What people tie, and what it's standing in for.

Mayfly · nymph

Hook12–22

A slender swimming or clinging mayfly nymph with a dark wing case.

Dead-drifted near the bottom; the copper rib and thorax bulge read as gills and wing pads.

• pheasant brown
• copper

Mayfly · nymphgeneralist

Hook10–18

A generalised scruffy nymph — mayfly first, but deliberately unspecific.

Dead-drifted. The picked-out guard hairs suggest legs and gills without committing to a species.

• hare's mask
• gold

Mayfly · subimagogeneralist

Hook12–22

A dun sitting in the film with upright wings — the most non-committal mayfly dry there is.

Dead-drifted on the surface. The parachute post sits the body in the film rather than on it.

• dun grey
• grizzle

Mayfly · subimago

Hook14–22

A dun flush in the film with a deer-hair wing standing in for a drying wing.

Dead-drifted in flat water where a hackled fly's footprint is too heavy.

• olive
• dun
• cream

Mayfly · subimago

Hook16–24

A mayfly caught between nymph and dun, still trailing its shuck.

Fished in or just under the film. Deliberately ambiguous about which stage it is.

• grey
• olive
• black

Mayfly · spinner

Hook14–22

A dead spinner lying flush with wings flat to both sides.

Dead-drifted at dusk in slack seams and eddies where spent insects collect.

• rusty brown
• olive
• clear

Caddisfly · adult

Hook12–20

An adult caddis at rest with its wing tented over the body.

Dead-drifted, or twitched and skated to suggest egg-laying movement.

• tan
• olive
• brown

Caddisfly · pupa

Hook14–20

An emerging caddis still hung in its trailing shuck.

Fished in the film. The trailing shuck is the whole point of the pattern.

• olive
• tan

Caddisfly · pupa

Hook12–18

A rising caddis pupa carrying a gas bubble under its pupal skin.

Swung or lifted through the last of the water column rather than dead-drifted.

• olive
• amber
• brown

Caddisfly · larva

Hook12–18

A free-living caddis larva tumbling loose in the drift.

Dead-drifted on the bottom. Tied curved to suggest the larva's natural hook shape.

• bright green
• olive

Caddisfly · larva

Hook10–16

A cased caddis larva with head and legs protruding from the case.

Dead-drifted heavy and low. The dubbed case and bright thorax are the two halves of the idea.

• hare's mask
• green
• amber

Stonefly · nymph

Hook4–12

A large stonefly nymph crawling among cobble.

Dead-drifted deep and slow. Weight matters more than profile because the natural does not swim.

• black
• brown
• coffee

Stonefly · nymphgeneralist

Hook8–14

A medium stonefly nymph, with enough scruff to double as a large mayfly nymph.

Dead-drifted as an anchor fly. Deliberately broad in what it suggests.

• brown
• peacock
• gold

Stonefly · adult

Hook6–14

An adult stonefly on the surface with wings held flat along the body.

Dead-drifted or skittered against the bank where adults fall in.

• orange
• yellow
• gold

Stonefly · adult

Hook14–18

One of the small dark winter stoneflies.

Dead-drifted tight to the bank on cold bright days.

• black
• dark dun

Midge (non-biting) · larva

Hook16–24

A chironomid larva — thread body, wire rib, bead head, nothing else.

Dead-drifted deep, often as the trailing fly. Its whole argument is size and slimness.

• black
• red
• olive
• silver

Midge (non-biting) · larva

Hook16–22

A haemoglobin-bearing chironomid larva from low-oxygen sediment.

Dead-drifted near the bottom, particularly in slow silted water.

• blood red
• claret

Midge (non-biting) · adult

Hook18–24

A cluster of adult midges rafted together on the film, more than a single fly.

Dead-drifted on flat water. Reads as a mass rather than an individual.

• peacock
• grizzle

Midge (non-biting) · pupa

Hook18–24

A midge pupa hanging vertically under the film with a pale gill tuft.

Fished in the surface film, static. The hang is the behaviour being imitated.

• grey
• black
• white

Hellgrammite · larva

Hook2–8

A large dark aquatic larva dislodged from under a rock.

Fished deep and slow along the bottom, or dead-drifted then swung up at the end.

• black
• dark olive
• brown

Scud / Amphipod · larva

Hook12–18

A freshwater amphipod — a crustacean, not an insect and not a hatch.

Dead-drifted or twitched through weed and leaf pack. Tied curved, with a shellback over the top.

• olive
• grey
• tan
• orange