Dry Flies for Trout

Dry Flies

As many of you already know, in 2019 I entered a new partnership with Montana Fly Company to produce and sell some of my favorite patterns. Last season I released several new Dry Flies for Trout. These new releases are patterns from my personal arsenal that I rely upon heavily for catching fish within our region. I am excited to have Montana Fly Company producing and selling my signature fly patterns as we move forward, the quality and attention to detail is second to none! Their is a limited quantity available for sale on our site, but please shop local at your nearest Fly Shop.

The flies that I currently have in production are available in two series. All of the flies are foam based Mayfly patterns that are designed to be fished all day with a touch of realism and an impressionistic silhouette that fish can’t resist. They are all mainstays in my arsenal and have been tied in multiple forms to imitate the Isonychia, Brown Drake, and Hex hatches that are found in Northern Michigan.

Here is a breakdown of all the flies that are currently available through MFC to complete your arsenal of Northern Michigan dry flies for trout . Ask your local fly shop about these patterns and pick some up today!

McCoy’s All Day Dun – Isonychia

The Isonychia hatch is our longest hatch and arguably the most prolonged hatch of the season. This fly was designed, much like the name suggests, to be fished all day! It has a very realistic profile on the water and is a great fly to fish over rising fish. This fly is also a great searching pattern which can be fished throughout the day with or without the presence of actual bugs on the water. This one is a must have!

McCoy’s Boondoggle Spinner –  Grey Isonychia

The silhouette of this fly just looks crazy on the water. The Boondoggle Isonychia has a “fishy” profile and just flat out hunts!  Like the name suggests, this fly often creates some chaotic moments of intense excitement while fishing it. One customer commented on how he experienced fishing this fly and he put it like this “ just cast it out there and wait for detonation”.  This fly was designed to be more of a searching pattern with a silhouette that gets fish looking up with or without bugs on the water. One true fact regarding the Isonychia hatch, once it gets started the fish are always looking for it. New for 2020 this pattern now comes in Burgundy as well.

McCoy’s All Day Dun – Brown Drake

Brown Drakes on the Manistee River are often a complicated puzzle, breaking all the rules, and often leaving the angler scratching their head. I commonly refer to this bug as the “Great Houdini” hatch as the insects can disappear for days and then suddenly without warning, they reappear in epic fashion. This fly fishes well with bugs on the water, but it will perform equally as well fishing blind in the absence of bugs during the Brown Drake season. This fly is deadly over rising fish and shines during the rare daytime emergences that we commonly see each season. This is also a great pattern to fish during the spinner falls that occur at dusk or during the cooler evenings when they spin early.

McCoy’s Boondoggle Spinner –  Brown Drake

Like the Isonychia version of this fly, the brown drake version has a very similar fish appeal. I have fished this fly at all times of the day during the brown drake hatches in our local streams.  I have had success both during the daytime emergence and more typically during the evening time when the brown drakes would typically hatch.  The white calf tail wings make it easy to keep track of your fly in the low light and this fly floats like a cork!  To me it’s important to have a fly that floats really well, it just provides you with a sense of confidence knowing your fly is still fishing even when you really can’t see it.

McCoy’s All Day Dun – Hex

The Hex hatch is probably the most anticipated hatch in Michigan.  Big Flies, Big Fish, but it is honesty one of the busiest times of the year on our waters.  I wanted a fly that I could fish during this hatch that was completely different from anything else available on the market. I wanted a confidence fly that I could fish both during the day and the night, but more importantly on that produces during the daytime when the bugs are typically not present. This has been, hands down, my best daytime Hex pattern for a while now and it has performed in every situation.  All I can say about this fly is when you get a rare, but not too uncommon daytime hex emergence, yeah…..this is the one!

McCoy’s Boondoggle Spinner – Hex

The Hexagenia version of this fly series is where the foam dry fly template all started for me. The original versions I was fishing were made with real deer hair and other vulnerable natural materials and the flies were getting just crushed.  I was having good success in the evenings well before the hatch would typically start and then again after dark even after the bugs have thinned out on the water surface.  The problem was durability and function, natural materials just don’t hold up as well in the mouth of a fish with more than a few teeth.  After playing with the foam to get more realistic sizes and profiles, I was impressed with how much better the fly actually fished. Simply put, I love this fly and it just flat out fishes!! It was so productive over multiple conditions and circumstances that I knew I had to have flies in this configuration for both the Iso and Brown Drake hatches as well. Thus began the evolution of the series.