Which fly should I start with?

A black Woolly Bugger in size 8 or 10. It looks like both a leech and a baitfish, and takes fish year-round in most put-and-take waters. If you have only one fly in the box, it should be that one.

Bright (orange, pink, chartreuse) works best on freshly stocked fish and in coloured water. In clear water and on fish that have been in a while, muted is better: black, olive and brown.

Not to get started. Streamers and nymphs do most of the work in put and take. Dry fly becomes interesting when you see fish rising and taking insects in the surface.

Different flies in different lakes?

No, more or less the same. A handful of proven patterns work across the country, with only small local variations. How you fish the fly matters more than where you are.

Flies for put and take – rainbow and brown trout

You do not need a box with a hundred patterns to catch fish in a put-and-take lake. A few reliable flies and a feel for when to change them take you further than most people think. The basic rule is simple: a streamer when fish are hunting or freshly stocked, and a nymph or pupa when they have grown fussier. The same handful of patterns works across the country.

Four fly types are enough

Learn to recognise these four and you understand most of what is in the box:

Streamer looks like a baitfish or a leech and is fished with a retrieve. Your best searching fly. More on streamer fishing.
Nymph looks like an insect larva under the surface and is fished slowly, often deep. See nymph fishing.
Pupa and buzzer look like hatching midge larvae and are fished near the surface, for fish taking small stuff.
Dry fly floats, and comes out when there is a clear hatch.

In practice streamers and nymphs do most of the work. Dry-fly fishing belongs more to the warmer half of the year, when insects hatch and fish start to rise.

Where the fish stand

Before you pick a fly, read the water. Rainbow trout like edges and drop-offs, inlets with fresh water, and the windward side where the surface is aired. On a warm day they go deeper and cooler; on a cool morning they can stand high and hunt in the surface. Putting the fly where the fish actually are matters more than the exact pattern.

Colour matters more than the exact pattern

Fish usually care more about colour and movement than a perfect copy. Two modes:

Freshly stocked fish or coloured water? Put on something that shows: orange, pink, chartreuse, flash.
Clear water and fish that have been in a while? Go muted: black, olive, brown.

A tip is to start dark and step up to a signal colour only if nothing happens.

How you change fly

Let the fish’s behaviour decide, not the clock. If the searching fly does nothing after ten to fifteen minutes of active fishing at different depths, make a deliberate change instead of just casting on. If fish chase but miss, try a size smaller. If they stand deep and passive, go to a heavier nymph and slow down. If they nose the surface without taking, try a pupa that sits almost still. One change at a time, so you know what made the difference.

Size

Stay around size 8 to 10 for streamers and nymphs. Smaller pupae and buzzers can go down toward 12 or 14 when fish are nosing the surface.

Patterns worth a place in the box

A black Woolly Bugger is the safe start. Montana Nymph takes over when fish stand deep and passive, and a Booby on a sinking line is the trick when nothing else works. Patterns by species: flies for rainbow trout. How you present them, and which fly rod you pick, we take under fly fishing.

Flies for put and take