Flies, Flies, Flies: What Is the Difference

Flies! We're not talking about buzzing around your head and landing on your food flies. We're talking about fly fishing flies to land that catch! Dry and wet flies, but what is the difference between the two?

 Most new anglers struggle with the difference between wet and dry flies and what they are. There were clearly defined lines as to what those were. However, over the years, that has changed with the emergence of nymphs, poppers, and streamers. Wet flies are considered to be flies that are below the surface, and dry flies are above the surface. With the emergence of different types of flies, those lines are no longer clearly drawn, as not all subsurface flies are wet, nor are all surface flies dry.

 Let's discuss wet flies. What is a wet fly? Wet flies are winged fly-fished subsurface, or just below the surface. Wet flies are an imitation of emerging aquatic insects or small minnows. The imitation will typically be of more than one food source or hatch. Wet flies can imitate mayflies, stoneflies, trout fry, and nymphs. You can also see wet flies as spiders, hackled wets, winged wets, bumbles, and salmon wets. Wet flies imitate crawfish, leeches, and various minnows.

 Let's look at dry flies now. What is a dry fly? Dry flies are meant to float on the surface of the water. They can imitate aquatic, terrestrial, or organic food sources. Dry flies typically consist of stiff hackles, deer or elk hair, yarn, foam, and some synthetics. Poppers and gurglers are flies that fall into the emergence category; they are not necessarily dry flies, but they are surface flies.

How do you tell the difference between wet and dry flies? The most prudent way is to use a fly pattern, such as the hackles on it. Dry flies' hackles tend to be stiff and full, whereas wet flies are softer and sparser. Some wet fly hackles can consist of hen, partridge, pheasant, starling, and peacock hackles. Dry-fly hackles can be made from rooster capes or neck hackles.