Top 5 Salmonfly Dries

Salmonflies have officially been spotted on the upper Madison, here are the best salmonfly dries from our Bozeman fly shop.

The time for Salmonflies in SW Montana is short-lived and also generally coincides with high water. We are now in the very front end of the hatch here in Bozeman and water is dropping. This means that fishing with these giant orange, aquatic insect patterns around our rivers will be MEGA this year. Now that the hatch is on, it is time to prepare in case you hit the hatch just right and find yourself amidst excellent fly fishing with huge foam flies. Our most productive and favorite salmonfly patterns will help you catch plenty of fish during this popular aquatic insect hatch.

Henry's Fork Foam Stone

Perfectly colored dubbing, high floating, and easy to see, this modified chubby is one of the best salmonfly representations available. Fish don't shy from this pattern and when it is aggressively slapped on the surface of the water fish come sprinting to chow.

Morningwood Special

The Morningwood Special is not as easy to see but rides low in the water making fish eager to go up and eat it. This pattern is a little bit smaller than most patterns making it slightly easier to cast right next to the bank than some of the others. It floats well enough to hold up smaller nymphs but does not excel with larger subsurface patterns.

Purple Chubby Chernobyl

When nothing else seems to be working, a purple Chubby Chernobyl can be the answer. During the salmonfly hatch, this fly in sizes #8 and #10 can bring fish to the surface even when they are not rising to natural bugs. Purple seems to be one of the most effective colors to entice trout here in Montana. Easy to see, high floating, and great for adding a dropper makes the purple Chubby one of our all time favorite patterns when big stoneflies are hatching.

Salmonfly Blackout Stone

The Salmonfly Blackout Stone has a CDC underwing that fish go crazy to eat. Having a black body is benficial when every other angler on the river is tossing some huge bright orange fly. Sometimes a small change up like this can make all of the difference to help catch more fish. The orange foam on top is a nice visual addition for picking up the fly in variable lighting conditions.

Fluttering Stone

The Salmonfly Fluttering Stone has everything you want in a salmon fly dry fly. It is leggy, has a big natural colored body that floats real high with a fluorescent orange hot spot on it's back for picking it out on the water. It's floatability also allows an angler to drop pretty good sized nymph below it for those sneaky fish that aren't willing to rise during the salmon fly hatch.

Now that we are seeing salmonflies it won't be long until the bins are empty. Stock up on all stonefly dry fly patterns at our Bozeman fly shop before the hatch hits and we sell out!