River Pattern Guide

Best Flies for Madison River

The Madison River is the crown jewel of Montana fly fishing and one of the most storied trout streams in the world. Born at the confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon rivers in the heart of Yellowstone...

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11 recommended patterns

Emerger

Klinkhammer Special

The curved-shank emerger that hangs in the film like the real thing.

Sizes 12–18

Midge

Thread Midge

Microscopic but mighty — the fly that matches the tiniest hatch.

Sizes 18–26

Dry Fly

Pale Morning Dun

The PMD pattern imitates one of the West's most important hatches — Ephemerella infrequens and E. in

Sizes 14–18

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

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

Dry Fly

Blue Dun

One of the oldest and most storied dry fly patterns in the history of fly fishing, dating back centu

Sizes #14–#18

Emerger

Film Critic

A low-profile emerger that sits right in the surface film, imitating a mayfly struggling to break fr

Sizes #16–#22

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