The Top 5 Big Summer Dry Flies
Like monsters birthed from a radioactive disaster, now is the time for the biggest and gnarliest dry flies to emerge from your fly boxes and hit the water!
With the onset of summer and the rising temps, our largest stoneflies and terrestrials come to life and onto the menu. Several species of Golden Stoneflies and Salmonflies emerge from the river to join the Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Cicadas already crowding the riverbanks. Hang up your midge box, and give your small mayflies a rest because now is the season for fishing the largest dry fly patterns in your box!
Here are a couple of our favorite summer dry fly patterns that can fish all day and land 20 fish without giving up their ghost!
Available Colors: Black/Purple, Tan/Gold, Brown/Bronze
Available Sizes: 18-22
Known for its durability and long life even after a score of fish, the Chubby Chernobyl is both versatile and deadly. Tied with a foam body, antron wings, and rubber legs, this pattern is equally effective when fished as an adult stone fly or as a terrestrial insect. We recommend that you fish them big, fish them often, and hold on tight!
Dry/Wet: Dry
Fly Category: Generalist Pattern
Family: Stoneflies, Terrestrials
Species: Golden Stonefly, Skwala Stonefly, Salmonfly, Grasshopper
Life Stage: Adult
Parachute Madam X (PMX)
Available Colors: Gold, Olive, Purple, Royal
Available Sizes: 8 - 14
Based on the tried and true Madame X pattern, the Parachute Madame X (or PMX) adds a tall white parachute for extra buoyancy and visibility on the water. Capturing the long thin body, scrambling legs, and prominent wing case of the adult stonefly perfectly, this pattern will challenge the Stimulator for supremacy as the most productive dry stonefly pattern!
Dry/Wet: Dry
Fly Category: Generalist Pattern, Attractor Pattern
Family: Stoneflies
Species:Golden Stonefly, Skwala Stonefly, Yellow Sally Stonefly, Early Brown Stonefly
Life Stage: Adult
Amy's Ant
Available Colors: Green/Tan, Purple/Black, Red/Tan
Available Sizes: 12 - 18
Tied with a high floating foam body, a widespread hair wing, and rubber legs that dance on top of the water, the Amy's Ant is equally effective as a terrestrial and adult stonefly imitation. Fish it large, fish it often, and hold onto your fly rod!
Dry/Wet: Dry
Fly Category: Attractor Pattern
Family: Stonefly, Terrestrials
Species: Early Brown (Willowfly) Stonefly, Golden Stonefly, Skwala Stonefly, Grasshopper
Life Stage: Adult
Parachute Cricket
Available Sizes: 6 - 18
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
Foam Hopper
Available Sizes: 6 - 14
A more buoyant and durable version of the parachute hopper, the Foam Hopper will take a beating and keep on fishing! There are few trout foods as eagerly anticipated each summer and fall as clumsy grasshoppers falling off the banks and into the water. A constant producer on both lakes and rivers, hopper patterns are a must-have for every angler.
Dry/Wet: Dry
Fly Category: True-Fly Pattern
Family: Terrestrial
Species: Grasshopper
Life Stage: Adult
So, put away your little flies, raise your hands, and tie on the biggest and gnarliest dry flies in your box because the season of Big, Bad dry flies are finally here!
