The other day a friend & I were discussing some of our favorite fly patterns and why we like them. As talks like this will go, the question of what fly would you fish if you could only choose one came up. We decided to break it down by fly type, rather than just having to choose one fly from all those that exist. I thought I’d share with you my choices, & my reasons for those choices with you here. You might think I’m wrong & if so, I’d love to hear why, so let me know….. If I could only fish one dry fly it would be the standard, traditional Adams pattern tied in the Catskills style - you know the one. If I’m fishing any small to larger size stream I’d choose it in a #14 hook. That size should do the trick because if the natural bugs on that water are smaller, maybe my #14 will stand out & look like a nice supply of tasty calories to the fish. On the other hand, if the bugs are larger, maybe I can add some action to the fly on the water (a little movement of the fly at just the right time) to make it look alive & draw some fish eyes to it? The main reason I’d choose the adams is because it’s one of those flies that can be suggestive of a lot of different aquatic insects. While today we (or at least I do) tend to think of the adams as a general mayfly imitator, I think it may have been invented to imitate a particular caddis (someone let me know if I’m wrong about that). My point is that the adams can look like a lot of different bugs to the fish. Another reason I’d go with an adams - in the Catskills style, as there are many different versions of it now - is because of how high it sits on the water. It can give a really good profile of a mayfly shape to the fish. However, if there happens to be a really good caddis hatch while I was on the water I could cut, or clip, the bottom of the hackles so that the fly would set flatter & lower on the water’s surface. Ever need an elk hair caddis type of dry fly but are without one? Just clip the hackles of a traditional adams so it floats like a caddis. Lastly, I’d choose the adams pattern because it is attractive to many kinds of fish. Trout, bass, panfish - if it swims it’ll probably go for a well presented adams. These are the main reasons why, if I could only have one dry fly pattern in my box, it would be the traditional adams pattern. What dry fly pattern would you choose?
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