River Pattern Guide

Best Flies for Skagit River

Few rivers in North America carry the weight of legend that the Skagit River does. Flowing 150 miles from the glaciated peaks of the North Cascades to Puget Sound, the Skagit is the beating heart of w...

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12 recommended patterns

Glo Bug fly pattern
Egg

Glo Bug

When trout are gorging on eggs, nothing else comes close.

Sizes 10–16

Slumpbuster fly pattern
Streamer

Slumpbuster

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

Sizes 4–8

Circus Peanut fly pattern
Streamer

Circus Peanut

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

Sizes 2–6

Olive Woolly Bugger fly pattern
Streamer

Olive Woolly Bugger

The olive variant of the Woolly Bugger is specifically effective as a leech and damselfly nymph imit

Sizes 6–12

Kreelex fly pattern
Streamer

Kreelex

The Kreelex is a simple but flashy baitfish pattern made primarily of metallic lateral scale materia

Sizes 6–10

Autumn Splendor fly pattern
Streamer

Autumn Splendor

Mike Schmidt's Autumn Splendor is a balanced leech/baitfish pattern designed to be fished on a jig h

Sizes 8–12

Nuke Egg fly pattern
Egg

Nuke Egg

The Nuke Egg is a smaller, more translucent version of the Glo Bug, tied with McFlyFoam for a realis

Sizes 12–16

Y2K Bug fly pattern
Egg

Y2K Bug

The Y2K Bug features a bright center dot surrounded by a translucent veil of egg yarn, imitating a f

Sizes 10–14

Sucker Spawn fly pattern
Egg

Sucker Spawn

The Sucker Spawn imitates a diffuse cluster of eggs rather than a single egg, using loosely tied McF

Sizes 10–14

Blood Dot Egg fly pattern
Egg

Blood Dot Egg

A realistic egg pattern featuring a contrasting red or orange dot in the center of a pale egg body,

Sizes 10–14

Egg Pattern fly pattern
Egg

Egg Pattern

Simple yarn or chenille egg patterns imitate fish eggs drifting in the current during spawning seaso

Sizes 10–16

Meat Whistle fly pattern
Streamer

Meat Whistle

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

Sizes #2–#6