River Pattern Guide

Best Flies for Salmon River

The Salmon River is Idaho in its purest form — 425 miles of wild, undammed river flowing through the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness, the largest roadless wilderness in the contiguous Unite...

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11 recommended patterns

Dry Fly

BWO Parachute

The essential hatch-matcher for every Blue-Winged Olive event.

Sizes 16–22

Dry Fly

Stimulator

The attractor dry fly that mimics everything big on the surface.

Sizes 8–14

Dry Fly

Sparkle Dun

Craig Mathews' Sparkle Dun combines a deer hair fan wing with a Z-lon trailing shuck, bridging the g

Sizes 14–20

Dry Fly

Humpy

The Humpy is an indestructible attractor dry fly built for fast pocket water. Its deer or elk hair s

Sizes 10–16

Dry Fly

March Brown

The March Brown imitates Rhithrogena morrisoni, one of the first significant mayfly hatches of the s

Sizes 12–14

Dry Fly

CDC Blue-Winged Olive

A CDC-winged BWO that rides perfectly in the surface film with no floatant needed. The natural oils

Sizes 18–22

Nymph

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

Nymph

Squirrel Nymph

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

Sizes 10–16

Terrestrial

Chernobyl Ant

The Chernobyl Ant is an oversized foam terrestrial pattern with rubber legs that creates a massive d

Sizes 6–12

Nymph

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

Emerger

Snowshoe Baetis Emerger

A purpose-built BWO emerger using snowshoe rabbit foot hair for buoyancy and a natural translucent a

Sizes #18–#22