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Dry Flies
The term “dry fly” covers a vast and structurally diverse range of patterns, from the merest speck intended to imitate a midge right up to something as bulky as a large caddis fly, mayfly, or dragonfly imitation. The main prerequisite of all dry flies is that they should float on or in the surface, and so they are tied with various light or water-repellent materials. Cock hackles are the most often-used aid to flotation, but other materials such as deer hair and polypropylene are also used to good effect.
 
Wet Flies
The wet fly is designed to fish below the water’s surface. In order to accomplish this, many wet flies are tied slim, with wing and hackle swept back to minimize water resistance. Exceptions to this include the palmers, which are dense, bushy-hackled flies created for use on large natural waters. These are designed to make an attractive disturbance in the water’s surface as they are retrieved. Other wet-fly patterns are tied as general attractors or as the suggestion of an adult insect.
 
Nymphs
Although the word “nymph” refers to the larval stages of a number of aquatic insect species, to the fly fisher it has become a far more general term. Along with the true nymphs, it include insect pupae, small crustaceans, and even general patterns used to suggest something small and edible. The diversity of flies classified as nymphs is truly astounding, ranging from tiny imitations of larval up-wings and midge pupae to the veritable giants that mimick creatures as different as dragonfly and stonefly nymphs.
 
Salmon Flies
With a few exceptions, migratory salmonids cease feeding as they return to freshwater to spawn, but salmon can be tempted or provoked into taking a general attractor pattern or an impression of something that they were feeding upon in the open ocean. Shrimp or prawn patterns are very effective, but curiously few dressings are produced to imitate sandeels or other baitfish. Often, however, a salmon will succumb to something as nondescript as a tiny black hairwing, having totally ignored a whole procession or larger, more colourful patterns.
 
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