Just in case you’re wondering, the true definition of a “wet” fly is not one that has just been cast into the water. Larger and sleeker than dry flies, yet smaller and more intricately colored than many streamers, this style of trout fly comes from a centuries-old fishing heritage. The first wet flies were no more than chicken or duck feathers roughly attached to hooks with little form or fashion, yet they would attract fish when natural baits would not.
As the fish have become more “lure educated” over the decades, the fly tiers and fly casters have kept changing and updating wet fly patterns and fishing methods. In Maine, the style and tradition of angling with wet flies has taken a back seat to trolling streamers and dapping dry flies. But during summer months, the vibrant colors of a well-presented and retrieved wet fly on regional woods-lined brooks will take larger trout than other types of flies.
Many of the flies have vivid reds, blues, yellows and greens that resemble no insect or aquatic bait, yet the trout strike them readily. There is an old wet fly pattern called a trout fin, whose red and white swept-wing style came from anglers using an actual trout fin attached to a hook. The trout fin pattern was and is a very productive offering and should be in each fly box.
The red and white of a Parmachene Belle and Royal Coachman, yellow and red of a professor, green and red of a grizzly King, and the blue, red and yellow of a silver doctor are the rainbow-colo.
