Tuesday Tip: Tom Rosenbauer’s Top 10 Fly Patterns

We’re re-introducing a new feature on the Fly Fishing blog, in which we ask well-known anglers and guides to give us their Top 10 patterns. Sometimes the list will be species- or water-specific, but we’ll also feature collections of flies you should never be without, no matter where or when you are fishing.

Obviously, these are subjective lists—based on personal experience and angling prejudices—so your own list may be quite different. But it’s always interesting to get a peak into another fly fisherman’s fly box.

We kick things off with our own Tom Rosenbauer—host of the Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide Podcast, author of the Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide (among many other books), and all-around great guy. In his 35 years with Orvis, Tom has fished for trout in more waters, in more situations, and under more conditions than almost anyone on the planet, and these are the flies he always carries:

Pattern                                                                   Style            Sizes

1. Pheasant Tail Nymph                                        nymph          16-20

2. Hare’s Ear Nymph                                             nymph          8-18

3. Copper John                                                     nymph          10-16

4. Parachute Adams                                             dry                12-22

5. Eck Caddis                                                        dry                14-20

6. Orange Stimulator                                           dry                8-16

7. Baetis Comparadun                                         dry                16-24

8. Griffith’s Gnat                                                  emerger        16-24

9. Rabbit’s Foot Emerger                                   emerger        14-18

10. Black Tunghead Woolly Bugger                 streamer        4-10

12 thoughts on “Tuesday Tip: Tom Rosenbauer’s Top 10 Fly Patterns”

  1. The Eck caddis looks interesting. What’s the material list (couldn’t find it online)? Is the wing tied with rabbit’s foot and CDC?

    1. Hey, Ben, the body is underfur from a rabbit’s foot, wing is toe hair from a rabbit’s foot overlayed with a couple of CDC feathers. That’s it.

  2. Great list! A good percentage of the fish I have caught have been on one of these flies or a variation thereof.

    Also, I had no idea a Griffith’s Gnat was an emerger pattern. I always thought it imitated a cluster of mating midges.

  3. …I would add the brown Klinkhammer size 14. IMO the best dry fly ever tied. I love the comparadun as well. The combo of the Klinkhammer trailed by a comparadun is a great combo.

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