The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Dry

Madame X

Insect Species Icon Hopper, Little Black Stone, Green Stone and 7 others
Difficulty Icon Medium - 7-10 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Straight shank, down eye, dry fly hook
  • Thread: UTC 140
  • Tail: Natural Deer Hair
  • Wing: Natural Deer Hair
  • Head: Natural Deer Hair
  • Legs: White Rubber Legs
  • Thread: Substitute colors to be prepared for anything
  • Deer Hair: Try dyed deer hair for a look that the trout haven’t seen before!
  • Legs: Add color or go totally nuts with some crazy legs!

The Madame X contains a very small niche for substitutions compared to other flies. Add a calf hair parachute or Hi-Vis yarn to make a Parachute Madame X for better visibility.

The Madame X is a great go-to fly for surface activity. The Madame X can be tied buoyant, ride high and bring a lot of ambush browns out to play! This is an awesome searching pattern that will bring any fish looking up to the net. The Madame X can be an excellent hopper imitation in addition to the caddis and stones it readily imitates, especially during times of wind.

As with some flies, the Madame X can get waterlogged fairly easy and sink. The key to catching fish is keeping those dry flies high; a sunk dry fly is a lot less likely to get eaten than a “more natural” surface-riding dry. Be sure to use liquid floatant at the start of your day and allow your fly to absorb the floatant for 15 minutes before use. Any time the Madame X goes down after that, use our Dry Dust to instantly bring it back up. The Madame X can also be hard to see, so opt for the Parachute Madame X in times of low light.

Caddis

General Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Caddis
Sizes: #10 - #22

Golden Stonefly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: Northwest
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: East
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: Midwest
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16

Green Stone

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, Midwest
Green Stone
Sizes: #12 - #18

Hopper

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East, Southeast, Midwest
Hopper
Sizes: #6 - #16

Little Black Caddis

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Little Black Caddis
Sizes: #14 - #20
Region: Northwest
Little Black Caddis
Sizes: #14 - #20
Region: East, Midwest
Little Black Caddis
Sizes: #14 - #20
Region: Southeast
Little Black Caddis
Sizes: #14 - #20

Little Black Stone

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East
Little Black Stone
Sizes: #14 - #20
Region: Midwest
Little Black Stone
Sizes: #14 - #20

October Caddis

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East
October Caddis
Sizes: #8 - #12

Salmonfly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Salmonfly
Sizes: #6 - #14

Skwala Stone

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Skwala Stone
Sizes: #12 - #16

Yellow Sally

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Midwest
Yellow Sally
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Northwest
Yellow Sally
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: East, Southeast
Yellow Sally
Sizes: #12 - #18

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and all the FlyBrary Content.