Trout eat nymphs more than anything else. That single fact drives everything in this article. If you took every trout caught on a fly rod in a given year and broke the numbers down by fly type, subsurface patterns would account for the overwhelming majority — somewhere in the range of 80 to 90 percent of all fish brought to hand. Dry fly fishing gets the magazine covers. Streamers get the hero shots. But nymphs catch the most trout, period.

We’ve spent years building and refining nymph boxes across Pacific Northwest rivers — from the technical tailwaters of eastern Washington to the tumbling freestones draining the Cascades — and the ten patterns below have earned permanent spots through sheer consistency. These aren’t obscure competition flies that only work in European chalk streams. They’re proven, widely available patterns that produce trout in virtually any water you’ll encounter, whether you’re fishing a euro nymphing rig, running them under an indicator, or trailing one behind a dry fly.

This roundup covers the best fly fishing nymphs we carry every time we hit the water, with specific guidance on sizes, colors, and the conditions where each pattern excels. If you’re still choosing between nymphing methods, our nymph rig comparison breaks down the strengths and trade-offs of euro nymphing, indicator nymphing, and dry-dropper setups. For a broader introduction to the sport, start with our fly fishing beginner’s guide, and explore the full fly fishing hub for rod reviews, line guides, and river recommendations.

Quick Picks

• Most Versatile Nymph: Pheasant Tail — The single best nymph pattern ever designed. Imitates mayfly nymphs universally and belongs in every fly box in sizes 14 through 20.
• Best Searching Pattern: Hare’s Ear — A buggy, impressionistic profile that suggests everything and imitates nothing specifically, making it lethal when you aren’t sure what trout are eating.
• Best Euro Nymphing Fly: Perdigon — Tungsten-loaded and coated in UV resin, it cuts to the bottom faster than any other pattern and excels in competition-style tight-line setups.
• Best for Pressured Trout: Walt’s Worm — A subtle, natural-looking crane fly larva imitation that consistently fools educated fish on catch-and-release water.
• Best Attractor Nymph: Prince Nymph — White biots and peacock herl create a flashy profile that triggers aggressive takes, even when nothing in the water column looks remotely like it.

Why Nymphs Catch More Trout Than Any Other Fly Type

Understanding why nymphs dominate the trout diet puts everything else in context. Aquatic insects spend the vast majority of their lifecycle in the subsurface stage — as eggs, larvae, and nymphs clinging to rocks, burrowing in substrate, and drifting in the current column. A mayfly might spend 12 months as a nymph and less than 48 hours as a winged adult. A stonefly nymph can live two to three years underwater before it crawls to shore to hatch. During all of that time, nymphs are constantly getting dislodged by current, tumbled through riffles, and swept along the bottom — presenting a reliable, year-round food source that trout have evolved to exploit.

This behavioral drift is the engine that powers nymph fishing. Trout don’t have to expend energy chasing down subsurface food the way they do when pursuing baitfish or rising to the surface for an adult mayfly. They simply hold in a feeding lane and intercept whatever the current delivers. It’s an energy-efficient strategy, and trout default to it during the vast majority of their feeding hours.

The practical implication for us as anglers is straightforward: if you learn to present nymphs effectively, you can catch trout on any river, in any season, during any time of day. Hatches come and go. Streamer bites turn on and off. But the subsurface game is always running. That’s why we prioritize nymph selection and presentation above everything else, and why the ten patterns below form the backbone of our approach to trout fishing. For the full picture of how we evaluate gear and technique, visit our methodology page.

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Best for: Mayfly hatches and year-round searching on any trout stream

If we could carry only one nymph pattern for the rest of our lives, it would be the Pheasant Tail. Originally tied by Frank Sawyer on the chalk streams of England in the mid-twentieth century, this pattern has proven itself on every type of trout water on the planet. The slim profile, natural coloration, and tapered silhouette perfectly imitate the general shape and movement of mayfly nymphs — which represent the single largest category of trout food in most river systems.

The classic Pheasant Tail uses pheasant tail fibers for the tail, abdomen, and wingcase, with fine copper wire for ribbing and reinforcement. Modern variations add a tungsten bead for weight — and we strongly recommend beadhead versions for nymphing applications. The bead gets the fly down fast, adds a subtle flash trigger, and shifts the hook point up to reduce snags on the bottom.

We carry Pheasant Tails in sizes 14, 16, 18, and 20. Size 16 is the workhorse — it covers Baetis, Ephemerella, and most of the small to mid-sized mayfly nymphs you’ll encounter on western rivers. Drop to an 18 or 20 during Blue-Winged Olive hatches and Trico season. Move up to a 14 when early-season March Browns and Pale Morning Duns are active. Color variations are minimal — the natural pheasant tail fiber is so close to the real thing that we rarely deviate from the original. A flashback version with a pearl tinsel wingcase adds visibility in off-color water.

On Pacific Northwest freestones, we fish the Pheasant Tail as a dropper behind a heavier anchor fly in a euro rig, or as the primary nymph under an indicator. It produces fish twelve months out of the year, and it’s the first fly we tie on when we don’t know what’s happening on a new piece of water.

Hare’s Ear Nymph

Best for: Prospecting unfamiliar water when you don’t know what trout are eating

The Hare’s Ear is the ultimate confidence pattern — a fuzzy, impressionistic nymph that suggests caddis larvae, mayfly nymphs, small stoneflies, and a dozen other food items without committing to any single imitation. That deliberate ambiguity is its greatest strength. When you don’t know what’s on the menu, the Hare’s Ear gives trout something that looks generically alive and edible, and that’s often enough.

The pattern is built from dubbed hare’s mask fur, which has a natural spikiness and translucence that no synthetic material has managed to replicate. The guard hairs trap tiny air bubbles when submerged, creating a lifelike shimmer and a slightly larger visual profile than the hook size would suggest. A gold bead and gold wire ribbing add weight and segmentation. The wingcase is typically turkey tail or pheasant tail fibers, and the legs are picked out from the thorax dubbing rather than added as a separate material.

We carry Hare’s Ears in sizes 12, 14, 16, and 18. The size 14 beadhead version is our default starting point on freestone rivers in Washington and Oregon. It’s heavy enough to get down in moderate current without additional weight, and it’s large enough to be visible to trout across a range of water clarities. In slower spring creek water, we scale down to 16 or 18 and fish them on lighter tippet.

The Hare’s Ear fishes well in every nymphing setup. Under an indicator, it has enough weight with a tungsten bead to sink without split shot in two to three feet of water. On a euro rig, it makes an excellent dropper pattern above a heavier anchor fly. Behind a big dry fly, it’s a classic dropper that doubles your chances of connecting with a feeding trout.

Perdigon

Best for: Euro nymphing and getting deep fast in heavy current

The Perdigon changed competition fly fishing and has since become one of the most important nymph designs in the modern angler’s arsenal. Developed by Spanish competition anglers, the pattern strips away all the traditional buggy materials — no dubbing, no hackle, no picked-out fibers — and replaces them with a thin thread body coated in multiple layers of UV resin over a tungsten bead. The result is a nymph that is essentially a weighted bullet, designed to cut through the water column and reach the feeding zone faster than any conventionally tied fly.

That speed matters. In fast pocket water and heavy riffles, the window of productive drift is measured in seconds. A traditional soft-hackle or fuzzy nymph catches current and stays in the upper column longer, often passing over feeding trout before it reaches their depth. A Perdigon drops like a stone and is fishing effectively the moment it enters the water.

The fly’s profile is minimal — just a slim, glossy body with a hot spot of colored thread behind the bead. Common color combinations include olive body with an orange hot spot, black body with a red hot spot, and brown body with a pink hot spot. We carry all three in sizes 14, 16, and 18, with tungsten beads in 3.0mm and 3.5mm depending on how fast we need to get down.

If you’re getting into euro nymphing — or already practice it — the Perdigon is a mandatory anchor fly. Its density gets your entire rig down to the bottom, and its slim profile produces less drag in the current than bulkier patterns. We use Perdigons as our point fly on probably 80 percent of our euro nymphing setups, with a lighter, buggier pattern like a Pheasant Tail or Hare’s Ear as the dropper above it. For a full breakdown of tight-line rigging, see our euro nymphing beginner’s guide.

Walt’s Worm

Best for: Pressured catch-and-release water and slow, clear tailwaters

Walt’s Worm is named after Walt Young, a Pennsylvania fly angler who developed the pattern for the technical spring creeks and limestone streams of the Keystone State. It imitates crane fly larvae — those pale, wormy-looking creatures you find when turning over rocks in any trout stream. Crane fly larvae are a major but often overlooked component of the trout diet, particularly in tailwaters and spring creeks where they thrive in soft substrate.

The pattern is devastatingly simple: a dubbed body of Australian possum fur (or hare’s ear dubbing in some variations) on a jig hook with a small tungsten bead. There’s no tail, no wingcase, no ribbing, no flash. The dubbing is picked out slightly to create a subtle, translucent halo around the body, and that’s it. The simplicity is the point. On heavily pressured water where trout have seen every beadhead Prince Nymph and flashback Pheasant Tail in the catalog, Walt’s Worm presents something that looks organic and natural rather than artificial and constructed.

We fish Walt’s Worms in sizes 14 and 16, primarily in cream, tan, and pale olive. The cream version is our go-to on tailwaters, where it imitates the pale crane fly larvae that are abundant in the slower, silty sections. On euro rigs, it works beautifully as a dropper above a heavier Perdigon — the light profile and subtle movement provide a contrast that draws strikes from fish that might ignore two heavy, flashy anchor flies.

Walt’s Worm is a confidence pattern for difficult days. When nothing else is working and the trout are acting lockjawed, this is the fly that gets us back on the board.

Frenchie

Best for: A beefed-up Pheasant Tail with a visible hot spot for faster water

The Frenchie is a modern evolution of the Pheasant Tail Nymph, developed by Lance Egan — a member of the U.S. competitive fly fishing team — as a more visible, slightly flashier version of Sawyer’s classic. The pattern retains the pheasant tail fiber body and tungsten bead of a standard PT but adds a collar of bright dubbing (typically hot pink, orange, or chartreuse Ice Dub) behind the bead. That collar serves as a hot spot — a small burst of color that acts as a visual trigger point for trout.

The hot spot concept is rooted in competitive fishing experience. European anglers discovered that a tiny accent of unnatural color at the head of an otherwise natural-looking fly consistently increased strike rates. The theory is that the flash of color mimics the air bubble or color change visible on natural nymphs during emergence, triggering an instinctive feeding response. Whatever the mechanism, it works — and competition results bear that out.

We carry Frenchies in sizes 14, 16, and 18, with both pink and orange hot spots. The orange hot spot version is our default on freestone rivers, while the pink version seems to edge ahead on tailwaters and during overcast conditions. On a euro rig, the Frenchie occupies the same slot as a Pheasant Tail but outperforms it in faster water where the added visibility of the hot spot helps trout locate the fly in turbulent current.

If you carry Pheasant Tails, adding Frenchies to the box is a natural extension. Think of them as a Pheasant Tail with a turbocharger for days when trout need a little extra reason to commit.

Pat’s Rubber Legs

Best for: High water, early season, and any situation calling for a big subsurface meal

Pat’s Rubber Legs is a stonefly nymph imitation, and it’s the largest pattern in this roundup. Where most of the flies on this list are meant to imitate small mayfly nymphs and larvae in the size 14 to 20 range, Pat’s Rubber Legs operates in size 6 to 10 territory — a substantial mouthful that imitates the large Pteronarcys (salmonfly) and Hesperoperla (golden stonefly) nymphs that are a calorie-rich prize for trout in western freestone rivers.

The pattern is a simple chenille body with rubber legs extending from the thorax and sometimes the abdomen. Colors range from black and brown to olive, with the black/brown combination being the most universally effective. The rubber legs provide constant movement in the current, even during a dead drift — twitching and pulsing in a way that mimics the animated legs of a real stonefly nymph crawling across the bottom.

We fish Pat’s Rubber Legs heavily from late winter through early summer on rivers with healthy stonefly populations — which includes most of the significant freestones in the Pacific Northwest. On the Yakima, the Deschutes, the Grande Ronde, and the best rivers in Washington, this fly produces some of our biggest fish of the year during the pre-hatch stonefly migration, when nymphs are actively moving toward shore and getting swept into the current at higher rates than usual.

Rigging is straightforward. Under an indicator, Pat’s Rubber Legs is heavy enough to anchor a two-fly rig with a smaller nymph — like a Pheasant Tail or Hare’s Ear — trailing 18 inches behind on a tag. The stonefly draws attention and the trailer cleans up. In a euro rig, the pattern is less common due to its air resistance on the lob cast, but it absolutely works as an anchor fly in deeper, slower runs where you want a big profile on the bottom.

Zebra Midge

Best for: Tailwaters, slow water, and winter fishing when nothing else is hatching

The Zebra Midge is the smallest, simplest fly in this roundup, and it’s one of the most important. Midges — family Chironomidae — are the most abundant aquatic insects in virtually every trout stream on the continent. They hatch year-round, including through the dead of winter when everything else has shut down. On tailwaters especially, midge hatches can produce the only consistent feeding activity from November through March, and trout key on midge larvae and pupae with a selectivity that borders on obsessive.

The Zebra Midge is a thread body wrapped with fine wire ribbing on a small curved hook, finished with a tiny bead. That’s the entire pattern. It imitates the segmented body of a midge larva or pupa, and the silver or copper wire creates a subtle flash that helps trout locate the fly in slow, clear water. Common colors are black, red, olive, and cream, with black being the most universally productive.

We carry Zebra Midges in sizes 18, 20, 22, and 24. If that sounds absurdly small, welcome to midge fishing — the naturals are tiny, and matching the hatch means scaling down. A size 20 black Zebra Midge is the single most productive winter fly in our boxes on Pacific Northwest tailwaters. We fish them in tandem — two Zebra Midges spaced 12 to 18 inches apart under a small indicator, or a single midge trailing behind a slightly larger nymph like a Pheasant Tail on a euro rig.

Midge fishing requires fine tippet (6X or 7X fluorocarbon), a delicate presentation, and patience. The takes are often barely perceptible — a slight hesitation of the indicator, a gentle tightening of the line. But on cold winter days when every other method has gone quiet, a pair of Zebra Midges will still put fish in the net. That consistency earns this tiny fly a permanent place in the top ten.

Copper John

Best for: Fast, deep water where you need to reach the bottom quickly under an indicator

The Copper John, designed by John Barr, is arguably the most popular bead-head nymph in American fly fishing. It’s a mayfly and stonefly suggestive pattern built around a distinctive copper wire abdomen, a peacock herl thorax, and epoxy-coated wingcase. The wire body gives the fly a density that approaches tungsten-beaded patterns, making it an excellent choice for getting deep in heavy current without adding split shot to your leader.

The pattern’s effectiveness stems from a combination of weight, flash, and profile. The copper wire catches light as the fly tumbles along the bottom, creating a glint that draws attention from downstream-facing trout. The peacock herl thorax adds a dark, buggy silhouette that contrasts with the bright abdomen. And the slim, segmented body passes for a range of subsurface food items — it’s not a precise imitation of any single insect, but it triggers the feeding response reliably enough that it outsells most of the more naturalistic patterns in fly shops across the country.

We carry Copper Johns in sizes 14, 16, and 18, in copper, red, and chartreuse. The original copper version is the most versatile, but the red Copper John has a measurable edge on certain tailwaters and during midge-heavy periods when a warm-toned body stands out against the natural drift.

The Copper John shines under an indicator in deep runs and heavy riffles. Its weight gets the rig down without the complexity of split shot, and it maintains a consistent depth through the drift better than lighter patterns that tend to ride up in fast current. For a deeper look at how indicator rigs stack up against euro rigs and dry-dropper setups, check our nymph rig comparison.

Prince Nymph

Best for: Attracting aggressive trout in freestone pocket water

The Prince Nymph doesn’t look like any specific aquatic insect, and that’s exactly why it works. Designed by Doug Prince in the 1940s, it’s an attractor pattern — a fly meant to provoke a reaction rather than imitate a particular food item. The combination of white goose biot wings, peacock herl body, brown hackle, and gold ribbing creates a profile that is flashy, prominent, and irresistible to trout holding in broken water where they have a fraction of a second to decide whether something drifting by is food.

Attractor nymphs exploit a fundamental aspect of trout feeding behavior. In fast, turbulent water, trout can’t afford to scrutinize every morsel that passes through their feeding lane. They make snap decisions based on size, movement, and contrast. A Prince Nymph — with its bold white wings and dark body — presents a high-contrast target that triggers the eat-first-inspect-later response that freestone trout are wired for.

We carry Prince Nymphs in sizes 12, 14, and 16. The size 14 beadhead version is our go-to in pocket water on rivers like the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, and the upper Columbia tributaries. It’s heavy enough to sink quickly in broken current, and the white biots remain visible to both the trout and the angler as the fly tumbles through the drift.

The Prince Nymph is not a subtle pattern, and we don’t fish it in slow, clear water where trout have time to inspect and reject. It’s a pocket water specialist — a fly for riffles, plunge pools, and boulder-strewn runs where aggression beats selectivity. When the water is up and slightly off-color after a rain event, the Prince Nymph is one of the first patterns we reach for.

Squirmy Wormy

Best for: High water, rain events, and converting beginners who need to catch fish

The Squirmy Wormy is the most controversial fly on this list and arguably the most effective in specific conditions. It’s a simple hook wrapped with a section of ultra-stretchy silicone worm material — the same stuff you’d find in a children’s toy. It looks exactly like what it imitates: an aquatic worm (Oligochaeta) or a drowned earthworm washed into the stream during a rain event. Purists dislike it. Trout love it.

Aquatic worms are a larger component of the trout diet than most anglers realize. They inhabit the substrate of virtually every trout stream, and they become available to trout during high water events, substrate disturbance from wading, and natural drift. Earthworms enter the system during rain. In both cases, the worm represents a calorie-dense, easy-to-eat food item that trout recognize instantly.

The Squirmy Wormy’s movement in the water is its defining characteristic. The silicone material undulates and pulses with the slightest current movement, creating a lifelike animation that no natural dubbing or synthetic fiber can match. In the water, it looks alive — and trout respond to it with an enthusiasm that can feel almost unfair.

We carry Squirmy Wormies in sizes 10 and 12, in red, pink, and tan. The red version is the most popular and effective in high, off-color water. Pink works well in clearer conditions, and tan imitates the natural aquatic worms more closely for pressured fish. We fish them under indicators as a lead fly with a smaller nymph trailing behind, or on a euro rig as an anchor fly in deep runs.

We won’t pretend the Squirmy Wormy is an elegant fly. It isn’t. But it catches trout — often when nothing else will — and that earns it a spot in this roundup. If you’re introducing someone to fly fishing and want to guarantee they hook into fish, a Squirmy Wormy under an indicator in a deep run is one of the highest-percentage plays in the game.

Matching Your Nymph to Water Conditions

Choosing the right nymph is less about memorizing entomology and more about reading the water in front of you and matching your pattern to the conditions.

Fast, broken water (riffles, pocket water, boulder runs): Trout feeding in fast current are opportunistic. They commit to food quickly because they don’t have time to inspect it. This is where attractor patterns and high-profile flies shine. Prince Nymphs, Pat’s Rubber Legs, and Copper Johns are ideal. Use sizes 12 to 16 with heavy tungsten beads to get down fast.

Moderate current (runs, glides, seams): This is the bread-and-butter water for nymph fishing. Trout hold in defined feeding lanes and intercept drifting food at a measured pace. Pheasant Tails, Hare’s Ears, and Frenchies in sizes 14 to 18 cover this water comprehensively. A two-fly rig with a heavier pattern on point and a lighter dropper gives you depth and variety.

Slow, clear water (tailwaters, spring creeks, pools): Trout in slow water have time to inspect every fly that drifts past. Subtlety wins here. Walt’s Worm, Zebra Midges, and smaller Pheasant Tails in sizes 18 to 22 are the right call. Use fluorocarbon tippet, minimize your leader diameter, and focus on drag-free drifts.

High, off-color water (runoff, rain events): When visibility drops, trout rely on vibration, contrast, and movement more than precise shape. Squirmy Wormies, Pat’s Rubber Legs, and large Hare’s Ears in sizes 8 to 14 punch through murky water. Bright hot spots and rubber legs add the extra trigger that helps trout locate the fly in limited visibility.

Size and Weight Selection

Getting the right size and weight is often more important than pattern choice. A size 18 Pheasant Tail drifting at the correct depth will outfish a size 10 Prince Nymph that’s riding two feet above the feeding zone every single time.

Size should approximate the naturals in the water. When in doubt, go smaller rather than larger. A fly that is slightly smaller than the natural will almost always get eaten, while a fly that is noticeably larger than anything in the drift can trigger refusal from wary fish. Carry each pattern in at least two sizes and experiment.

Bead weight determines how fast your fly sinks. Standard tungsten beads come in 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm, 3.5mm, and 4.0mm. For shallow riffles (one to two feet), a 2.5mm bead on a size 16 hook is usually sufficient. For moderate depth (two to four feet), step up to a 3.0mm or 3.5mm bead. For deep runs and heavy current (four to six feet), use 3.5mm or larger, or fish a tandem rig with two heavy flies.

Tippet size affects sink rate too. Thinner tippet creates less drag in the water, allowing your fly to sink faster and drift more naturally. We fish 5X fluorocarbon as our default nymphing tippet, dropping to 6X on tailwaters and pressured fish, and going up to 4X when fishing larger patterns like Pat’s Rubber Legs.

Building a Nymph Box: Must-Have Sizes and Colors

A well-stocked nymph box doesn’t require hundreds of flies. It requires the right patterns in the right sizes with enough variety to cover the conditions you’ll actually encounter. Here’s how we build ours.

Tier 1 — The non-negotiables (carry these every trip):

• Pheasant Tail Nymph: sizes 16 and 18, natural color, tungsten bead
• Hare’s Ear Nymph: sizes 14 and 16, natural hare’s ear dubbing, gold tungsten bead
• Perdigon: sizes 16 and 18, olive/orange hot spot, 3.0mm tungsten bead
• Zebra Midge: sizes 20 and 22, black with silver wire
• Frenchie: sizes 16 and 18, pheasant tail with pink hot spot

Tier 2 — Situation-specific patterns (carry based on conditions):

• Copper John: sizes 14 and 16, copper, for deep indicator rigs
• Prince Nymph: sizes 14 and 16, for freestone pocket water
• Pat’s Rubber Legs: sizes 8 and 10, black/brown, for stonefly water
• Walt’s Worm: sizes 14 and 16, cream, for tailwaters and pressured fish
• Squirmy Wormy: sizes 10 and 12, red and pink, for high water

Quantity guidance: Carry at least four of each Tier 1 pattern in each size. Nymphs get lost on the bottom, snagged on rocks, and chewed up by fish. Running out of your best-producing fly mid-session is a problem that’s easily solved by tying or buying extras. For Tier 2 patterns, two to three per size is sufficient since you’ll fish them selectively.

Color variations to consider: For Pheasant Tails and Frenchies, a flashback version (pearl tinsel wingcase) is worth carrying for off-color water. For Hare’s Ears, a darker olive variation complements the standard tan for caddis-heavy water. For Perdigons, carry at least two color combinations — olive and black are the most versatile.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the single best fly fishing nymph for beginners?

The beadhead Pheasant Tail in size 16 is the best starting point for any new nymph angler. It imitates the most common trout food item — mayfly nymphs — on virtually every trout stream in North America. The pattern is inexpensive, universally available at fly shops, and effective under an indicator, on a euro rig, or behind a dry fly. If you’re just getting started, buy a dozen in size 16 and fish them with confidence. Our fly fishing beginner’s guide covers the foundational gear and technique you’ll need to get those Pheasant Tails to the fish.

How do you choose between a Pheasant Tail and a Hare’s Ear?

Both are essential patterns, and we carry both on every trip. The decision comes down to what you think the trout are eating. If mayflies are active or you see small, slim nymphs clinging to rocks when you kick over substrate, the Pheasant Tail’s slim profile is a closer match. If you’re not sure what’s on the menu — or you suspect caddis, small stoneflies, or a mixed diet — the Hare’s Ear’s buggier, more impressionistic profile covers more ground. On unfamiliar water, we often start with a Hare’s Ear to prospect and switch to a Pheasant Tail once we identify what the trout are keyed on.

Are Perdigons only for euro nymphing?

No, but that’s where they truly excel. The Perdigon’s slim, dense construction was specifically designed for tight-line nymphing, where getting deep fast and maintaining direct contact are the primary objectives. However, Perdigons also work well under an indicator — their weight gets the rig to depth quickly, and their slim profile reduces drag in the current. They’re less effective as a dry-dropper trailer because their weight pulls the dry fly under in all but the calmest water. If you’re primarily an indicator angler but want to explore euro nymphing, stocking Perdigons is a natural first step. Our nymph rig comparison explains how fly selection varies across rigging methods.

How many nymph patterns do you actually need?

You can cover 90 percent of trout fishing situations with five patterns: Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear, Perdigon, Zebra Midge, and one large stonefly nymph like Pat’s Rubber Legs. The other five patterns on this list add specialization and versatility, but those five will catch fish anywhere. Focus on carrying each in multiple sizes rather than chasing every new pattern that appears on social media. Size and depth control matter far more than having the perfect pattern.

What size nymph should you use if you have no idea what trout are eating?

Start with a size 16. It falls in the middle of the size range for the most common aquatic insects — mayflies, caddis, midges, and small stoneflies — and it’s small enough to avoid spooking wary fish while large enough to be visible and appealing to actively feeding trout. A size 16 Pheasant Tail or Hare’s Ear is our default starting point on any unfamiliar water. If you’re not getting takes after thoroughly fishing productive-looking water, size down to an 18 before changing patterns. More often than not, the adjustment from 16 to 18 solves the problem.