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From Guide to Aquatic Trout Foods
By Dave Whitlock
BOX NO.
1: General Utility Box
I carry this box in my vest wherever I trout fish. It is
stocked with a selection of general aquatic and
terrestrial imitations in a range of medium small (size
16) to medium-large (size 4) patterns. Most fly designs
in this box simulate the largest possible range of
foods, water situations, and seasons. ,
NYMPHS size 16 to 4, 3XL carried on
clips with extras sutured in one compartment) TYPE A
(weighted, simple, impressionistic, soft-fur bodied)
1. Dave's Red Fox Squirrel Nymph, sizes 6 16 to
2. Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear, sizes 10-14
3. Polly's Casual Dress, sizes 6, 8
4. Soft-Hackled Flies: Partridge and Muskrat, size 14
Partridge and Peacock, size 14 Partridge and Primrose
Muskrat, size 16
TYPE B (weighted, impressionistic-imitative, soh-fur
bodied)
1. Dave's Swimming Shrimp, sizes 10-14
2. Dave's Sowbug, sizes 14, 16
3. Dave's Damsel Nymph: dark brown, sizes 8, 10, tan,
sizes 8, 10 olive, sizes 10,12
4. Dave's Dragonfly: dark black-brown, size 6,light
olive-brown, sizes 4. 6
5. Whit Darkstone, size 4
6. Whit Goldenstone, size 6 .
7. Whit Yellowstone size 10
8. Hexagenia Wiggle-Nvmph, size 8
9. Brown Drake, size 10
WOOLLY WORMS (weighted, chenille or fur
bodies on 3XL hooks with saddle hackle wrapped sparsely.
Design: tail/body/hackle/back)
1. red wool/black chenille/soft furnace/peacock herl,
sizes 4,8 0
2. grizzly tip/peacock herl/gold oval tinsel/grizzly,
size 10
3. short red marabou/golden yellow/grizzly/peacock herl,
size 10
4. grizzly tip/peacock herl/darkest furnace/no back,
size 4
5. fluorescent red yarn/bright insect-green and silver
tinsel/grizzly/peacock herl, size 8
DRY FLIES
1. Adams sizes 12-16 5
2. Royal Wulff' size 10
3. White Wulff, size 12
4. Humpy, sizes 10-16
5. Deer-hair Caddis, sizes 12, 14
6. Borger Tan-and-Grizzly Polycaddis, sizes 10-16
7. Dave's Hopper, sizes 8 12
8. Dave's Cricket, sizes 8,12
9. Black Deer-hair Ant, sizes 14,16
10. Muddler Minnow sizes 8,10
STREAMERS
1.Whitlock Sculpin (weighted), size 6
2. Olive Matuka (weighted), size 8
3 Muddler Minnow, sizes 4, 8
4 White Marabou Muddler size 8
5. Yellow Marabou Muddler, size 8
6. Thunder Creek Marabou (yellow and black, weighted),
size 8
7. Thunder Creek Marabou Black-Nosed Dace (weighted),
size 4
8. Silver Matuka Spruce (weighted), size 6
9. Black Bunny Streamer (rabbit matuka, weighted), size
4
BOX NO. 2: MATCH THE HATCH
I rely on this box to fish most hatches, especially when
trout are selectively feeding on these aquatic foods. It
is my classic aquatic insect life-cycle box.
MAYFLIES
Nymphs
TYPE 1: weighted, imitative, soft-dubbed bodied, sizes
12-18,in olives, browns, tans, and black
TYPE 2: suggestive imitations
A Hexagenia wiggle-Nymph, size 8
B. Brown Drake. size 10
C. Green Drake. size 10
D. Isonychia, size 12
TYPE 3: emergers or floating nymphs, sizes 14-20 in
olives and browns
Duns (No-Hackle type, wing
body)
slate/'vellow, sizes 14-22
slate/tan, sizes 10 22
dark slate/olive, sizes 16-22
Paraduns
Hexagenia, sizes 6, 8
Brown Drake, sizes 8, 10
Green Drake, sizes 8, 10
Spinners (hen-spinner and
hackle-spinner types, wing body)
clear white/reddish brown, sizes 14-22
dun/olive dun, sizes 14-20
clear white/cream yellow, sizes 14-22
clear white/black, sizes 22-26
grizzly/olive dun, sizes 14,16
Paraspinner
Hexagenia, sizes 6, 8
CADDIS
Larva: I do not carry larva
imitations
Pupa: types 2A, 2B, and 3
fur-bodied, soft-hackle legs and duck-quill wing,
weighted and unweighted, sizes 12-18olives, tans,
greens, cream, oranges, and browns
Adults: fished dry and diving,
fluttering Polycaddis, wing/body/hackle
1. tan/tan/grizzly tan, sizes 10 18
2. tan/green/grizzly
brown, sizes 12-18
3. gray/olive/grizzly, sizes 14-18
4. dark slate/dark olive/dark grizzly dun, sizes 14-18
5. brown/orange/grizzly brown, sizes 8, 10
STONEFLIES
Nymphs type B (weighted,
impressionistic, softdubbed bodied)
1. Darkstone, sizes 2
2. Dark Goldenstone, sizes 4, 6
3. Goldenstone, sizes 6, 8
4. Yellowstone, sizes 10, 12
5. Slate Olivestone, sizes 12; 14
Adults: because of their size
and the infrequency of major hatches, I do not carry
most of my larger adult stonefly imitations in this
particular box
1. Dave's Adult Goldenstone, size 8
2. Dave's Adult Yellowstone, sizes 10, 12
3. Slate Olivestone, sizes 12,14
DAMSELFLIES
Nymphs Type 2, weighted 1.
Dave's Tan Damsel, sizes 8, 10
2. Dave's Dark-brown Damsel, sizes 8, 10
3. Dave's Light-olive Damsel, sizes 10-12
Adult: I carry these in the
large compartment plastic box that I carry the adult
stones in.
DRAGONFLIES
Nymph Type- 2, weighted
1. dark olive brown, size 4
2. light olive-green, size 6
Adults: I do not carry adults
MIDGES
Pupae: large assort
ment of pupa in olives, greys, browns, reds, black, and
cream, sizes 16 26 Adults:
small assortment of adults in olives, black, grey, tan
and cream, sizes 16 26
BOX NO. 3:
Streamer Types I use a Fly Rite plastic box with
foam inserts or a fleece fly wallet for these flies. I
carry one or two of each size, pattern, and design.
l. Whitlock Matuka Sculpin, weighted .
A. olive, sizes 1/0, 4, 8
B. Golden tan, sizes 3/0, 1/0, 6
2 Prismatic Streamers
A. Silver Shad, sizes 2 6
B. Golden Chub, si
zes 4, 8
C. Whitefish, size 2
3. Matukas (wing body/rib)
A. olive grizzly 'olive/gold, sizes 6-10
B. dark furnace/red/gold, sizes 1/0, 4, 6
C.Badger/red/silver, sizes 2, 8
D. hlack/hlack/silver, sizes 2 6
E. cree/yellow/gold, sizes 1/0, 6
4. Muddlers (weighted and unweighted)
A. standard mottled brown, sizes 1/0-10
B. black, sizes 1,(0, 4, 8
C. white marabou, sizes 1/O, 4,.8
D. yellow marabou, sizes 4, 8
E. black marabou, sizes 1/0, 8
F. multicolored marabou, sizes 3/0 6- 3
G. white rabbit muddler, size 1/0
5.Lefty's Deceiver
A. white, sizes 1/0, 4
B. yellow, sizes 1/0, 4 2
C. black, sizes 1/0, 4
6. Dave's Chamois Leech
A. olive, sizes 4, 8.
B. brown, sizes 4,8'
C. black, sizes 4, 8
7. Dave's Lampeel, size 2 /0, 4.
8. Omelet Series
A Single Egg Glowbug design in fluorescent pink, light
orange, dark orange, sizes 8, 12 it,
B. Double-Egg Sperm Flv
1. fluorescent pink and silver, size 6
2. fluorescent light orange and gold, size 6
3. fluorescent dark orange and gold, size 6
4. fluorescent chartreuse and silver, size 6
C. Trout Yolk Fry, sizes 10, 12 Salmon Yolk-Sac Fry,
sizes 8, 10
D. Trout Fry, sizes 8, 10
E. Salmon Fry, sizes 6, 8 2
BOX NO. 4:
Terrestrials and Summer
Midges: A small clip and compartment box I carry
during the summer and early-fall months, especially when
I fish small, low water streams for selective trout.
1. Ants
A. black deer hair, sizes 12-18
B.fur ants (black or cinnamon), sizes 14-20
C. flying ants or spent ants (black or cinnamon), sizes
14-20
2. Beetles
A. black deer hair and peacock herl, sizes 10 18
B. small assortment of brown, green, yellow (Japanese)
beetles, sizes 6 - 16
3.Hornets and Bees
A. spent wing (clipped deer-hair body), sizes 8-14
4. Jassids
A. assortment of grizzly, tan, yellow, black, and green
Jassids, sizes 12 20.
5. Floating Worms, small assortment of
deer-hair type inlight green, olive, tan, and yellow,
one-half to one and one half inches in length
6. Small assortment of midget terrestrials,
pupae and adults of midges and microcaddis, and mayfly
duns and spinners, sizes 18-28 3
7. Dave's Shrimp and Sowbug, sizes 16,
18
8. Red Squirrel Nymphs, sizes 16, 18
BOX NO. 5:Large
Dry Flies : These include grasshoppers, crickets,
caddie, adult stoneies, and other large drys. I use a
lightweight large-compartment box for these flies. I do
not routinely carry this box; bring it with me when I
know these flies are necessary.
1. Dave's Hopper, grey, gold, and
olive, sizes 4-12
2. Dave's Cricket, sizes 6 12
3. Dave's Stonefly Adult a. Darkstone,
sizes 2 6 b. Goldenstone sizes 4 8
4. Adult Buck Caddis, sizes 4, 6
5. Damselfly Adult a. dun wing/tan
body, size 8 b.dun wing bright-blue body, size 8 c.
black wing dark-green body, size 6
BOX NO. 6:
Skaters, Spiders, and Variants I use a small,
single compartment, durable, plastic box in which to
store these long-hackled, fragile flies. They all lay
flat in the box to preserve the hackle shape. I do not
routinely carry this box. It includes an assortment
(about two dozen) of dun, black grizzly, dun variants,
brown and cream hackle flies, sizes 1~16 and the
paracranefly series.
When I travel on extended trips I carry extra stocks of
these flies if I think they will be needed. Tying flies
on the road or at streamside is seldom easy or
particularly fun for me. However, if I feel this is
necessary here is how I prepare to do so.
If I travel in my camper, I load a tackle box that I use
as a portable fly-tying kit with tools and supplies.
(The tackle box I use is the Plano 777S box.) I carry
extra supplies or bulky materials in a separate bag or
another small box. If I fly to my destination, I usually
carry a fly tying setup that fits into a soft briefcase,
and carry extra materials in a locking plastic bag. (The
briefcase I use is made by Mark Pack.) A durable,
high-intensity, portable lamp and a vise that will work
on any flat surface are worth their weight in gold on
the road.
Over the years, most of the time I've been caught
without the right fly or absolutely needed to match an
important feeding situation, it has almost always
concerned flies of size 14 and smaller. Occurrences of
the smaller aquatic and terrestrial insects are the
least predictable, and so it is a good idea to prepare
for them as well as you can.
I do not tie flies at streamside. To me it is
frustrating, time consuming, and a real nightmare. If I
have to tie flies away from home, the table in my camper
or in a motel is about as close to rising trout in a
breezy stream that I will tie flies.
A well-conceived, conservative stock of flies, placed in
an orderly, workable fly-box system, can make any day of
trout fishing pure pleasure to experience. As I look
over my boxes, they reflect to me a past of pleasure and
a promise of a lot of wonderful fly-fishing ahead.
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