FLY FISHING
How to Pick General Attractor Fly Fishing Patterns for Spring Conditions
A beginner’s guide to filling your seasonal springtime nymph fly box with general attractor patterns
As Spring arrives, more and more insects become available for trout to feed on. Knowing the top flies for spring and how to use them is essential for catching more fish, more consistently when fishing in a lake or river.
All forms of fly, including nymphs, pupa, emergers, and dries are major staples in the first month or two of spring until the caddis begin to show up. Hatches typically start mid-morning and can last the entire day if the weather is right. Since this is an article and not a short novel, I’ll only focus on General Attractor wet patterns. If you are interested in more Spring patterns, check out my Spring Fly Pattern library for more!
As always — conditions vary by location, local weather conditions, previous winter weather conditions, etc…The recommendations here are meant to act as a good starting point to help you dial in your own home water fly box. Remember — the only hard rule in fishing is, “It depends”.
Perdigons
In Spring, the water is usually cold and trout are looking for more consistent food sources. In larger rivers, trout will stay in strategic places, such as under strong currents and behind large rocks where the water current delivers food to the trout like it’s DoorDash. Heavy nymphs are the most likely food source to follow these feeding lanes.
I often set a size #14 hook with a size 3.5-4mm bead as a dropper. When the water is lower & slower, drop down to a smaller bead size and adjust the hook size as needed. As for colors, start with a black dominant body with a red hot spot (hot-butt or hot-head). This color combination provides a great contrast in all kinds of water. If the black isn’t working, switch to a very light color such as a pale yellow, and work your way into darker patterns, adjust bead & hook size as necessary. Note — Olive works better and better as the weather gets warmer!
Black & Gold Perdigon Jig
Perdigonmania Green Perdigon Jig
Red-Butt Zebra Perdigon
Nymphs
Nymphing during a hatch can be more productive than dry fly fishing and it’s always good to try both during a hatch if one or the other isn’t working. There are a variety of hatches in the Spring, so it’s best to have a bug seine net to collect the insects both above and under the water and match the color and size to what’s in the river.
In the western United States, the Blue Wing Olive is the major mayfly of the spring months. This mayfly is also known as a Baetis or BWO. Blue Wing Olives are small to medium-sized olive mayflies with dark wings and a dark olive body. They typically range in size from #12 to #20.
On the other side of the Mississippi River, you’ll find Hendricksons, BWOs, and March Browns. Fly sizes are typically larger and more manageable in the East, ranging from #12 to #18, except for BWOs which stay in the #16 to #24 range. Dial in your color & size combination with your location in mind.
Peacock River Nymph, Olive
Hot Collar BWO Quill Jig
Pheasant Tail River Bug, Hot Yellow
Emergers
As the water warms up you’ll see a ‘midge-zilla’ hatch where the midges get pretty big and you can start throwing sizes #12–16. This is always a welcome change for those of us who are used to fishing size #20-#28 all winter long!
Some of the biggest hatches are springtime caddis. Fish go wild during these times, so it’s important to fish your orange, yellow and black attractors if there are caddis in the water. When the caddis are heating up, I find it’s best to fish a dry with an emerger. If that doesn’t work, switch the emerger out for a nymph and fish it as a dry-dropper setup.
Firehole Mercury Peacock Tail, Peacock & Green Soft-Hackle
Firehole Mercury Pheasant Tail, Black & Chartreuse
Suspender Emerger, Claret
BONUS! For Spring Creek Dry-Dropper Rigs
While terrestrials are usually associated with late summer and fall, ants and beetles are active in the early spring. Regardless of hatch conditions, terrestrials are often effective during challenging hatches, water depths, speeds, and other situations when a more precise imitation may not work and you want the double power of a multi-fly dry-dropper rig. This particular color & size combination works very well for me during bumper conditions.
Mini Hippie Stomper, UV White
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