Know Your Flies

A fly’s name is useful only if it leads you to the right specimen. Compare the body, wing, bead, hook shape, body color and size. This section links to actual product photographs and uses the same names you see when ordering.

Identify a fly in your box

Open Identify the Flies in Your Box. Choose your kit edition before treating its printed card as an exact contents list. If the fly and the card disagree, compare the physical fly with its product photograph before ordering a replacement.

Look at the stage

Below the surface: Caddis Larva, Olive #14, is one example of a larval imitation. Through the water column: Caddis Pupa #14 represents a different caddis stage. On the surface: Elk Hair Caddis, Brown #16, is an adult dry. These are different flies and are not interchangeable names for the same component.

Callibaetis in this catalog is a dry fly. Do not label it a Callibaetis nymph. The pattern is currently listed in #14 and #16. Hook size does not provide a nymph’s weight or a dry’s carrying capacity.

Compare colors and profiles

Read Elk Hair Caddis: Color, Size, and Presentation, Stimulator vs. Elk Hair Caddis, or the Woolly Bugger color-and-size guide. Choose the guide for the fly you have rather than assuming all brown or yellow flies imitate the same food.

Replace the right fly

Once you know the exact pattern, color and size, check the individual fly listings for the corresponding Single option. A similar name or a kit-card label does not prove that every included fly has an identical loose replacement.

Compare the photographs and exact option labels on the actual listings: Caddis Larva, Olive #14, Caddis Pupa #14, Elk Hair Caddis, Brown #16, and Callibaetis #14. Check current availability separately from identity.

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Learn to Choose and Fish Trout Flies · Start Here · Rigs & Techniques · Rivers, Lakes & Seasons