The Mayfly dry fly patterns are some of the important fly patterns in the world for fly fishermen. With over 2500 varieties of Mayflies, most of the modern Dry Fishing Fly Patterns are tied to imitate some sort of Mayfly.
Watch for these insects on the water where ever you fish, they have upright wings and are highly visible.
On hot days you will most likely see them in the morning, or in the evening when it cools off.
On cooler days you will see them in the early afternoon or in the evening. Some of the best hatches will be seen on overcast days almost at anytime of the day. On streams that are open all year there will generally be some sort of Mayfly hatch in every month of the year.
Mayfly Dry Fly Patterns emulate the two adult phases of the Mayfly. The two phases are the Dun Phase and the Spinner stage. The mayfly emerges from the water in the Dun phase. This phase will last 1 to 4 days, then the Mayfly will change into the Spinner stage. It is the Spinner stage where mating takes place.
The male spinners will form a swarm, the female flies into the swarm and is caught by one of the males. Mating takes place, the female deposits her eggs on the surface of the water or crawls under the water and deposits her eggs on the bottom. After the female deposits her eggs she falls or drifts to the surface of the water. In the spinner stage of life the Mayfly has no mouth, and cannot eat. This phase of life only lasts about a day. Wherever you live and fish you should carry some Mayfly dry fly patterns in you fly box. The Mayfly patterns are separated into several different categories as follows.
There are the Blue Wing Olive Mayfly dry fly patterns;
| Blue Winged Olive Bunny | Blue Winged Olive |
| Comparadun Slate/Olive | Blue Winged Olive Cripple |
| Blue Winged Olive | Sparkle Dun Baetis |
| Blue Winged Olive Comparadun Baetis | Blue Winged Olive Sparkle Dun Baetis/Olive |
| Blue Winged Olive Sparkle Dun Slate/Olive | Blue Winged Olive Spinner Foam |
| Blue Winged Olive, Spinner | Hen Wing Blue Winged Olive Spinner Xelon |
| Blue Winged Olive Thorax | Blue Winged Olive Thorax Med Dun Wing |
| Blue Winged Olive Traditional | Blue Winged Olive Tube |
| Blue Winged Olive Vis-A-Dun | Blue Winged Olive Zelon Cripple |
There are also a few parachute flies in this category.
| Blue Winged Olive Parachute | Blue Winged Olive Parachute Dun Post |
The next category of patterns is the Callibaetis group of Mayfly dry fly patterns. They include;
| Callibaetis CDC | Callibaetis Comparadun |
| Callibaetis Dun Sparkle | Callibaetis Dun Thorax |
| Callibaetis Spinner Foam | Callibaetis Spinner Xelon |
| Light Cahill |
In this category there also a few parachute flies including;
| Parachute Hares Ear Olive | Callibaetis Parachute |
| Callibaetis Parachute Partridge Post | Hendrickson Parachute |
Another important category of Mayfly dry fly patterns that you should consider are the Gray Drake patterns. Some of these include;
| Gray Drake Comparadun | Gray Drake Cripple |
| Gray Drake Dun Thorax | Gray Drake Sparkle Dun |
The parachute patterns in this group are;
| Gray Drake Parachute | Gray Drake Paradrake |
There is also a Green Drake category of Mayflies. Some of the patterns in this are;
| Green Drake Comparadun | Green Drake Cripple |
| Green Drake Sparkle Dun | Green Drake Thorax |
| Green Drake Wulff |
The parachute patterns in this group include;
| Green Drake Parachute | Green Drake Paradrake |
The next category of Mayfly patterns is the Mahogany category. Some of the fly patterns in this category include;
| Mahogany CDC | Mahogany Spinner Foam |
| Mahogany Comparadun | Mahogany Dun Sparkle |
| Mahogany Dun Thorax |
The parachute patterns are represented by the Mahogany Parachute.
Another category of Mayfly patterns is the Pale Morning Dun Patterns. In this category there is;
| Light Cahill | Marabou Cripple Limestone |
| Pale Morning Dun Comparadun Cream | Pale Morning Dun Bunny |
| Pale Morning Dun CDC | Pale Morning Dun Comparadun Pale Yellow |
| Pale Morning Dun Sparkle Dun Cream/Cream | Pale Morning Dun Sparkle Dun Pale Yellow/Brown |
| Pale Morning Dun Thorax | Pale Morning Dun Traditional |
| Pale Morning Dun Tube | olywing Spinner Cream |
| Rusty Spinner Foam | Rusty Spinner Hen Wing |
| Pale Morning Dun | Zelon Cripple |
| Rusty Spinner Xelon Wing |
Some of the Parachute patterns in this group include;
| Hendrickson Parachute | Pale Morning Dun Parachute |
| Pink Albert Parachute |
The last but equally important group of Mayfly patterns is the Trico flies. This group of flies includes;
| Trico Spinner Foam Female | Trico Spinner Xelon Female |
| Trico Spinner Xelon Male | Trico Thorax |
| Trico Parachute |