5 Best Hatches for New Fly Anglers

Whether it’s salmonfly, golden stone, or skwala, the arrival of Westcoast stoneflies are more than just insect hatches—they’re epic events. Ranging from one to three inches long, these massive bugs crawl out of the water to grow and dry their wings before taking flight. Stoneflies buzz around the river like mutant hummingbirds, pulling trout to the surface with all their ruckus.

Fishing a stonefly hatch can be as simple as tying on a large foam fly pattern and smacking it down on the water. This is especially true if you’re targeting trout in fast flowing streams or along the riffled shallows of a larger river. When stoneflies are in the air, trout get aggressive and will often hit flies as soon as they hit the water. This means you don’t have to be too picky about what your fly pattern so long as it has the basic shape and size of a stonefly.

Some of my favorite patterns for the stonefly hatch are the Chubby Chernobyl and Paulson’s Flutter Bug. Both flies are incredibly buoyant and are the perfect stonefly shape, making them ideal for mimicking a stonefly trying to get back in the air.

Hex hatches usually occur between late May and early July with the two-inch long mayflies appearing in almost any slow flow river or lake with a muddy bottom. Just like other mayfly species, they emerge on the surface of the water and then fly to bushes and trees along the bank where they shuck their skins and dry their wings before taking to the air in the late evening to breed. Hex hatches can be so large they’ll show up on doppler radar. Once the hex’s begin to breed they’ll fall onto the water to lay eggs and then die, where trout will rise up to gulp them down like pigs in an acorn patch.

For anglers on the East Coast, the Hexagenia is an entertaining and easy to fish hatch. Like stoneflies, these monstrous mayflies are the biggest bugs on the water and trout will rise to hit them. This hatch generally occurs in the late evening where the lack of light can cover rookie mistakes and fish are more than willing to bite. This makes the hex hatch a perfect storm for new fly anglers.

During the evening hex hatch, I prefer to use large, brightly colored fly patterns that ride high in the water so they’re easy to see in low light. Patterns like the Paradrake and the Ausable Parachute are ideal for this, but the fish aren’t too picky, and you can get away with just using attractor patterns like the White Wulff and PMX.

With over 1500 species spread across North America, caddis hatches are fantastic for new fly anglers because the bugs live almost everywhere trout live. Hatching at almost any and every time of day during the fishing season these tiny, moth-like insects are dependable because they draw trout to the surface no matter how or where you fish them.

Generally, caddis hatches begin with the insects swimming from the bottom of the river where they break the surface film and then immediately try to take flight. Depending on the species, adult caddis will either bounce along or skitter across the top of the water as they try to get some air beneath them, attracting the attention of hungry trout. This is good news for new anglers. You don’t have to worry about making perfect drifts or lining up on your target to get the trout to eat your fly.

There are as many caddis fly patterns as there are species of the insect itself, so I generally try to keep my fly selection simple. Larger, more buoyant patterns like the Elk Hair Caddis and Stimulator are very effective when fishing in faster water, while smaller more life-like patterns such as the Headlight Caddis and X Caddis work better in slower flows.

Part of what makes dry fly fishing so much fun is that it can give you a ton of memorable experiences. You see a trout rise, make a perfect cast in front of it, and then watch as it resurfaces to gulp down your fly. If that’s the type of classic action you’re looking for as a new fly angler, try fishing a drake hatch.

Whether they’re green, brown, yellow, or gray, drake hatches are one of the most iconic and easiest fishing hatches. For the most part, these medium sized mayflies emerge in medium to fast flowing rivers in the same areas every year, and trout know this.

At the first indication of the hatch, trout will move to the tail outs of long, slow flowing pools, staging in the shallows near the surface as they wait for the drakes to drift over them. Once the fish are in position, feeding becomes almost automatic and trout rise on que. As long as you drift your flies slowly through the same spot, you should fool a few.

When it comes to drake flies, it’s hard to beat the classic Parachute Adams. Just make sure you match the size and, in some cases, the color of your fly to whatever species of drake is hatching at the time. Generally, I’ll carry a menagerie of parachute patterns in different sizes and colors to make sure I’m covered.

While it’s not technically a hatch, grasshopper are nearly fool proof to fish. The T-bone steaks of the fly fishing world, grasshoppers can pull every trout from brookies to browns up and down both the East and West coast.

From midsummer to early fall, grasshoppers give new anglers plenty of opportunity to perfect their hopper fishing technique while catching plenty of fish.

For the most part, grasshoppers can be found along any river, lake, or pond where large amounts of grass and other green vegetation grows along the bank. The insects will climb out onto the ends of stems and sticks as they feed and then will either be blown or accidentally jump into the water. Once a grasshopper hits the water, their days are numbered as their splashing and twitching ring the dinner bell for every hungry trout in the area.

Fish hoppers by splashing them down close to the bank and then letting them float for a few seconds. Usually, this is all it takes to get a trout to respond, but you can also add small twitches to your fly by wiggling your rod to get a trout’s attention. I prefer to fish realistic grasshopper patterns made of foam such as the Hopper Grande and the Moorish Hopper, which float like a cork and look just like the real thing.

When you first start fly fishing, there’s a heck of a lot to figure out. From finding the right rod to choosing the right line, every step of the fly fishing learning curve can feel like you’re taking a series of hairpin turns on a gravel road at midnight. This is especially true when it comes to hatches. Start with these five and you can add to your book as you gain experience.