River Pattern Guide

Best Flies for Hiwassee River

The Hiwassee River in the Cherokee National Forest of southeastern Tennessee offers one of the most welcoming and productive tailwater fly fishing experiences in the entire Southern Appalachian region...

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11 recommended patterns

Nymph

Hare's Ear Nymph

Buggy, messy, and irresistible to every trout in the river.

Sizes 10–18

Nymph

Copper John

John Barr's heavy metal attractor — built to sink and designed to shine.

Sizes 12–18

Dry Fly

Henry's Fork Hopper

Mike Lawson's Henry's Fork Hopper is the standard foam-body grasshopper pattern for slick water. Unl

Sizes 8–12

Nymph

Twenty Incher

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

Sizes 4–8

Streamer

Muddler Minnow

Don Gapen's Muddler Minnow is one of fly fishing's most versatile patterns. Its spun deer hair head

Sizes 4–10

Emerger

BWO Loop Wing Emerger

A CDC loop wing emerger specifically tied to match Blue-Winged Olives. The looped CDC creates a visi

Sizes 18–22

Emerger

Last Chance Cripple

René Harrop's Last Chance Cripple imitates a mayfly that failed to fully emerge, trapped half-in, ha

Sizes 14–20

Terrestrial

Letort Cricket

Ed Shenk's Letort Cricket is a classic terrestrial designed for the legendary limestone streams of P

Sizes 10–14

Terrestrial

Parachute Hopper

A foam-bodied grasshopper with a parachute post that provides visibility in choppy water and doubles

Sizes 8–12

Terrestrial

Flying Ant

The Flying Ant pattern includes CDC or hackle-tip wings that distinguish it from standard ant patter

Sizes 14–18

Wet Fly

Black Spider

W.C. Stewart popularized this minimalist spider pattern in the 1850s, and it remains one of the most

Sizes #12–#18