Ascent’s Top 6 Fall Fly Patterns

Photo Credit: Mark Jessop of Trout Fin Studios 

Marked by showers of golden-orange Aspen leaves and crisp mornings, the summer has passed into fall and with-it trout fishing has entered one of its peak seasons.  Invigorated by water temperatures dropping back into the 40’s the Brown and Brook trout get primed to spawn, and every fish in the river is looking to pack on some serious pounds to hold them over through winter’s slim pickings.  While most fall bugs might be small in stature, the size of their hatches can hit biblical proportions, with freshly laid trout eggs and baitfish fleshing out the rest of the menu.   If you want to capitalize on this fall’s feeding frenzy, tie on one of the Ascent Fly Fishing teams 6 Go-To fly patterns and tighten your drag! 

Beadhead Thin Mint 

Best Fall Sizes: 6 - 10 

While the Thin Mint is one of our favorite streamer patterns year-round, we’re tying this fly on every time we’re on the river this fall!  Intended to spark the aggressive pre-spawn fury of the brown and brook trout, big fish will strike at this all-purpose streamer as they jockey for position and compete for high calorie food. 

Loop Egg  

Best Fall Colors: Orange, Pink, Red 

Eggs are one of the highest calorie and easily acquired food sources of the fall!  The rainbow and cutthroat trout line up behind the spawning browns, brooks, and kokanee and gorge themselves on eggs, and the brown and brook trout have no qualms eating their own species eggs as well.  Eggs are at the top of the menu for the next couple of months, so tie on a loop egg this fall! 

Top Secret Midge  

Best Fall Colors: Brown, Light Grey, Black 

Best Fall Sizes: 20 - 24 

While it pains us to have to hang up our big summer dry flies, if you want to catch fish in the fall you’re going to need a solid midge emerger pattern, and there are few better than the Top Secret Midge.  Regardless of the color, we like to fish these in sizes 20-24 as our last fly on our nymphing rig in order to keep it higher in the water column.  Try it and you can thank us later!  

Juju Baetis  

Best Fall Colors: Blue/Purple, Olive/Black, Brown/Black 

Best Fall Sizes: 20 - 22 

The last major hatch of the fall and the first of the spring, the Blue Winged Olive Mayfly in all of its life stage are must-haves for the fall fly fisher.  While there are a lot of different mayfly nymph patterns in the fly shop, the slim profile and versatile colors of the Juju Baetis put this pattern firmly at the top of our list.  

Chocolate Thunder 

Best Fall Colors: Chocolate Brown, Light Grey, Dark Olive, Purple 

Best Fall Sizes: 20 - 24 

If you want to stretch your dry fly fishing into the fall you’re going to need to fish small mayflies.  Tricos, BWOS, and even some late blooming PMDs will all catch fish, and should help you scratch that dry fly itch one last time before a long winter drought.   

Photo Credit: Mark Jessop of Trout Fin Studios 

Fly of the Month 

Parachute Cricket 

Size 8 

Like a swiss cake roll with legs, crickets are a summer and fall favorite among hungry fish!  From the big size 8 Mormon Crickets of the West to the small summer-chirpers of the East, these dark-profiled dry flies are a blast to fish throughout the warm months and are equally effective on the lake and river.  Our parachute crictets are tied with a dark, translucent wing to help them glow against a bright sky, and a parachute to assist with visibility for the angler.  This pattern is most effectively fished next to bank vegetation and on windy days when the naturals often lose their way and end up in the water. 

Dry/Wet:  Dry 

Fly Category: True-Fly Pattern 

Family: Terrestrials 

Species: Cricket 

Life Stage: Adult