TRAVELING AROUND WYOMING WITH A FLY ROD THIS SUMMER? Well, be sure to find a home in your box for these tried-and-true dry flies that will put a wild Wyoming trout on the end of your tippet.
Wyoming is vast state with thousands…literally, thousand of critters on the daily diet for trout. For the novice, and even the rather experienced angler, ”matching the hatch” isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do.
Trout eat aquatic insects, terrestrials, crustaceans, forage fish & leeches (just to skim the surface). All have different color/molting/size phases and life cycle stages (larvae, pupae, adult, spinner & cripple) that all must be considered and understood. The selection of flies I’ve chosen certainly does not cover all areas of the dry fly world, but offers the angler a good place to start in his/her quests’ for surface feeding trout. On any given day, fish can be eating any combination of prey and stage of the life cycle.
Complicated? Yes. But is there anything better than watching a trout take that fly off the surface?
Here are the flies I’ve chosen from left to right.
Chubby Chernobyl Ant – Named after it’s mutated “Ant” appearance in relation to the Chernobyl, Ukraine nuclear accident… this bug rocks! Designed to imitate both adult aquatic insects and terrestrials. Tied from foam & rubber legs, this thing is not only effective, but a dry fly that is blast to fish. Dead drift, twitch or skate it…super fun! Popular colors are red, tan & golden in sizes 8-12. Put this against an undercut bank and hold on!
Parachute Adams – “Old school” dry fly that still kills it. Imitating various mayfly subspecies from micro Baetis to the large Drake, as well as adult midges – even a hopper. You will want sizes 10-22 and in brown, olive, purple, pink and pale yellow to match specific hatches (aside from the classic grey). Run out of grey drakes when the fish are keyed in? Try the biggest parachute adams in your box – I dare ya.
Stimulator – Classic Western dry fly which has endless imitation abilities…the name says it all. Popular colors are yellow, orange/yellow and royal in sizes 8-12. Try this one as your front fly in a double dry rig.
Elk Hair Caddis – Caddis hatch for roughly 6 months out of the year and naturally, the trout eat them. You’ll want sizes 12-18 in tan, grey, black and olive of this classic dry fly. Wiggle that rod tip while fishing and hold on! Calm, summer nights you may never change this fly out as you catch one after another.
Parachute Ant – Ants are everywhere during the summer months and the fish are well aware of this. Sizes can range from 10-16 in colors black, cinnamon, red and all color combos. Don’t forget the flying ants as well!
By no means does this article guarantee success to you as the angler, but it’s a good place to start. Fish constantly change eating habits, keeping us trout hunters “on our toes”. Properly named “fishing” and not “catching”, care must be taken when rigging and presentating your flies to be considered for consumption by our quarry. Don’t forget to grease your fly & leader to keep your dry fly riding high!
Ryan Hudson is the Owner/Head Guide at the Wyoming Fishing Company LLC. He spends his summer exploring Wyoming’s high country with a fly rod, accompanied by his dog, Ichabod.
