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Your first Colorado fly box: 10 flies that cover most days
You don't need 400 flies. These ten, in the right sizes, will catch trout on most Colorado water most of the year.
Walk into any fly shop and the bins go on forever. Here's the short list we'd hand a friend who's just starting out in Colorado. Buy two or three of each in the sizes listed, and you'll be covered for most days.
Dry flies
- Parachute Adams, size 14 to 18. The all-purpose mayfly. When you don't know what's hatching, start here.
- Elk Hair Caddis, size 14 to 16. Floats like a cork and imitates the caddis that hatch spring through fall.
- Stimulator, size 10 to 12. Big and buoyant for summer stoneflies, hoppers, and holding up a dropper.
- Olive parachute, size 18 to 20. For spring and fall olive hatches.
Nymphs
- Beadhead Pheasant Tail, size 16 to 18. Looks like a dozen different mayfly nymphs. If you can only carry one nymph, carry this.
- Copper John, size 16. Heavy and flashy. Use it as the top fly to get a smaller nymph down.
- Zebra Midge, size 18 to 22. The tailwater fly. Black or red.
- RS2, size 20. A sparse emerger that works for both midges and olives.
- San Juan Worm, size 12. Not pretty, but deadly after rain or a flow change.
Streamer
- Woolly Bugger, size 8, olive or black. When the water is high or off-color, swing or strip one through the deeper runs.
The rest of the kit
Add tippet in 4X, 5X and 6X, a few indicators, a pack of small split shot, floatant for your dries, and nippers. Keep it all in one slim box so it actually comes with you.
