Dry fly
Golden Stone
Big golden pocket-water mouthful
Trout · GraylingSurface
Large golden stonefly adult dry; a substantial early-summer floating mouthful in pocket water.
Fish this when
In early summer on freestone rivers with fast pocket water, when adult golden stoneflies are on the streamside bushes and occasionally blundering onto the surface.
Why it works
Its sheer bulk alone makes it worth a fish breaking cover for in fast water, offering the calorie-rich single mouthful that a hatch of small insects simply can't match.
Naturals it imitates
adult golden stonefly
Typical zone & fishable range
usually
Surface
Film
Subsurface
Deep
Setup sensitivity: medium
Quick facts
Tying difficulty
Intermediate