Dry FlyintermediateMidwest & Driftless
$2.95
Baetis mayflies hatch when the weather is miserable, which in the Driftless means you will be standing in drizzle feeling sorry for yourself right until the first trout rises. Then every trout rises. This pattern matches the little blue-gray sailboats that drift down spring creeks by the thousands, and the trout eat them with the methodical precision of someone working through a buffet line.
Timber Coulee Creek
WI · Spring Creek
Whitewater River
MN · Spring Creek
Bennett Spring
MO · Spring Creek
Map unavailable. Locations for Blue Wing Olive: Timber Coulee Creek, WI; Whitewater River, MN; Bennett Spring, MO
region guide
Tucked into the unglaciated hills of southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa lies the Driftless Area — a landscape of cold spring creeks, limestone bluffs, and wild trout that rivals any destination in the country. This is the complete guide to fishing the Driftless.
seasonal playbook
Spring is the most dynamic season in fly fishing — water temperatures swing daily, hatches emerge in waves, and fish that have been dormant for months begin feeding with increasing urgency. This is your region-by-region playbook for fishing the awakening.
hatch guide
Mayflies are the foundation of trout-stream entomology. This guide covers every major hatch — BWOs, PMDs, Green Drakes, Sulphurs, Tricos, and Hendricksons — with the biology, timing, and fly selections you need to fish them effectively across the country.
hatch guide
The Hex hatch is the defining event of Great Lakes fly fishing — a massive emergence of North America's largest mayfly that happens after dark and brings the biggest brown trout of the year to the surface. This is how to prepare for, find, and fish the most anticipated hatch in the Midwest.
hatch guide
Trout eat more insects during emergence than at any other stage. Emerger patterns — flies that imitate the critical moment when a nymph transforms into an adult in the surface film — are the most consistently effective dry flies in fly fishing. Here is the science and the technique behind fishing the in-between.
technique
Ninety percent of a trout's diet is consumed subsurface. Yet ninety percent of the magazine covers show a dry fly floating on calm water. The decision between nymphing and dry-fly fishing isn't about preference — it's about reading the situation and making the choice that puts your fly where the fish are actually feeding.
Dry FlybeginnerMidwest & Driftless
#16 - #22
Tiny peacock herl and grizzly hackle pattern imitating midge clusters. Essential when nothing visible is hatching but trout are rising.
Brown Trout · Brook Trout · Rainbow Trout
Dry FlyintermediateMidwest & Driftless
#18 - #22
Tiny cluster midge pattern for Nebraska's spring-fed Sandhills rivers. Peacock herl body with a CDC wing sits flush in the surface film during the year-round midge hatches.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Dry FlyadvancedMidwest & Driftless
#20 - #24
Tiny spent-wing spinner for the legendary summer Trico fall. Fish it in the mornings when the spinners carpet the water.
Brown Trout · Brook Trout · Rainbow Trout
Dry FlyintermediateMidwest & Driftless
#14 - #18
Pale yellow mayfly pattern matching Ephemerella invaria hatches. The premier evening hatch on Ozark and Driftless waters.
Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout
Dry FlybeginnerRocky Mountain West
#12 - #22
Tied by Andy Carlson
The universal dry fly. Grizzly hackle, white post, dubbed body. If you cannot identify the hatch, tie on an Adams.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout · Brook Trout · Mountain Whitefish
Dry FlybeginnerRocky Mountain West
#12 - #18
Tied by Chris Krueger
Al Troth's iconic caddis imitation. Elk hair wing, palmered hackle. Floats like a cork in fast water.
Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Cutthroat Trout · Brook Trout