Trout

Morrish Mouse fly pattern for Alaska rainbow fishing A mouse pattern stays on top in Alaska when three details are right: a continuous strip of 2mm closed-cell foam runs from tail to head as the underbody, the deer hair is packed tight with GSP thread and a hair packer, and the rabbit zonker tail has the fur trimmed off the strip except for a small tuft at...

Screenshot from "How to mend your fly line" Most anglers fishing #16–#18 Sulphurs to selective June trout need roughly four to five feet of usable slack per drift, and the bulk of it should land with the cast rather than get mended in afterward. A reach mend produces about eighteen inches of slack; a George Harvey leader thrown with a checked cast...

The best wet wading setup for 2026 is a dedicated low-cut boot sized for a bare foot, a 2.5–3.5mm neoprene sock with an integrated gravel guard, and no aftermarket guard at all — total cost roughly $165 at the value sweet spot, $340–$365 at the mainstream tier. For most anglers, the trouble is volume rather than build quality — repurposing a...

The Western cicada fly that consistently catches trout on the Green River below Flaming Gorge is a black, slim, flush-riding pattern in size #8 — built from two stacked 2 mm sheets of black closed-cell foam, an organza or Zelon wing in dun/smoke, and subdued ginger-and-black rubber legs. That recipe matches the dominant natural, Platypedia putnami, far...

After the Salmonfly hatch moves through a Western river, two stoneflies — the Golden Stone (Hesperoperla pacifica) and the Yellow Sally complex (Isoperla and chloroperlids like Sweltsa) — continue to drive trout to the surface for three to five weeks. From late June through mid-July, Golden Stone dries in #8–12 and Yellow Sally patterns in #14–1...

Screenshot from HEX: An Unforgettable Hatch The 2026 Hexagenia hatch will peak on Michigan's Au Sable mainstream the last week of June through the first few days of July, with the Pere Marquette running roughly a week earlier and Wisconsin's Bois Brule and Wolf finishing late June through mid-July. Fish the spinner fall at 10:00 to 10:30 p.m., not just the...

Rainbow that has taken a tiny spinner imitation during a spinner fall | image from "How to Fish a Spinner Fall, Part 6: The Approach" by Orvis and Dave and Amelia Jensen A #14 Rusty Spinner on 6X, fished flush in the film at 8:45 p.m. when the air is 67°F and the wind has finally dropped — that is the solid May recipe that wins more big eastern trout...

photo by nunezimage A 3-weight fly rod is the right tool for most May small-stream trout fishing because it handles the short-range casts, tight-canopy deliveries, and light tippet these waters demand — and Yellowstone Angler's 2025 shootout confirmed the shift by scoring 56 3-weight rods specifically at 20 to 40 feet. For May, the best all-around choice...

Fly fishing on the Madison River, Yellowstone Park | photo by goodluz Three caddis dry fly patterns — Elk Hair Caddis, X-Caddis, and CDC & Elk — cover the three feeding windows that define May caddis fishing across the country: high-riding adults, emergers trapped in the film, and the low-profile silhouette pressured trout require. Each pattern was...

Eastern green drake | photo by Kevin Hoss The Pennsylvania Green Drake hatch runs from roughly May 15 through June 5 across the state's major freestones — Penns Creek, Slate Run, and Fishing Creek in Clinton County — with a reach-scale window of 7 to 10 days at any given section of river. Imitations are tied on sizes 8 to 10, emergence often extends...