I have outlined my favorite fly patterns for  the NFoW on this page.  All pictures taken were fish caught on this river by our staff on patterns that can be found at Dead Drift Fly Shop. In order to help you catch more fish I have included some information on how, when and where to fish these flies.

Big stonefly patterns are the gold standard for fishing the North Fork, seldom will you see one of my rods without a big stone attached as my lead fly.  At Dead Drift Fly Shop we carry several patterns hand tied by our staff that are proven to catch more and bigger fish.  Rest assured if we go to the trouble of tying these flies  they are what we use.  As you can see in the picture the fish inhale them, and with the bigger hooks you have a much higher hook up percentage.  I use these flies every month of the year (although downsize in winter) and dead drifting them is my presentation of choice.  Swinging these flies is also successful and I catch plenty of fish with these heavy patterns just dangling in the current downstream from me.  These lead wrapped flies are best used as a main fly with a smaller nymph or emerger dropped from it.  While these flies are heavy, in the swift current of the NFoW additional weight should still be used to get the fly to the bottom.

Many times the rainbows can shy away from the larger flies, by dropping a smaller nymph off of the bigger fly you double your chance of figuring out what the fish want to eat.  I have had the most success on three standard nymph patterns the prince nymph, hare's ear, and pheasant tail.  I usually fish these in a size 12 or smaller, but large princes can work in the place of a big stone and at Dead Drift Fly Shop you can find these in the larger sizes that are often not found in other shops.

Large numbers of Brown and Rainbow Trout can be found spawning in the North Fork in late fall and winter.  This time of year is the perfect time to match the hatch using egg patterns.  While I have had little success catching browns on eggs, large numbers of rainbow trout fall prey to egg patterns every winter.  With eggs being my go to fly in the winter large numbers of fragile parr marked trout can be expected.  To decrease hooking mortality it is best to pinch the barb down on these flies, limiting handling time thereby ensuring good rainbow trout populations for the future.

During the summer and fall there are many terrestrial insects living near the river and often these bugs find themselves swimming.  Trout and smallmouth both can get keyed into feeding on these bugs, and a big hopper or beetle imitation is an exciting way to catch these fish.  Concentrate on areas out of the main current near overhanging trees and grass.  A small nymph or emerger can be tied to this fly making it an indicator as well as your point fly thereby increasing your chances of catching fish.

One of the best ways to catch big fish on the North Fork is to throw streamers.  Getting the streamer in front of a willing fish is as important as fly selection when streamer fishing.  From smaller maribou jigs, to big articulated streamers such as the circus peanut (yes that's a fly hanging from this rainbow's mouth), many patterns will catch trout.  More often than not it is a big brown trout that will eat your streamer, but thanks to the blue ribbon trout regulations here on the North Fork, there are plenty of big rainbows that are more than able to eat whatever you can throw at them.  While you are not guaranteed to catch fish when throwing streamers, usually the ones you do catch will be worth talking about.