Get these flies in your box! 

For anglers who are new to river fishing or transitioning from stillwater to river fishing. It can be quite daunting to know what flies you need and when to use them! Over the past few years I’ve made some slight changes to how many flies I carry in my box. At the end of a past season I looked at my fly box and realised I hadn’t used almost half of the flies in there! So now, my box often just a hand full of flies in different sizes and colours.

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Flies Phillippa Has In Her Box!

1. Caddis

I always have some form of Caddis in my fly box. It’s probably my most favourite fly to fish with, especially on warm summer evenings! When fishing it I pop a little bit of floatant in the elk hair wing and to entice a take sometimes give it a little skate across the slower guides on the river. Equally this is a fantastic fly to use for the “Duo” method. The duo method, or, Klink and Dink as It’s often referred too is a great searching tack tick. Simply tie on a sedge on a dropper and have a small nymph suspended below. This is great for fast rifflly water or when the fish aren’t showing where they’re hiding!

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2. The Griffiths Gnat

This fly has been a top producer for me so far this season, definitely my confidence fly! Especially good on fussy fish and fish that see a lot of angling pressure. These small size 18 and 20’s fished on a long leader in the summer can often be the difference between a good and bad day! Equally as good and fished the same is the Double Badger! These are must have flies for any serious river angler!

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3. Pheasant Tail Nymph 

When it comes to deploying a nymph for trout in the summer, which sometimes can produce some good sport! It’s hard for me to beat some form of Pheasant Tail Nymph. I like mine to have some but subtle flash or a hot spot! If the river is low I’ll sometimes just fish one fly on a euro nymph leader flicking the nymph upstream of me and watching the indicator for any sudden movement while it tumbles back towards me. If the river is higher due to rain, ill go to a two fly set up to make sure my flies are getting to the fish.

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4. Olives! 

During the summer season, Catch your self in the middle of a BWO hatch and you can be in for some serious fun! I always have, as most anglers do, some form of olive pattern to fish in these hatches. If you stay late on the river, after a warm day the spinner fall can be a spectacular event too!

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5. Parachute Dries

Having some Parachute dries in your box will always pay off. I’m particularly fond of olive Parachute flies as they also come in and imitate a spinner too! The same as the Griffiths Gnats we talked about above, fished on a long leader of around 14ft or longer come hot sunny days and low water.