Why You Will Never See Generic Flies on Trout University

Why we at Trout University do not recommend the same flies that most of the fly shops, guides, books, magazine articles and other sources of information on fly fishing recommend? Often, when an angler refers to fly shops, guides, books, magazine articles and other sources of information to select the best fly pattern for a particular stream, the answer might be “Here is a Smoky Mountain fly pattern”, or a “Yellowstone National Park fly pattern” or a “White River fly pattern.” This implies that the fly is unique to a particular stream. However, their focus is 100% incorrect. Why, because there is no such thing as a Smoky Mountain fly pattern. Flies should imitate the actual food that trout eat and that includes insects, baitfish, and crustaceans, but these foods are very seldom, if ever, unique to a particular stream!

For example, if the term is "Smoky Mountain fly", is it intended to imitate a Yellow Sally? I'm sorry, but there are Yellow Sally stoneflies in most every trout stream in America and guess what? There's isn't any difference in any of them. A Quill Gordon mayfly that exists in the streams of the Smokies is the same epeorus pleuralis that exists in many, many other trout streams in the Mid-west and Eastern trout streams,

You might see a book with an eye catching title such as "Smoky Mountain Fly Patterns”, but in it you will not find much information about the insects or the other trout food that can be found in the Smokies. Indeed, only a very few of the many major insects that exist in the Smokies are commonly mentioned. Instead anglers and fly shop discussions center on fake flies rather than flies that imitate the insects and other things that the trout eat.

Generic old traditional flies such as Parachute Adams, Royal Wulffs, and Hare's Ear Nymphs as well as the locally created flies such as the Yellow Palmers or Smoky Mountain Forked Tails are often the main subjects of discussion. However, they are nice to talk about but they fail to serve well.

When you hear anglers or fly shops tell you "the fishing is good" what they really mean is the fish are feeding eagerly in the fast water and that most any fly resembling anything like an insect will catch some trout. When it is said "the fishing is slow" it indicates that the generic flies do not resemble anything that the trout are eating or that the water is very slow giving the trout time to examine and reject the fly.

The bottom line is that generic flies work basically in fast water only, and they work when the trout are feeding heavily, however they never perform as well as a fly that imitates the specific food that is the most available and the most plentiful at that time.

That is why we will never recommend a Smoky Mountain fly pattern, or a Yellowstone National Park fly pattern or a White River fly pattern or a pattern for any particular stream. What we will recommend is a “Perfect Fly” that will imitate a specific food that the trout are eating. By the way Perfect Flies are available right here at Trout University. Please check the great detail on these flies and see if you do not agree.