Ordered a 6 weight rod today (along with reel and lines) to start fly fishing again.

Now can anyone please recommend their top ten (that are available online):

1. Small Stillwater flies

2. River flies


Basically after a small selection for rivers and stillwaters and looking for some successful patterns.

Also where is a good place to buy the flies online please?

Have no idea what is available on-line, nor about river flies, nor about where to get them, but since you're not being overwhelmed with info, here's my top 10 small stillwater patterns:

1. Black buzzers
2. pheasant tail nymph
3. Hare's ear nymph
4. cat's whisker
5. black cat's whisker
6. muddler minnow
7. Viva
8. green tailed zulu
9. Alexandra
10. pearly invicta

No room for dries in my box... yet.

Diawl Bachs
Buzzers (Expoxy and some lighter ones)
Damsel Fly Nymphs
PTN
GRHE

That will probably do you for stillwaters. Oh and some bobs bits and bristol hoppers for when they are on the surface

For rivers
Dries: Olive CDC emerger, CDC and Elk, Sparkle dun, polywing olive spinner, foam beetle

Wets/nymphs: Partridge and orange, snipe and purple, Hares ear goldhead, Pheasant tail nymph, Olive Woolly Bugg*r

That should get you started. The most useful sizes on rivers are 14-18 in my view.

have a look at the www.essentialfly.co.uk they looked after me for years before tying my own. good quality at a keen price. good luck, jon.

On small stillwaters my three most successful flies have been.
1 - PTN
2 - A small (12-14) lure made with some left-over green mohair from the wife's knitting stash and some copper wire as a rib.
3 - Blobs - some with marabou wings and tails.

A distant fourth place would go to a buoyant maggot imitation made from a foam back scrubber I found in Poundland.

On a good day almost anything might work.

__________________
Plusnet/Madasafish > Liars to the internet community

Your best just to ask the fishery owner what fishes best

Good alround flies for both are:

Bibio, (one of the most versatile flies there is).
Adams
Kilkhammer
Daddy Long Legs
Zulu
Grizly Wulff
CDC Emerger
Hares Ear, (various including gold head).
Pheasant Tail, (various including gold head).


In addition to the above stillwater flies I wouldn't be without are:

Montanna, (various, particularly green fritz and goldhead).
Dawsons Olive, (std and goldhead).
Blakestone Buzzer
Shipmans Buzzer
Cats Whisker, (Standard Black and White + goldhead).

My list
Black, Olive & Orange Suspender Buzzer
Black, Olive & Hare Lug Shipmans
Black, Olive & Claret Gold Head Hoppers
Black Humpback Buzzer a variation of the suspender is all I'm saying these flies will catch you loads of fish in the upcoming warmer months they work for me every year.

If you let us know what river(s) you intend fishing it would help with specific fly selection.

This time of year on the upper Wye and Irfon for example, I've found that a goldhead GRHE (gold-ribbed hare's ear) in size 14 is all I need in normal water height, going up to a size 12 if the water is a bit high or coloured.