Fly Patterns

The adams is a kitchen sink pattern... when all else fails try it. First developed in the twenties, it is one of the few flies that has passed the test of time. It invariably makes the top ten list when anglers compare boxes.

It is a favorite "upwing" pattern that imitates just about any dark mayfly. The mixed grizzly and furnace hackles give the fly a decidedly buggy effect that, as Gary LaFontaine says, makes it never wrong.

When imitating lake dwelling callibaetis and siphlonurus mayflies, the adams should be sparsely dressed and have a hackle fiber tail. In rougher water, the fly can be given a few more turns of hackle and the tail should be moose or micro fibbetts.