River Pattern Guide

Best Flies for Gibbon River

The Gibbon River flows through one of the most iconic landscapes on Earth — Yellowstone National Park — offering fly anglers a rare combination of wild trout, breathtaking scenery, and strict catch-an...

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11 recommended patterns

Nymph

Perdigon

The fast-sinking competition nymph that changed Euro nymphing forever.

Sizes 14–22

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

Dry Fly

Olive Thorax Dun

Vince Marinaro's Thorax Dun design places the hackle at the center of the body rather than the head,

Sizes 16–20

Nymph

Quasimodo Pheasant Tail

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

Sizes 12–18

Nymph

Beadhead Caddis Pupa

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

Sizes 12–18

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

Terrestrial

Foam Ant

The Foam Ant creates the distinct two-hump silhouette of a real ant using closed-cell foam segments.

Sizes 14–20

Terrestrial

Flying Ant

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

Sizes 14–18

Nymph

Czech Nymph

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

Sizes #8–#14

Emerger

Film Critic

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

Sizes #16–#22