River Pattern Guide

Best Flies for Big Cottonwood Creek

Big Cottonwood Creek runs through one of the most dramatic canyons above Salt Lake City, dropping out of the Wasatch high country through Big Cottonwood Canyon before reaching the valley floor. The up...

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12 recommended patterns

Streamer

Sculpzilla

The sculpin slayer that big browns can't resist.

Sizes 4–10

Nymph

Prince Nymph

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

Sizes 10–18

Nymph

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

Nymph

Green Rock Worm

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

Sizes 12–16

Streamer

Slumpbuster

John Barr's Slumpbuster is a cone-headed pine squirrel strip streamer designed to imitate sculpin an

Sizes 4–8

Streamer

Sex Dungeon

Kelly Galloup's Sex Dungeon is a massive, articulated streamer designed to trigger predatory aggress

Sizes 2–6

Streamer

Circus Peanut

Russ Maddin's Circus Peanut is a dual-articulated streamer with a peanut-shaped foam head that gives

Sizes 2–6

Streamer

Double Bunny

The Double Bunny uses two rabbit strips — one on top, one on the bottom of the hook — to create a wi

Sizes 2–8

Terrestrial

Inchworm

A simple bright-green chenille or foam pattern that imitates the caterpillars and inchworms that dro

Sizes 10–14

Streamer

Barely Legal

Kelly Galloup designed this articulated streamer to push water and create maximum vibration on the s

Sizes #2–#6

Streamer

Meat Whistle

A compact, heavily-weighted sculpin imitation that rides hook-point-up to bounce along rocky bottoms

Sizes #2–#6

Streamer

Home Invader

A long, articulated streamer built on a Fish Skull head that creates an exaggerated swimming action

Sizes #1/0–#4