Wet fly
Wet Alder
Drowned alder swing
Trout · GraylingSubsurface
Traditional soft winged wet for the early-summer Alder — fished subsurface on the swing or as a dropper; the drowned adult is taken more than the live one.
Fish this when
In early summer when Alder Flies are hatching along steadier reaches, fished across and down on the swing or trailed behind a bigger wet as a dropper.
Why it works
The soft hackle breathes and collapses in the current the way a sodden, half-submerged Alder does, and it's the drowned adult — not the clumsy flier — that trout actually key on.
Naturals it imitates
drowned adult Alder Fly
Typical zone & fishable range
usually
Surface
Film
Subsurface
Deep
Setup sensitivity: medium
Quick facts
Tying difficulty
Intermediate