Fly Library

Nymphs

Nymphs imitate the subsurface larval and pupal stages of aquatic insects where trout feed roughly 80% of the time. Mastering nymph fishing is the fastest path to consistent success on any trout stream.

68 patterns in this category

mayfly nymphscaddis larvae

Flashback Hare's Ear

The Flashback variant adds a strip of pearl tinsel over the wing case of the classic Hare's Ear, pro

Sizes #12–#18

Soft Hackle Carrot

A hare's-ear-bodied nymph with a fluorescent-orange Glo Brite rib, CDC hackle, and a shrimp-pink ice

Sizes #12–#18

caddis pupamayfly nymph

stonefly nymphscaddis larvae

Squirrel Nymph

Dave Whitlock's Squirrel Nymph uses fox squirrel body hair and tail as dubbing for a buggy, all-purp

Sizes #10–#16

caddis pupaeemerging caddis

Beadhead Caddis Pupa

This simple caddis pupa imitation features a dubbed body with a contrasting thorax and a soft hackle

Sizes #12–#18

Pheasant Tail

Sawyer style, copper wire. Works everywhere, every time.

Sizes #14–#18

scudsfreshwater shrimp

Scud

The Scud imitates Gammarus and Hyalella amphipods — crustaceans that thrive in weed beds on tailwate

Sizes #12–#18

Hares Ear

Hares Ear — placeholder canonical promoted from a personal pattern. Fill in details via the admin ed

Sizes #16–#16

caddis larvaecrane fly larvae

Mop Fly

The Mop Fly — made from a strip of chenille mop material on a jig hook — is the most controversial a

Sizes #10–#14

stonefly nymphsattractor

Prince Nymph

Doug Prince's attractor nymph combines peacock herl, brown hackle, goose biot wings and tail in a pa

Sizes #10–#18

caddis larvaecrane fly larvae

Walt's Worm

Walt Young's deceptively simple nymph uses hare's ear dubbing on a curved hook to imitate caddis lar

Sizes #12–#16

aquatic wormscrane fly larvae

Squirmy Wormy

A controversial but devastatingly effective pattern using a squiggly silicone body to imitate aquati

Sizes #10–#14

caddis larvaegeneral attractor

Blowtorch

A flashy attractor nymph that combines a bright hot spot with a dark body to create maximum contrast

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphbaetis

Super Simple Pheasant Tail

Devin Olsen's stripped-down pheasant tail jig — hook, bead, thread, tail, body. No rib, no thorax, n

Sizes #16–#18

Egan's GTi Caddis

A weighted Hydropsychidae (net-builder) caddis larva with a contrasting shellback, designed around H

Sizes #10–#14

caddis larvahydropsyche

Rhyacophila caddis larvaegreen rock worms

Green Rock Worm

The Green Rock Worm imitates free-living Rhyacophila caddis larvae — the bright green caterpillar-li

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphscaddis larvae

Hare's Ear Nymph

The Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear is the buggiest, most imitative general nymph ever devised. The rough, sp

Sizes #10–#18

Lickety Split

A split-case Baetis emerger with an Ice Dub body, black holographic tinsel wingcase, and pink foam u

Sizes #14–#18

baetis emergermayfly emerger

Sexy Walts

Sexy Walts — placeholder canonical promoted from a personal pattern. Fill in details via the admin e

Sizes #14–#20

mayfly nymphsBWO nymphs

Jig Pheasant Tail

The jig-hook version of the Pheasant Tail Nymph rides point-up to reduce snags and fishes perfectly

Sizes #14–#20

caddis larvacranefly

Mike Komara's Walt's Worm

Mike Komara's take on the classic Walt's Worm — squirrel dubbing body, pearlescent tinsel rib, slott

Sizes #14–#20

Egan's Tungsten Surveyor

A dense, fast-sinking hybrid: the classic Hare's Ear silhouette built with the Rainbow Warrior's tra

Sizes #14–#18

mayfly nymphsow bug

ZebraGon

A smooth-bodied mayfly/zebra-midge/perdigon hybrid with silver wire rib, black nail-polish wingcase,

Sizes #14–#18

midge pupamayfly nymph

Egan's Thread Frenchie

A thread-bodied, UV-resin-coated jig nymph that captures the Frenchie silhouette without fragile phe

Sizes #14–#18

mayfly nymphmidge pupa

baetis nymphsPMD nymphs

CDC Pheasant Tail

A refined variation of the Pheasant Tail Nymph that replaces the wing case with a CDC feather puff f

Sizes #16–#20

Silver Bullet Baetis

A slim, drab-toned, resin-coated mayfly nymph designed for picky tailwater fish. No hot spot, no fla

Sizes #14–#18

baetis nymphmayfly nymph

France Fly

France Fly — placeholder canonical promoted from a personal pattern. Fill in details via the admin e

Sizes #14–#18

mayfly nymphssmall stonefly nymphs

Deep Sparrow Nymph

A heavy tungsten jig nymph with a dubbed body and CDC collar that imitates a range of small mayfly n

Sizes #14–#18

caddis larvaemayfly nymphs

Iron Lotus

A modern Czech nymph with a woven body, tungsten bead, and hot spot collar. Built for heavy Euro nym

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphsbaetis

Surveyor

A modern Euro nymphing staple that blends the best elements of the Pheasant Tail and Frenchie into o

Sizes #14–#18

Jack Daniels

one of Old Dominion Trout Bum's flies.

Sizes #14–#18

stonefly nymphssalmonfly nymphs

Pat's Rubber Legs

Pat's Rubber Legs is a large, heavily weighted stonefly nymph pattern with rubber legs that pulse an

Sizes #4–#10

aquatic wormsTubifex worms

San Juan Worm

The San Juan Worm is the most controversial and most effective simple fly in the game. A tuft of Ult

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphsstonefly nymphs

Copper John

The Copper John is a heavy, flashy attractor nymph that sinks like a rock and catches fish like a dr

Sizes #12–#18

Rowley's PW Nymph

A Polish-woven free-living caddis larva with two-color embroidery floss bodies (Rusty Brown top / Ye

Sizes #10–#12

caddis larvafree-living caddis

caddis larvaescuds

Czech Nymph

The pattern that launched the tight-line nymphing revolution. Developed by Czech competition anglers

Sizes #8–#14

Eggstasy Yellow

Egg pattern I love.

Sizes #14–#16

Mayday Mayfly

A brown holographic-tinsel-bodied mayfly nymph with a hot orange wire rib and Simi Seal thorax. Insp

Sizes #14–#18

mayfly nymphattractor

Rowley Stone

A large stonefly nymph with Black Goose biot tail, dark brown Net Back foil abdomen, Semi Seal bronz

Sizes #6–#10

stonefly nymphgolden stone

mayfly nymphsgeneral attractor

Jig Perdigon

A slick, heavily-weighted Spanish competition nymph designed to sink fast through the water column o

Sizes #14–#20

sow bugsaquatic isopods

Sow Bug

The Sow Bug (or aquatic isopod) imitation is a flat-profiled, segmented nymph that imitates the tiny

Sizes #14–#18

Baetis nymphssmall mayfly nymphs

Juju Baetis

Charlie Craven's Juju Baetis is a sleek, modern nymph that imitates tiny Baetis mayfly nymphs with d

Sizes #18–#22

caddis larvaemayfly nymphs

Tungsten Torpedo

A heavy, streamlined Euro nymph with a smooth thread body under UV resin and a large tungsten bead.

Sizes #10–#14

caddis larvaescuds

Sexy Walt's Worm

A modernized version of Walt's Worm with a UV dubbing body and a glass bead for subtle weight and tr

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphscaddis pupae

Lightning Bug

The Lightning Bug is a flashy attractor nymph with a pearl tinsel body and tungsten bead that catche

Sizes #14–#18

caddis pupaegeneral attractor

Duracell Jig

A hot-spotted attractor nymph that has dominated European fly fishing competitions for over a decade

Sizes #12–#16

Stone Pony

Stone Pony — placeholder canonical promoted from a personal pattern. Fill in details via the admin e

Sizes #14–#14

midge pupaemayfly nymphs

Rainbow Warrior

Lance Egan's Rainbow Warrior is a flashy midge/mayfly crossover pattern with a pearl Mylar body, red

Sizes #16–#22

Egan's Rainbow Warrior Perdigon

A dense, UV-coated perdigon that translates the Rainbow Warrior's color palette — pearl body, red co

Sizes #16–#20

mayfly nymphmidge pupa

Fluorescent Surprise Perdigon

Fluorescent Surprise Perdigon — placeholder canonical promoted from a personal pattern. Fill in det

Sizes #14–#24

CDC Pheasant Tail Pink

Variation of Roza’s Pink PT

Sizes #14–#14

Silver Bullet

Silver Bullet — placeholder canonical promoted from a personal pattern. Fill in details via the admi

Sizes #14–#20

stonefly nymphslarge aquatic insects

Twenty Incher

The Twenty Incher is a large, heavily weighted stonefly nymph with rubber legs and a chenille body.

Sizes #4–#8

mayfly nymphsBWO nymphs

Frenchie

The Frenchie is the quintessential Euro nymph — a Pheasant Tail variation with a fluorescent hot spo

Sizes #12–#20

Egan's Iron Lotus

A sleek, fast-sinking mayfly nymph with a white-ribbed olive thread body, peacock thorax, black flas

Sizes #14–#18

baetis nymphpmd nymph

baetis nymphmayfly nymph

Quilldigon

A dense perdigon nymph with a Polish Quill segmented body, pearl Sulky tag, and black-nail-polish wi

Sizes #14–#20

Pliva Perdigon

A slim olive-body perdigon with chartreuse power-thread rib, fl. orange hot spot, black nail-polish

Sizes #14–#20

baetis nymphpmd nymph

mayfly nymphbaetis

Roza's Pink Pheasant Tail

Luboš Roza's pink-headed take on the pheasant tail — a euro nymphing point fly with a metallic pink

Sizes #12–#18

Egan's Red Dart

An attractor nymph that merges the Red Tag's tail with the Prince Nymph's soft-hackle collar, finish

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphattractor

attractormayfly nymph

Lite Brite Perdigon

A smooth-bodied perdigon nymph built with Krystal Flash for a flashy attractor counterpart to the Qu

Sizes #14–#20

mayfly nymphscaddis pupae

Perdigon

The Perdigon is a sleek, heavy, UV-resin-coated nymph designed for one purpose: getting to the botto

Sizes #14–#22

small mayfly nymphsBaetis nymphs

Micro Mayfly

A tiny, sparse nymph tied on a barbless jig hook that imitates the smallest mayfly nymphs in the dri

Sizes #18–#24

mayfly nymphsscuds

Quasimodo Pheasant Tail

A Czech-style Pheasant Tail variation tied on a curved scud hook with a pronounced hump-back profile

Sizes #12–#18

caddis pupaeemerging mayflies

Partridge and Orange

The Partridge and Orange is a traditional soft-hackle wet fly dating back centuries on English river

Sizes #12–#16

mayfly nymphsBWO nymphs

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Frank Sawyer's Pheasant Tail Nymph is one of the most widely fished subsurface patterns in the world

Sizes #12–#20

caddis larvaestonefly nymphs

Polish Woven Nymph

The Polish Woven Nymph features a two-tone woven body that creates a durable, segmented abdomen rese

Sizes #10–#16

mayfly nymphscaddis larvae

Tungsten Jig Hares Ear

The classic Hares Ear profile reimagined on a modern jig hook with a heavy tungsten bead for Euro ny

Sizes #12–#18

mayfly nymphscaddis larvae

Two Bit Hooker

A hot-collared jig nymph that combines a wire body with a fluorescent dubbing collar for a slim, fas

Sizes #14–#18

mayfly nymphcaddis pupa

Tungsten Soft Hackle Hare's Ear

Old Dominion Trout Bum's tungsten-bead jig take on the soft hackle hare's ear — a euro-style emerger

Sizes #14–#18