Stonefly Nymph Stonefly nymphs are one of the biggest food sources a trout has, and this is my go to way to tie one. It's semi realistic without being fiddly beyond reason, and it fishes as well as it looks. The reason it earns a permanent spot in my box Ugly Flies • nymphs
Tom Thumb The Tom Thumb might be the most forgiving dry fly in your box. It's almost all deer hair, which means you can't really sink it, and there's very little to get wrong. Two or three minutes at the vise once you've got Ugly Flies • dries
Diving Grannom Caddis This one's for the back half of a caddis hatch, when the adults have mated and the females are heading back to the water to lay their eggs. Most tiers cover the dry and maybe a pupa and stop there. The egg-laying diver is the stage everyone Ugly Flies • soft-hackles
Diawl Bach The Diawl Bach is one of the best stillwater flies you can have in your box, and it's about as simple as they come. It's an old Welsh reservoir pattern, the name means "little devil," and it flat out catches trout wherever you swim Ugly Flies • nymphs
Polish Woven Nymph If you've ever wondered where Euro nymphing actually came from, this is about as close to the source as you can tie. The woven nymph traces back to Polish anglers fishing short and heavy on the Dunajec back in 1984, dredging flies right along the bottom before the Ugly Flies • nymphs
F Fly The F fly is one of the simplest patterns you can tie, and it actually works. It was designed in the 1980s as a fly that could be tied quickly and cover a range of conditions, and it has stayed popular with beginners and experienced tyers ever since. Part of Ugly Flies • dries
