Hey all, I am extremely new to fly fishing. I was given 2 boxes of flies and I am going through them and labeling my box before I head to the water. I am assuming this is a nymph / wet fly. However, I am not quite sure how to identify. I have been reading that dry flies are more fluffier and have larger wings and wet flies are more compact and usually have a weight/bead or copper wire. I just want to make sure I am identifying this correctly. Any tips on identifying you may have drop below as well please! Thank you in advance.
Posted by CheersMikey
2 Comments
If it’s got a bead, it’s a nymph. The bead helps it sink faster to get near the bottom of the river, where these bugs occur naturally and the fish usually sit. Looks like a golden stone pattern
That’s probably a golden stonefly nymph pattern.
So with flies there’s kinda three zones, floating, sinking and in the middle.
Dry flies float. Nymphs sink and are fished closer to the bottom. Then wet flies, emergers, and streamers are fished in the middle of the water column.
You’re right that a dry fly is puffier, which is what helps it float. Some are made with foam but most are just feathers that keep them on top of the water.
A bead head is a weight that helps the fly sink faster. So any fly with a bead head is going to be a nymph that’s fished lower in the water column.