meniscus. These also feature outrigger legs to imitate the adult insect legs, and CDC wings. This pattern was originated and tested on the Owyhee River in Oregon, but has been proven itself across the Rocky Mountains, Northern California, the White River in Arkansas and beyond. The below variations represent different major mayfly hatches, which is why the body shape varies.
Arnot’s New Age Dries
A new Signature Tyer for 2025, Jack Arnot has brought on some really unique dry fly patterns that have been influenced by his time competition fishing around the world. They share a lot of similarities in the properties of their construction, but have been tailored to fit a range of hatches and fishing situations. Jack shares some of his thoughts on these patterns here: “Since my introduction to Spanish and French dry fly fishing in 2016, my dry flies have undergone a significant evolution. These styles, distinct from the western dry fly approach I grew up with, have deeply influenced my fly design philosophy. In crafting my patterns, I meticulously consider factors such as fly stability, aerodynamics and the integration of nonstandard materials. It’s all aimed at gaining an edge on the water. My experimentation has led to the development of numerous synthetic poly wing patterns which have exceptional visibility, float like a cork, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to entice fish.”
Rosenau’s Rocktober Caddis
The Rocktober Caddis was designed by another new Signature Tyer for 2025, Pete Rosenau. Pete designed this caddis to imitate October Caddis hatches. With a foam body, legs for stability, an elk wing and dry fly hackle this fly floats like a cork. It’s an excellent option if you’re looking to fish dry dropper.
Cheech’s Hoptimus Prime
This is Signature Tyer Cheech Pierce’s modern variation on a twisted foam hopper. Originally the concept was made popular in Utah, making Cheech the perfect person to put this modern twist to it. The twisted foam body gives excellent color variation and a segmented look to the body on this pattern. That, plus the foam legs and wing cover make it smack down extra hard when it hits the surface. And, the synthetic wing and our treated Ultra Dry Dubbing for the collar allow it to float extra long. This pattern fishes great as a single dry, or suspending a nymph on a dry dropper setup.
Hackle Stacker Caddis
When it comes to fooling picky trout, profile is a huge piece of the puzzle in dry fly patterns. This is true for just about any fly, in truth. The hackle stacker platform lends itself very well to this, as it presents an excellent caddis profile from below. With our Ultra Dry Yarn as the underwing and our Tactical Dry Fly dubbing for the body, this pattern floats better than just about any other version of it you’ll fish. This means less time treating your dry fly, and more time fishing it.
Cheech’s Galactic Ant
Another new pattern from Signature Tyer Cheech Pierce, the Galactic Ant is a flying ant pattern. He came up with this idea while chatting with Lance Egan in the fly shop, and then went upstairs to tie it up. It has a ton of great floating properties, so is another great pattern to fish dry dropper with in the summer months.
If you want to learn how to tie it, Fly Fish Food has a great tutorial on it here:
Jorgensen’s Slammin Fly
Another one of our new Signature Tyers for 2025, Andrew Jorgensen, came up with this awesome stonefly dry pattern. It was designed while guiding in Idaho and has a large foam body and polly wing to float large nymphs when fishing dry dropper. However, it has many great imitative properties and will fool picky fish as a single dry as well. A.J. ties it in golden and pteronarcys (salmon fly) versions. This fly is tied on our new Tactical Big Bug barbless dry fly hook.
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