Meet my friend Amy. She is actually not an Ant imitation at all. Instead, she is my favorite stonefly and grass hopper imitation to use for Trout outside of Alaska. Originated by the legendary Jack Dennis in Jackson Wyoming, this general attractor should be in your fly box in a range of colors and sizes. It can be fished alone as a single dry or as the dry in your dry dropper set up. It can be fished on a dead drift off the bank or you can give it a twitch to imitate a struggling hopper. There really isn’t a bad way to fish Amy. My personal favorite time to fish it is right now on Western Trout streams as a Stonefly Imitation. This large bugs offer trout a big meal and one that they can see in high water which is important because the bug usually hatches towards the tail end of run off. This fly floats like a boat and gets it done for both selective and aggressive trout.
When I fish Amy, I like a #10 with the green body but you can switch up the chenille, foam, or legs to give the custom color scheme of your liking. The buoyant pattern floats like a boat which is great for hanging a heavy dropper like a girdle bug off the back, just don’t tell my buddy Monroe..
Monroe Coleman is a good friend and guide in Colorado. Amy is his favorite dry fly and for good reason. But whenever I would fish it with a dropper off the back, he would yell at me from across the river, “What are you doing pulling Amy’s ass down!?” 🙂 Regardless of your opinions on fishing a dry dropper set up, make sure you have plenty of Amy’s in your fly box and make sure you fish it often!
More on Trout:
Leave a Reply