Fly fishing can be a confusing, confounding, complicated activity. Even after you figure out which rod, and what kind of reel, and which line and leader you need, you’ll have to decide which fly to attach to your tippet.

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5 ies to get you by in Maine5 ies to get you by in Maine
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https://bangordailynews.com/2020/07/27/outdoors/dont-go-fishing-without-these-5-must-have…
John Holyoke
5 min read
Don't go fishing without these 5 must-have
flies
Fly fishing can be a confusing, confounding, complicated activity. Even after you figure out
which rod, and what kind of reel, and which line and leader you need, you’ll have to decide
which fly to attach to your tippet.
And there are thousands to choose from.
Don’t fret. Just remember: You’ll be learning about fly fishing for the rest of your life, and you’ll
never know it all. And all of us started somewhere.
Often I’m asked, “What if I just want to have a few flies on hand that will give me a reasonably
5 ies to get you by in Maine5 ies to get you by in Maine

2. Fly shing can be a confusing, confounding, complicated activity. Even after you gure out
which rod, and what kind of reel, and which line and leader you need, you’ll have to decide
which y to attach to your tippet.
And there are thousands to choose from.
Don’t fret. Just remember: You’ll be learning about y shing for the rest of your life, and
you’ll never know it all. And all of us started somewhere.
Often I’m asked, “What if I just want to have a few ies on hand that will give me a
reasonably good chance at catching whatever’s out there, no matter the species or the
season?”
Sounds like a pipe dream, but it’s really not. In fact, I’d feel con dent shing these ve ies
in nearly all conditions you’ll nd here in Maine, and I bet they’d work ne elsewhere as
well. Let’s call ’em “Five ies to get you by (until you learn how to match the hatch).”
First up is the venerable Gray Ghost, a streamer y invented by Rangeley’s Carrie Stevens
back in 1924. The y resembles a bait sh, and can be shed by casting out and stripping
the line back in briskly (like an injured smelt).

3. BDNOutdoorsEditorJohnHolyokelooksthroughhiscollectionoffliesinBangoronJuly23.Credit:Natalie
Williams/BDN
My second choice — the woolly bugger — is remarkably versatile, and just as easy to tie.
When I learned to tie my own ies, it was the rst one our instructors taught us. It looks
kind of like a leech, and will attract everything from trout to bass. Get one with a brass
conehead and it’ll sink a bit deeper.
If you’re shing for trout in Maine, you must have a few of Alvin Theriault’s maple syrup
ies < https://bangordailynews.com/2010/11/10/living/masters-of- y-tying-in-brewer/> in
your vest. Theriault is a retired game warden who lives in Stacyville, and he invented the y
so that his young daughter would have a pattern that she could tie and sell. She sold so

4. many of them, she put herself through college on the proceeds. And she wouldn’t have
sold that many if they didn’t catch sh. Period.
Maybe you don’t know if you want to sh a y that oats, or one that will attract sh by
darting below the surface. Maybe you need a muddler minnow. It’s made of densely
packed — “spun” is the correct term — deer hair that is very buoyant. But twitch the y
toward you and it’ll sink, then bob back above the water. It drives trout crazy. And bass.
And anything else you might be shing for.
Finally, there’s the classic Adams dry y, which is perfect for days when you see sh
feeding on the surface, but can’t gure out what they’re eating. The Adams isn’t a replica of
any speci c insect. Instead, it shares the characteristics of many di erent bugs, and can be
just di erent (and tasty) enough to fool a sh that has been feeding on something else.

5. BDNOutdoorsEditorJohnHolyokeexplainswhichfivefliesarehisfavoriteandwillgetyoustarted.Credit:
NatalieWilliams/BDN
Keep those ve ies close to hand, and I’ll bet you’ll be able to catch sh long before you
start thinking you’ve got this y shing game truly gured out. Good luck!
So, which ve ies would you include in your own must-have collection? Feel free to share
them in the comments below.

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7. John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.com
JOHNHOLYOKE
John Holyoke has been enjoying himself in Maine's great outdoors since he was a kid. Today, he's the
Outdoors editor for the BDN, a job that allows him to meet up with Maine outdoors enthusiasts in
their... MorebyJohnHolyoke<https://bangordailynews.com/author/john-holyoke/>
How to string up a y shing rodHow to string up a y shing rod