Top 10 New Dry Flies for 2023 - posted by Fulling Mill

We’re counting down the months until we’re standing in a river with bugs hatching all around us with trout rising to them. Whether you find yourself fishing mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, or another bug entirely we added many new dries to our range that’ll help you fool trout this season. We added many dozens of patterns, but follow along for our top 10 new dry flies for 2023.

Tom Rosenbauer’s Sneaky Spinner

Designed by Signature Tier Tom Rosenbauer, the Sneaky Spinner is a rusty spinner variation on a bent shank hook. This imitates a spent mayfly in a realistic manner and proven for very fussy trout. Because trout see a lot of conventional straight shanked hooks, the added bend will often fool them where a standard hook will not.

Burkus’ Pink MD

Ken Burkholder gave us this Pink PMD pattern and it’s a good one. Barred mallard for the tail, a heavily segmented body and a good wing profile. This little dandy, when the time is right, is a killer fish catcher.

Burkus Brown Drake

Signature Tier Ken Burkholder has spent many years fishing the brown drake hatch, and he’s come up with some great imitations in the process. This year he added three of them; A dun, a cripple and a spinner. They all have their place in the hatch, and should be staples in your dry fly box.

Procter Active Green Drake Dun

Signature Tier Paul Procter is a dry fly specialist who lives in the UK. His Active Green Drake Dun is a fantastic representation of a freshly emerged dun that is drying its wings. This pattern is tied with a large wing profile, which mimics the act of the dun flapping its wings to dry them in preparation for flight. When fishing it, give it some twitches and hang on tight!

Keegan’s March Brown Kripple

Signature Tier Keegan Berrett gave us this Western March Brown cripple pattern, which he’s been fishing on the Henry’s Fork for years. When there’s a heavy hatch going on cripple patterns are usually the best way to go as fish key in on struggling insects. Usually they’re the easiest meal, so they’ll select them over more active adults.

Miller’s Clueless Caddis

Designed by Signature Tier Josh Miller, the Clueless Caddis gets it’s name from how it is intended to be used. To fish it, place it on a long dropper tag above a weighted nymph. This allows you to bounce it around like an egg laying caddis. When you do this, it looks a bit confused and clueless. Additionally, this method can trigger some truly explosive strikes from fish that aren’t even looking . Don’t be without these in your dry box.

Palomino Caddis

The guys at Fly Fish Food are at it again, this time with the Palomino Caddis. The name is derived from the extended body which is found on a Palomino Midge pattern. The design fits nicely into this caddisfly. A pearly body gives this pattern an attractor component, which triggers fish to eat. On top of that, the CdC and Elk Hair combo give this fly an extremely buggy profile.

Tom Rosenbauer’s Rabbit Foot Emerger

You’ve almost certainly heard of Tom Rosenbauer’s famous Rabbit’s Foot Emerger. Refined over the past 30 years, this pattern has proven it’s worth time and time again throughout the nation. It rides low in the surface film, and is extremely effective when representing an emerging insect.

Libby’s Golden Stone

Just as the Salmonfly version of this bug, this pattern is subtle in color compared to a lot of other flies on the market. Sometimes fish get a bit shy to the more vibrant patterns, which is when Libby’s Golden Stone really shines. Plus, is extremely buoyant and has an silhouette that fish will chase down.

Burkus’ Bearback Rider Salmon Fly

It has arrived! Ken Burkholder’s famous Bearback Rider, this time in a salmon fly coloration. A bombproof bug for fishing the Salmon fly hatch in the West. This high floating bug is one of the best imitations we’ve ever fished. Not only is it a sandwich of high floating foam, its knotted legs are set in just the right way to put that killer silhouette on the water which triggers explosive takes. You do not want to be without this pattern when you’re chasing those big bugs.