• Shop
    • Fly Assortments
    • Fishing Flies
    • Balance Fly Leader
    • Fly Box
  • Courses
    • Entomology Course
    • Top Trout Flies Course
    • Craft Your Fly Box Course
  • Memberships
    • River Explorer Pro
    • Fly Explorer Pro
  • Free Guides
    • Colorado Streamflow Reports
    • River Explorer Free
  • Login
  • My Account
    • Craft Your Fly Box Course
    • Top Trout Flies Course
    • Entomology Course
    • River Explorer Pro
    • Fly Explorer Pro
    • My Profile
    • Change Password
    • Your Coupons
    • Checkout
  • Contact
0
Your cart is empty. Go to Shop.

Fly Explorer Pro

Find A Pattern| Tie Better Flies | Catch More Fish

Only $3/month
 (Paid Annually)

Become an Explorer!
 Cancel Anytime

Fly Explorer Membership

Over 450+ Patterns to Learn

  • Explore and Learn 450+ Patterns
  • Patterns for All Species on the Fly
  • Integrated Entomology Info for Each Pattern
  • Tying Recipes, Substitutions and More
  • Expert Fishing Tips on Each Pattern
  • and More!

Only $3/month
 (Paid Annually)

BECOME AN EXPLORER

Cancel Anytime

Click Here for Free Sample

*Accessible from any device with internet*

How We Help You Find the Perfect Pattern

Use Our Fly-Tying-Specific Filters to Find Your Perfect Adventure

Whether you are a beginner tyer looking for some simple patterns to master, or a skilled tyer looking for new patterns for the upcoming hatch, the Fly Explorer is your perfect companion.  The magic of the Fly explorer is we help you find the right patterns that meet your goals saving you valuable time. Don’t spend hours searching youtube videos for a pattern you need.  Instead, use the fly explorer to quickly narrow down the best videos and pattern content to help you tie better flies and save you time.

We have the most fly-tying specific filters of any fly tying tool as it was designed by fly fishermen, for fly fishermen. See a list of our filters below that will give you the best results for your next night at the vise.

Click on any of the filters below to learn more about them:
  • STAGE

    Use the stage filter to narrow down dry flies, emergers, nymphs, spinners stages of insects to quickly filter out the patterns you don’t want and let you focus on the patterns that you do.

  • INSECT TYPE

    If you aren’t and entomology expert, that’s ok!  Our filters help you learn what the patterns you tie are imitating by allowing you to filter by insect type. With over 17 options, you can quickly find mayfly patterns or stonefly patterns with a click of a button.  

    You can mix and match too to find all mayfly dry flies (using the stage filter) or just stonefly nymphs.  You can even learn when you put in stonefly emerger that nothing shows up (because stoneflies emerge on the banks so fishermen don’t imitate the emergence as we do in other insects.) 

  • WATER CATEGORY

    Our fly explorer covers all types of water including saltwater, cold water and warm water.  We have patterns for bass, tarpon, bonefish, steelhead, salmon and more.  Use this filter in conjunction with fish species to get really focused for your next adventure.

  • BUG SPECIES

    For tyers looking to imitate a specific mayfly like a blue wing olive, you can use this filter to find patterns that imitate BWOs with a click of the button.  

    Example:  Combine the filters to get really dialed in.  You can filter blue wing olives in the bug species and then use the stages to select nymphs and emergers so you are only tying sub-surface BWO imitations.  Then you can go a step further and filter by difficulty so you’re left with some great BWO nymph and emerger patterns that fit your skill level. Are you seeing the sweetness now? 

  • PATTERN CATEGORY

    Read our article on the four kinds of fishing flies to learn more, but fly patterns are grouped into categories based on the strategy used when tying the fly.  All patterns fit into the following categories:

    • Search:  Looks like a lot of bugs but not much like any specific bug
    • Impressionistic: Looks like a specific order of insect usually, and covers a wide range of species (blend between search and imitative)
    • Attractor: Looks like nothing and is often bright and flashy to attract fish to eat
    • Imitative: Looks like a single insect type, stage and species for the most part.  (A golden stone, blue wing olive nymph etc)
  • BY SEASONS

    If you missed the 2nd grade, there are four seasons.  This is extremely important to filter however when tying flies, as some patterns work better than others in different seasons.  If it’s winter, you don’t want to see top dry flies in summer, it isn’t what you want to tie and it will just depress you as you tie your size #24 midges all evening in sub-freezing temps… 

  • BY MONTH

    We highlight several patterns each month that are most productive during those months in the US (flip the months upside down if you’re in the southern hemisphere).

    This is a great filter if you’re looking to see a variety of flies to tie for the current month or for upcoming months related to your future fishing trip.  

  • BY REGION

    Not all regions have the same insects and some regions have a higher importance on certain species and bugs certain times of year.  The regions filter helps you get even more specific to your area allowing you to be detailed in your tying suggestions.

  • WATER TYPE

    Fishing rivers, or fishing lakes? Patterns change quite a bit between the two at times so having rivers and lakes set up as a filter helps you find results like:

    The best flies to tie for lakes in summer in the west region, or the best flies for rivers that are imitative and easy to tie.  The possibilities are endless and always useful for your specific intentions.

  • FISH SPECIES

    Whatever your target, we have some good patterns waiting for you:

    We have more than just trout patterns on the fly explorer.  We include good patterns for the following:

    • Trout
    • Bass (smallmouth and largemouth)
    • Panfish
    • Carp (common and grassies)
    • Steelhead
    • Salmon
    • Bonefish
    • Even Whitefish! 
    • and more!
  • DIFFICULTY

    This is one of our most helpful features.  Nothing is worse than finding a great pattern on youtube, buying all the materials for it and sitting down to tie it thinking it isn’t that hard, only to get a franken-fly instead of the desired result.

    Filter patterns based on your skill to make sure you can tie the patterns you set out to tie. 

    We have beginner, intermediate and advanced as options and you can select more than one to include both beginner and intermediate, or leave it blank to include all three. 

  • TIME TO TIE

    Know the time you need to invest before you tie.  This can help you decide on how many flies you can expect to tie in an hour once you get a good handle on the pattern.  This is really a good tool to have in conjunction with tying difficulty. 

    For beginners, use the beginner filter and the < 1 Minute filter to find super easy beginner patterns that build a solid box and solid flies right from the start. 

Filter Examples

You can mix and match these filters as much or as little as you want to get your desired results.

Fast Beginner Patterns

You can use the difficulty filter (set to easy) and the time to tie filter (set to <1 Minute and 1-3 Minutes) to find quick patterns that are easy for beginners to tie. 

PMD Summer Hatch

Use the bug species filter (set to PMD i.e pale morning dun) and then set the stage to dry flies and emergers to get all the best patterns for PMD hatches.  

Budget Friendly

At the top of the filter row, there is a “quick search” and one of my favorites is the “budget friendly” search filter that helps you find patterns that work great, but don’t break the bank.

Only $3/month
(Paid Annually)

Become an Explorer!
 Cancel Anytime

How We Help You Master Each Pattern

We’re more than just tying videos.  Though a great resource, there are a lot of unanswered questions in the free tying videos.  We fill in the blanks with a comprehensive set of information on each of our 450+ patterns on the fly explorer:

Key Benefits

Learn the top reasons to tie this pattern

Material Substitutions

Learn what materials can be switched on each pattern

Fishing Tips

Learn some expert tips on fishing each pattern to maximize your success.

Complete Tying Video

How to instruction from the best in the biz

Variations Options

There are many ways to tie each pattern, learn the best variations on each pattern

Seasonal Insect Info

Learn seasonal sizes, colors, hatch times and stages of the insects that pattern imitates.  A wealth of knowledge to digest here.

Tying Recipes

Step by step list of materials for each pattern

Tying Gallery

See pictures of other members results and gain inspiration 

Drink Pairings

I know very few tyers who don’t have a favorite beverage while tying.  We have included top drink pairings with each pattern.  (Use this filter to mix it up!) 

Only $3/month
(Paid Annually)

Become an Explorer!
 Cancel Anytime

Save & Favorite Your Patterns

Revisit the patterns you find in the filter results to build a tying list.

Find a Pattern

 

Find-a-Pattern

Favorite That Pattern

 

Favorite-a-Pattern copy

View Your Favorites

 

Favorites-View

Only $3/month
(Paid Annually)

Become an Explorer!
 Cancel Anytime

See a Sample of Our Fly Explorer Content

Smokejumper

” Fooling Picky Trout Since 1943 “

Save & Favorite Your Rivers

Revisit the rivers you find during your research to put multiple fishing trips in your bucket list.

Key Benefits of This Pattern

The Smokejumper midge is an excellent fly pattern that can fool even the more selective trout. It is tied with CDC which is an excellent material that stays dry without any floatant. The CDC parachute on top of this midge pattern keeps the fly near the top or on top of the water column which helps the fly appear to be in the emergence phase. The trout love eating emergers and a natural material like CDC creates a very nice presentation. Try a few of these patterns on selective tailwaters and see the results for yourself.

  • Imitates: Midge Emerger, Midge Dry, Mayfly Emerger, Mayfly Dry
  • Insect Species: Midges, Blue Wing Olive, PMD, Trico
  • Imitation Category: Imitative, Impressionistic
  • Fly Seasons: Spring, Fall, Winter
  • Water Type: Coldwater Rivers, Stillwater
  • Difficulty: Medium Skill Levels. 1-3 Min Once Mastered

Preferred Tying Recipe

  • Hook Type: Tiemco 2457 or 2487
  • Hook Size: #16-26
  • Thread Type: 8/0 Uni Thread or 70 Denier
  • Thread Color: Any – Black Standard
  • Dubbing: Peacock Herl
  • Wire: X-Small Silver
  • Wing: CDC Oiler Puff

 * Guides only available to paid members *

Substitution Options

  • Body: Using goose biots for the body is also a good option
  • Dubbing: Any superfine or antron dubbing
  • Wing: Thin 1mm or 2mm foam as the post

Variation Options

Using a variety of colors will help you imitate any small emerging or adult midge or mayfly.  using foam for the wing post can work, but CDC is much better.  The CDC stays above the water while the rest of the fly is below.  With foam, it’s a little too buoyant and makes the fly float on its side.  Both can catch fish, but the CDC oiler puffs is preferred.  Black, Olive, Yellow and Red seem to work best for this fly.

Tying Gallery

You can always tie any fly in any color imaginable, but we’ve found the best colors to be Black, Olive, Red, Purple, Blue, White, Tan

smokejumper-black-sku-1206
Smokejumper Midge #18
smokejumper-olive-sku-1205
Smokejumper Midge #18-22
smokejumper-red-sku-1204
Smokejumper Midge #18-22

smokejumper-grey-sku-1207
smokejumper-brown-sku-1208
smokejumper-midge


Fishing Tips

People often wonder how to fish this fly.  Primarily it’s best fished as a dry fly and will float on top of the water.  It sinks easily because it’s delicate and when it sinks, a small strike indicator or larger fly  that floats helps detect strikes below the water which are common on this pattern.  Using frog’s fanny or some other fly duster for CDC keeps this fly floating high and dry, but requires a little maintenance.  You usually only need 1 or 2 good casts and drifts to hook a fish on this fly when they are feeding so make the casts count.

I usually fish as many drifts as I can before I catch a fish or it sinks then I fish 2-3 drifts with it sinking then I re apply the fly duster and start again.  A renegade or griffiths gnat is a good choice as a first fly that floats well and then this as the point fly in a two fly dry fly set up.  A NZ strike indicator is also great if you only want to throw the smokejumper and the fish seem to take it after it sinks.

Seasonal Insect Info

MIDGE HATCHES

Midges hatch year round, but their importance is from September through winter into April. During the warmer months, the trout often focus on larger insects as they are more active on the water like mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.

  • Colors: Black, White, Gray, Cream, Olive, Red, Brown, Blue, and Purple
  • Sizes: #16 – #24
  • Hatch Seasons: Year Round with a focus on early spring, late fall and warmer winter days
  • Stages: Nymph (Year Round), Emerger, Dry Fly

BLUE WING OLIVE HATCHES

Blue Wing Olive, BWO, Baetis, all the same thing. View the info below on how to match their hatch and their seasonality.

  • Colors: Olive, Brown/Olive, Brown, Black, Purple
  • Sizes: #16 – #24
  • Hatch Seasons: Year Round with Importance on Early Spring and Late Fall
  • Stages: Nymph (Year Round), Emerger, Dry Fly

PMD HATCHES

Pale Morning Duns, Pale Evening Duns, PMD, Sulphurs, all the same bug, just a different name. View the info below on how to match their hatch and their seasonality.

  • Colors: Yellow, Tan, Cream
  • Sizes: #12 – #20
  • Hatch Seasons: Late Spring to Mid Fall
  • Stages: Nymph (Year Round), Emerger, Dry Fly, Spinner

TRICO HATCHES

Some of the smallest and most challenging, yet plentiful mayfly hatches you’ll find. View the info below on how to match their hatch and their seasonality.

  • Colors: Black, Purple, Cream, White
  • Sizes: #20 – #30
  • Hatch Seasons:Mid to Late Summer
  • Stages: Nymph (Year Round), Emerger, Dry Fly, Spinner (Most Common)
 

Proportions Tips

Body and wire can extend beyond the hook bend to just above mid point on the bend
When you tie in the CDC puff, it should be about 1.5x the hook length. You’ll tie in .5x hook length to create the head leaving 1x length wing post.
If you’re CDC post is too big, you can grab your bodkin and put it under the CDC and lift it up gently to make a bigger wing case with more gap, shortening your wing post.

Fish That Love This Fly Pattern

Trout, Grass Carp, Carp, Panfish

TROUT

COMMON CARP

Drink Pairings

TIE SMART, DRINK WISELY

We provide a full breadth of content on fly tying including drink pairings with your fly patterns.

Recommended Drinks for This Pattern: Oatmeal Stout | Tennessee Whiskey

 

Only $3/month
(Paid Annually)

Become an Explorer!
 Cancel Anytime

The Catch and The Hatch © 2018 | View Our Privacy Policy Here