Stonefly Flies Quick Picks
Best Adult Stonefly Dry Fly: Stimulator Dry Fly - A bushy, high-floating tie that works as a direct adult stonefly imitation or as a searching pattern when nothing specific is hatching. Fish it through riffles and pocket water on western rivers.
Best High-Floating Searching Pattern: Umpqua Chubby Chernobyl Fly - A fly that floats all day through heavy pocket water and doubles as a strike indicator for a dropper nymph. The foam body and rubber legs push water and get noticed.
Best Large Stonefly Nymph: Pat's Rubberlegs Nymph Fly - Built for big western stonefly nymphs, hellgrammites, or dobsonfly larvae in heavy, boulder-strewn water. The simple, buggy profile with tons of leg movement gets eaten by fish that rarely see a naturalistic tie.
Best Fast-Sinking Attractor Nymph: Bead Head Copper John Fly - Good for anglers who need a nymph that sinks fast and works as either a stonefly imitation or a general attractor. Run it as the point fly in a multi-nymph rig to get your team down quickly.
Best Deep, Jig-Style Nymph: Jigged Tungsten Prince Nymph Fly - Ideal for Euro-style rigs and deep pocket water where you need a stonefly imitation to ride hook-point up and stay snag-free.
How to Choose Stonefly Flies
Dry Fly or Nymph
Dry flies: Fish these during an actual salmonfly or golden stone emergence, or as a searching pattern and hopper-dropper top fly any time trout look up in fast water.
Nymphs: Stonefly nymphs live on the streambed year-round and get eaten far more than the adult, so a weighted nymph like Pat's Rubberlegs or a Copper John should be a box staple regardless of hatch timing.
Size for Golden Stones vs. Salmonflies
Sizes 8-12: Match these to golden stone and yellow sally hatches found on most trout rivers all season.
Sizes 2-6: Step up to these for the giant salmonfly hatch on rivers where that bug is present, since trout key on the sheer size of the naturals.
Rigging
Hopper-dropper: Use a buoyant pattern like the Chubby Chernobyl or Stimulator as your top fly, then hang a smaller nymph off the bend to cover the surface and subsurface bite together.
Euro or tight-line nymphing: Run a heavier, jig-style stonefly nymph like the Jigged Tungsten Prince as your point fly to get down fast in boulder-strewn currents.
On-the-Water Tips
Fish the nymph year-round: Stonefly nymphs take multiple years to mature and live on the bottom constantly, making a weighted nymph a good searching pattern in any season.
Time dry flies to the hatch: Salmonfly and golden stone emergences move upstream over days or weeks, so check with a local shop to find where the hatch currently sits.
Fish pocket water and undercut banks: Adult stoneflies get blown or fall into faster, broken water near banks and boulders, so target those spots with your dry fly.
Use a stout leader: Big stonefly patterns and the larger trout they attract call for heavier tippet, typically 3X to 4X, especially near structure.
Complete Your Setup
Related Gear
Trout Flies - Round out your box with more patterns for the rest of the season.
Nymph Flies - Add subsurface options for the long stretches between stonefly hatches.
Euro Nymphing Jig Flies - Stock more jig-style nymphs for tight-line rigs in heavy stonefly water.
Fly Fishing Tippet - Grab heavier tippet built to handle big stonefly patterns and the fish they draw.
Stonefly Flies FAQs
Q: What size stonefly flies should I use?
A: For golden stones and smaller species, sizes 8-12 cover most western rivers throughout the season. During an actual salmonfly hatch, size up to 2-6 to match the much larger naturals.
Q: When do stonefly hatches occur?
A: Salmonfly and golden stone hatches typically run from late spring into early summer, moving upstream over several weeks as water temperatures rise. Because nymphs live on the bottom year-round, stonefly nymph patterns are effective in every season, not just during the hatch.
Q: Should I fish a dry fly or a nymph for stoneflies?
A: Fish a weighted nymph like Pat's Rubberlegs or a Bead Head Copper John as your default, since trout eat stonefly nymphs far more than the adult. Switch to a dry fly such as the Stimulator or Chubby Chernobyl once fish key on the surface.