Which is more important when fishing dry flies to ris­ing trout: A good presentation? Or, a fly that imi­tates prevailing insects? The correct answer is “A”, a good presentation. Quality presentations are more important than everything else combined when it comes to fooling trout. Fly size, pattern, and color are important, but excellent presentations will al­ways bring trout to hand, even with flies that look nothing like the insects du jour. On the other hand, you’ll rarely catch trout when your fly drags or floats unnaturally, no matter how perfect the imitation.

If someone hands you a Pheasant Tail Nymph and asks what it imitates, you’ll likely say “mayfly nymph”. Receive an Elk Hair Caddis, and you might say “adult caddisfly, probably an egg-laying female”. One of the many hopper patterns? You reply without hesitation, “grasshopper … no doubt about it”. But if you’re handed a Prince Nymph, you might be stumped. “Uhh … umm … I’m not sure … maybe an earring?”

We are a nation of immigrants … a melting pot, where cultures and traditions imported from abroad adapt, evolve, and meld into a uniquely new society. The history of American fly fishing is much the same. Fly an­gling as we know it developed in Great Britain, often by a privileged upper class. The methods, how­ever, emigrated to America along with the hard work­ing early settlers. Fly angling then adapted to the new geography, took root in America’s tremen­dous natural resources, and grew into the magnifi­cent pas­time that we honor and protect today.

Trout fishing in America used to be dead easy. Find any cold clear river … cast a brightly colored fly … catch a sizeable brook trout … repeat as needed. On Febru­ary 28, 1883, however, things got much more difficult. The days of effortless trout were over. What happened? Eighty thousand brown trout eggs ar­rived from Germany at the state fish hatch­ery in Cold Spring Harbor, NY.

Think about your favorite dry fly. What makes it great? Maybe it’s a quick and easy tie with inexpensive materials? Or, maybe it’s durable and highly visible on the water? Floats like a cork? Imitates insects found everywhere? Indeed, these are traits of great flies. Perhaps the most important feature, how-ever, is a fly having universal appeal to trout. Only the rarest of flies combine all of these traits, and you will be wise to fill your fly box with them. Al Troth’s Elk Hair Caddis is one such fly. Mr. Troth merged key features of two ageless caddis imitations into a truly fine pattern, one that is a blend of simplicity, impressionism, and uncanny effectiveness.

Think about your favorite dry fly. What makes it great? Maybe it’s a quick and easy tie with inexpensive materials? Or, maybe it’s durable and highly visible on the water? Floats like a cork? Imitates insects found everywhere? Indeed, these are traits of great flies. Perhaps the most important feature, how-ever, is a fly having universal appeal to trout. Only the rarest of flies combine all of these traits, and you will be wise to fill your fly box with them. Al Troth’s Elk Hair Caddis is one such fly. Mr. Troth merged key features of two ageless caddis imitations into a truly fine pattern, one that is a blend of simplicity, impressionism, and uncanny effectiveness.

You probably don’t think of Leonardo da Vinci as a fly angler, but he invented a truly great fly design in 1483. Long before Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, he invented the parachute.

Fly tying as practiced today owes much to Charles Cotton, who in 1676 authored “Part II” of Isaac Walton’s classic The Compleat Angler. Cotton was not the first author to list artificial flies and describe how they are tied, but prior accounts were sketchy at best. Cotton gave detailed instructions on materials, tying methods, insects being imitated, and the best months for each fly’s use. Cotton’s flies are remarkably modern in appearance, being small, sparsely dressed, and neat in appearance. His meticulous approach began a rich literature of fly tying instruction that persists to the present day.