Fly Classifications

Courses Home Knots Equipment Fly Reels Fly Lines Leaders Fly Rods Insectology Flies Fish Casting Reference library Course map   Course subjects Home What are flies? Basic fly identification Fly classifications Anatomy of a fly Hook components Dry flies Wet flies Streamer flies Nymph flies Specialty flies Salmon flies Saltwater flies Fly styles Fly size How do you say that? Fly catalog   Flies Adams Ant Baetis emerger BH Caddis Emerger BH Caddis Pupa BH Charlie BH Golden Stone BH Hare's Ear BH Midge Pupa BH Prince Bitch Creek Black Beauty Black Caddis Black Gnat Black Whistler Blue Damselfly Blue Dun Blue Winged Olive Bonefish Fly Bonefish Shrimp Boom Creek Special Brassie Brown Caddis Brown Crab Brown Stonefly Caddis larva Carribean Lobster CDC CDC Midge Emerger Chironomid Pupa Cinnamon Ant Cockroach Comparadun Cricket Dahlberg Diver Dark Brown Drake Dark Hendrickson Dave's Hopper Dave's Mouserat Deerhair Frog Egg Fly Elk Hair Caddis Emerald Crab Epoxy Minnow Epoxy Shrimp Foam Beetle Foam spider Goddard Caddis Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Golden Stone Golden Stone Nymph Grannom Pupa Grasshopper Gray Caddis Green Caddis Emerger Green Caddis Pupa Green Weenie Griffith's Gnat Hemingway Caddis Henryville Special Humpy Joe's Hopper Light Cahill Little Olive Stone Little Yellow Stone March Brown Maribou Muddler Merkin Crab Montana Nymph Mosquito Olive Matuka Orange Grizzly Orange Midge pupa Pale Evening Dun Pale Morning Dun Parachute Caddis Pheasant Tail PMD Parachute Popper Prince Nymph Quill Gordon Red Damselfly Red/Orange Whistler Red Quill Renegade Rhyacophila caddis Royal Coachman Royal Wulff Salmon Fly San Juan Worm Sand Crab Silver Grey Sneeky Pete Sofa Pillow Stimulator Stonefly Stonefly bugger Stu Apte Ted's Stonefly Trico Spinner WD 40 Whit Hopper White Wulff Wigglehead Wooly Bugger Yellow Humpy Yellow Sally Yuk Bug Zug Bug

Flies are classified/organized/categorized in 7 basic types:

The silhouettes below depict a typical profile of each of these 7 standard fly types           

type (click for details)	general appearance	Use	characteristics	general purpose
dry fly		floating imitations	firm/stiff upright hackle, wing & tail	imitate/suggest adult insects
wet fly		sinking imitations	soft, swept-back hackle, wing & tail	imitate/suggest both mature & immature insects
nymph		underwater imitations	low profile; soft hackle, body & tail	imitate/suggest immature insects
streamer		underwater imitations	elongated, swept-back profile	imitate/suggest other (bait) fish
specialty		floating & sinking/ underwater	no definite shape or pattern; very specific as to what it simulates	imitate/suggest live animals; i.e., frogs, crabs, leeches, etc.
saltwater		floating & sinking/ underwater	wide variety to resemble fish found in saltwater	imitate/suggest mostly live "bait" found in saltwater
salmon flies		primarily sinking	very colorful attractor-type	designed to stimulate Atlantic Salmon to strike

Previous / Another way flies are classified is by their size