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3. top 10 for early spring

top 10 wet flys or nymphs for early cold water fishing in the catskills, what are the must haves??? what don't you leave home without?

There is no specific order implied with my list. I just wrote which ones came into my mind first. You are going to want to be sure you bring a good assortment of split shot in sizes B, BB, and 3/0 to insure you are getting the fly down near the bottom. If you aren't getting snagged once in awhile it is likely you aren't catching any fish and aren't deep enough. I'd recommend not not using a bobber, just flip the shot and fly upstream at about a forty-five degree angle and high stick the drift as soon as the fly hits the water, maintain the high stick, and throw an upstream mend into the cast as often as is needed to maintain as drag free a drift as is possible. I almost never use a bobber when nymphing for trout and still catch my share of fish.

Leadwing Coachman wet fly #10 - #12
Flashback Pheasant tail #10 - #14
Brown stonefly #8 - #12
Black stonefly #8 - #12
Olive caddis pupa - #12 - #14
Tan caddis pupa - #12 - #14
Light natural Hares Ear - #10 - #14
Prince - #12 - #16
March Brown nymph #10
Hendrickson nymph #12 - #14

WB,
I could not agree with you more on fly choice and nymphing technique.

Hi Pat.

"I could not agree with you more on fly choice and nymphing technique."

Well at least I know I have someone who agrees with me here LOL!

Hey WB, I suspect that's because we fish the same neighborhoods? Anyway, my early spring fishing go to flies are in your top 10. They would be a size 8 black stonefly, a size 14 olive caddis larva, and a gold ribbed hare's ear. And yes ya gotta bounce em off bottom to do business in early April. On another note, the rain here has just stopped; rained most of the night and morning. I umpire high school baseball and I'm thinking we will be washed out most of the week with all the rain we've had here in Dutchess County. I'm hoping to get out to do some fishing around mid month in the Catskills.