5 Best Flies for Trout in South Dakota

Caddisflies are the dominant surface insect on Black Hills streams from late spring through fall, and the Elk Hair Caddis in tan is the fly that covers this hatch reliably on Spearfish Creek and Rapid Creek. The Black Hills' limestone-influenced streams have good caddis populations, and the Elk Hair Caddis is the searching dry that works even when the fish aren't actively rising.

Tan in #14–16 is the workhorse color for Black Hills caddis. The fly's durability and high float make it well-suited to the moderate pocket water and riffle sequences typical of these smaller streams. Work it through likely holding water - the tail of riffles, the edges of current seams, and behind larger rocks - for consistent results.

The Parachute Adams is the all-purpose searching dry for Black Hills streams when you're not sure what the fish are eating. It suggests mayflies broadly - PMDs, BWOs, and other species that are present throughout the season on Black Hills limestone streams - and its white post makes it visible in the broken water of faster sections.

On Rapid Creek running through Rapid City, where the stream is accessible to many anglers, the fish see various patterns regularly. The Adams works well as a non-committal searching fly when hatches aren't obvious, producing fish that won't commit to more specific patterns during the slower parts of the day.

The Pheasant Tail Nymph is the year-round subsurface staple on Black Hills streams. During BWO and PMD hatches in spring and fall, a #16–18 PT Nymph fished as a dropper below a dry fly covers the subsurface feeding that often dominates early and late in a hatch. Between hatches, it produces consistently throughout the day in the deeper runs and pockets where trout hold.

Spearfish Creek and Castle Creek both benefit from the dry-dropper approach - a floating dry fly with a PT Nymph hanging below it covers two levels of the water column simultaneously, which is efficient on these smaller streams where fish can be spread throughout the water column.

The larger brown trout in Spearfish Creek and Castle Creek's deeper pools respond well to streamers, especially in spring when water is still cold and in October when big browns become aggressive before spawning. A #8 olive or black Woolly Bugger stripped through the deep pools and undercut banks is the approach for targeting the creek's largest fish.

Black Hills streams aren't large enough for extensive streamer fishing, but targeting specific deep pools and undercut banks with a Woolly Bugger produces the biggest fish of a fishing trip consistently. The element of surprise - a large fly where subtle nymphs have been presented all day - often triggers aggressive takes from fish that ignored everything else.

The Black Hills streams have good populations of stonefly nymphs and caddis pupae in their rocky, fast sections - the food sources the Bead Head Hare's Ear imitates most convincingly. Its rough, textured body creates movement in the current that triggers strikes from trout that may ignore cleaner, more precise imitations.

On French Creek in Custer State Park, the Hare's Ear is particularly effective in the park's rocky, faster sections where stonefly nymphs are abundant. A gold-bead #14 Hare's Ear high-sticked through the deep pockets behind boulders covers the zone where the park's brown trout hold throughout the season.