Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/641958
A few weeks ago a buddy asked me which flies he should tie for the upcoming season. I thought about it for a few minutes, e-mailed him some potential choices, and then remembered a little game I used to play with the annual Orvis Flies & Fly Tying catalog. Orvis always had a ton of great patterns in their catalog, and I'd sit down and try to pick my favorite from each page. Sometimes it was an easy choice, and sometimes it was hard, but it was invariably a valuable mental exercise as I tried to transition from huge guide boxes (with pretty much every trout fly known to man) to a more manageable, personal fly assortment. I've really cut back on the number of patterns I carry these days, and after thinking it over, I decided it might be fun—and maybe even useful—to share some of my suggestions about flies here in the column. In fact, I'd like to pass along my 'Dirty Dozen'—the 12 different commercially available fly patterns that I want along no matter where I'm fishing in the Lower 48. Keep in mind that these are freshwater flies, not salt, and that I'm shooting for versatility rather than specificity. I'll also weight the assortment toward my personal preferences, which are skewed toward the topwater side of things. With that in mind, take a look and see what you think. STREAMERS There are a ton of great streamer patterns out there, but I'm only going to pick three. I want maximum versatility—flies that will work in moving water or still, and that will take not only trout, but also bass and pike. Woolly Bugger Let's start out with a fly where you literally can't go wrong. Woolly Buggers come in all different sizes and The author's Dirty Dozen of commercially available fly patterns will catch freshwater fish no matter where you cast a line. S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 4 5 Todd Tanner F l y F i s h i n g photograph by Jeremie hollman – courtesy orvis, orvis.com giant salmonfly (pteronarcys californica) balances precariously on a rod tip. A