Flies & Fly Tying
Starter Fly Box: Southeast Trout
Southern Appalachian mountain streams, wild brook trout and big tailwaters. Small flies, steep water, long season.
Southern Appalachian trout fishing is a genuinely under-covered niche, and it is some of the most pleasant small-stream fishing in America: steep rhododendron-choked creeks full of wild rainbows and brook trout, plus a handful of big cold tailwaters that fish completely differently.
The season is long — tailwaters fish all winter and mountain streams open early — and the flies are small. Most of the fishing happens within twenty feet of where you are standing.
The short list
| # | Pick | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orvis Essential Trout Fly SelectionPre-packaged assortmentBest Overall | A broad selection that suits small Appalachian water well | 7.8 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Umpqua Eastern Trout SelectionRegional assortmentRunner-Up | Eastern patterns, which overlap heavily with Appalachian water | 8.3 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | Orvis Essential Trout Nymph AssortmentNymphs onlyBest Value | Nymphs, for pocket water and tailwater fishing | 7.8 | Check price on Amazon |
1. Best Overall
Orvis Essential Trout Fly Selection
The right first fly purchase if you do not have a local shop to ask — a curated set rather than a hundred random flies.
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Pre-packaged trout fly assortment |
| Packaging | Sized to slip into a wader pocket or sling pack |
| Related sets | Essential Trout Dries and Essential Trout Nymph assortments sold separately |
The hardest part of buying your first flies is that the question has no general answer: the right fly depends on your river, the month and what is hatching. Faced with that, most beginners buy a hundred-fly bulk assortment, and most of those flies never get fished.
A curated assortment is the better compromise. Orvis's Essential Trout Fly Selection is a pre-packaged set sized to live in a wader pocket, and Orvis also sells dries-only and nymph-only versions if you already know which style your water calls for.
The honest caveat, and we would rather say it than sell you flies: if there is a fly shop within driving distance, go in and ask. Local knowledge beats any national selection, and it costs you nothing.
What we like
- Removes the single most paralyzing decision a beginner faces, which is which flies to buy
- Covers dries and subsurface patterns rather than only one style
- Orvis hooks and tying quality are consistent, which matters because a bent hook point is invisible until you miss a fish
What you give up
- Generic across the country rather than matched to your local water
- Costs more per fly than buying a bulk assortment
| Criterion | Score / 10 |
|---|---|
| Pattern choice | 8 |
| Hook quality | 9 |
| Beginner value | 8 |
| Local relevance | 5 |
| Value | 7 |
| Overall | 7.8 |
2. Runner-Up
Umpqua Eastern Trout Selection
The eastern counterpart to the Southern Rockies set, and the right one if you fish Appalachian or Northeast water.
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Scope | Patterns selected for eastern US trout water |
Eastern trout water runs to different insects than western water: more small mayflies, more caddis, a long dependable run of midges in winter. Umpqua's Eastern Trout Selection is weighted accordingly.
We can tell you less about exactly which patterns are in it than we can for the Southern Rockies sets, because Umpqua publishes less detail. Rather than guess at the contents, we would say: it is the right regional choice for eastern water, and our Northeast starter fly box page sets out the specific patterns and sizes we would want in it so you can check.
What we like
- Matched to eastern hatches, which are genuinely different from western ones
- Commercially tied by the company that supplies a lot of fly shop bins
What you give up
- Published pattern-by-pattern content is thinner than for the Southern Rockies sets, so you cannot check the list before buying
| Criterion | Score / 10 |
|---|---|
| Pattern choice | 8 |
| Hook quality | 9 |
| Beginner value | 8 |
| Local relevance | 9 |
| Value | 8 |
| Overall | 8.3 |
3. Best Value
Orvis Essential Trout Nymph Assortment
The assortment that catches the most fish, if you are willing to fish a fly you cannot see.
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Nymph-only pre-packaged assortment |
| Packaging | Pre-packaged set |
Trout take the large majority of their food underwater, as nymphs drifting in the current. That means a box of nymphs will out-fish a box of dry flies on most days on most rivers, and the Essential Trout Nymph Assortment is Orvis's pre-packed version of that box.
The trade is not price, it is engagement. Fishing a dry fly means watching a fish rise and eat something you can see, and it is the reason a lot of people fly fish at all. Nymphing means watching an indicator and setting the hook on a hesitation.
Our dry-dropper rig guide is the way to have both: a visible dry fly on the surface with a nymph hanging below it. If you buy one assortment, buy the mixed Essential Trout Fly Selection. If you buy two, these are the second.
What we like
- Trout do most of their feeding below the surface, so a nymph-weighted box out-fishes a dry-weighted one most days
- Narrower selection is easier to learn than a mixed box
What you give up
- No dry flies, so you cannot fish a rising fish without buying more
- Nymphing is slightly harder to learn than fishing a dry you can see
| Criterion | Score / 10 |
|---|---|
| Pattern choice | 8 |
| Hook quality | 9 |
| Beginner value | 8 |
| Local relevance | 5 |
| Value | 8 |
| Overall | 7.8 |
The box
| Water | Dries | Nymphs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small mountain streams | Parachute Adams 16, Elk Hair Caddis 16, foam beetle 16 | Beadhead Pheasant Tail 16, Hare's Ear 16 | Pocket water. Short casts, high-sticking, unselective wild fish |
| Wild brook trout headwaters | Royal Wulff 14-16, foam ant 16 | Pheasant Tail 18 | Tiny, steep, often above waterfalls. Visibility beats imitation |
| Tailwaters (Watauga, South Holston, Hiwassee) | Parachute Adams 18-20, sulfur 16-18 | Zebra Midge 18-20, Pheasant Tail 18 | Cold year-round, generation-dependent. Check release schedules before driving |
Fishing small steep water
- Move upstream. Trout face into the current, so approaching from downstream keeps you behind them and out of sight.
- Cast short. Ten to twenty feet is normal. Long casts in pocket water produce drag instantly.
- Hold the line off the water — rod tip high, as little line touching the surface as possible. This is 'high-sticking' and it is the whole technique.
- Fish every pocket. A plunge pool the size of a bathtub below a boulder will hold a fish, and you will walk past dozens of them unless you look.
This is why a shorter rod and a willingness to wade carefully matter more here than fly selection. The fish are not fussy; getting a natural drift in broken water is the skill.
Season and water temperature
Mountain streams warm up through summer and the fishing slows in the hottest weeks — fish early, fish high, or fish a tailwater. Spring and autumn are the best windows, and winter on a tailwater is genuinely productive.
Because so much of this fishing is warm-weather small-stream work, it is strong wet wading country: boots and quick-dry trousers rather than waders for much of the year, which saves a beginner a significant expense.
Regulations here are stream-specific — delayed-harvest water, wild-trout water and hatchery-supported water all carry different rules and seasons, and they differ across North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia. Check the state agency for the water you intend to fish.
Questions people actually ask
What flies work for Southern Appalachian trout?
A Parachute Adams 16, an Elk Hair Caddis 16, a foam beetle or ant 16, and a beadhead Pheasant Tail 16 for nymphing. On tailwaters go smaller — Zebra Midges and small sulfur patterns in 18 to 20.
Do I need waders for Southeast trout streams?
Often not. Small mountain streams run warm enough through much of the year that wading boots and quick-dry trousers are more comfortable than waders. Tailwaters are cold year-round and are the exception.
What is delayed-harvest water?
A regulation category used in parts of the region where a stream is managed catch-and-release with artificial lures for part of the year and harvest is permitted in another part. The dates and gear restrictions are set by the state agency and change, so check the current rules for the specific stream.
Why do tailwater levels change so fast?
Because flow is controlled by dam generation rather than by rainfall. When a generator comes online the river can rise quickly and become unwadeable. Always check the day's generation schedule before you commit to a spot.
Where these figures come from
Read next
Northeast Box
Starter Fly Box: Northeast Trout
Patterns and sizes for Northeast trout streams, with the eastern assortment that covers them.
Flies & Fly Tying
What Flies to Use for Trout
A repeatable method for choosing a fly: read the water, match size first, and know what to do when nothing shows.
Waders & Boots
Do I Need Waders for Fly Fishing?
Above about 65 °F water, no — and this page is here to save you a few hundred dollars.
Best Nymphs
Best Nymphs for Trout
Four nymph patterns that catch trout almost anywhere, plus the nymph-only assortments worth owning.