1) By Beadhead

Does beadhead color matter? Does a gold ribbed Hare’s Ear have to be gold beadhead, or can it be silver, or can it even be black nickel or some other color?  

The answer to bother questions is a resounding ‘yes.’ Generally, you can tie most patterns with whatever beadhead color you think is best.  Of course, that begs the follow-up question — if beadhead color doesn’t matter, is there a better use for it? The answer to that question is also a resounding ‘yes.’ Using beadhead colors to help determine weight or composition of the fly is a great way to maximize the use of the beadhead color.

I — like the rest of the world — have a tough time telling the difference between a tungsten and a beadhead in a similar sized fly when I’m out on the river. Weighing both in my hands usually helps, but after a couple beers and a couple hours in the hot sun, my senses are somewhat dulled. Making everything, well…harder. 

So, when you inevitably face a similar situation, make finding your fly of choice easy by picking only certain colors for certain compositions. Tungstens only come in silver, gold, and black nickel in most locations anyway, so I usually make all of my tungsten BH flies black nickel. I don’t buy anything else. That way, I know if I see black nickel, that I’m looking at my tungsten BH. Then, I size my beadheads from left to right in my fly box to keep sizes in perspective. This makes it even easier to select heavy, medium, or light BH flies for the water I’m fishing at any given time. 

2) By Hotspot

More often than not, the flies’ thread color doesn’t matter — it’s typically covered with other materials.  

However, there are certain patterns where thread colors matter a lot — for instance, a zebra midge, in which case the tread acts as the primary color. In both cases, however, you can end your tie by whip finishing the head of the fly with a specific shade. With flies that need less bling and a little more camelflage, you could utilize black, or neutral colors as the whip finish thread.

In my own experience I’ve had a lot of success using red as a hotspot color. Simply because it’s easily recognizable. I typically use a shade of red to designate when my fly has underbody wire wraps, and is exceptionally heavy. That said, I know other use black as the head on their dry flies that are of certain sizes. A little whip finish doesn’t seem to spook fish even on the toughest of tailwaters, and can help anglers match the hatch and know their sizes better with dry flies. Or, weight with nymphs. 

3) By Hook Color

Most hooks are made in bronze, stainless steel, and black nickel finishes. So, when you’re tying your flies, you can utilize hook colors to help you recall hook size, weight of flies, beadhead size, or composition. This method is a pretty solid one, especially if the above choices aren’t your cup of tea. 

4) By Parachute Color

Parachute color is another great way to help you recall properties on dry flies.  Dry flies don’t always have the luxury of easily recognizable beadheads or hook spots, so keeping with certain parachute colors for certain hook types, materials, or fly sizes can help you remember what you initially tied and for what purpose.

5) By Markers

That’s right — good old markers. You can use permanent markers of any kind to mark up your flies so you can remember their properties. This works really well for delicate dry flies. Simply because, more often than not, you don’t have the ability to code by other means like parachute color or hook color.  Using a small dot or two on the top of the dry fly — head or wings — works great.  The fish won’t ever see it AND you can pick it easily from your box + fish with confidence.

Some anglers really feel that beadhead color matters, or that certain parachute colors can spook fish. And that’s absolutely fine, stick with what you like and organize by hook color or any of the other five ways I mention above.  All work for their own application, and it’s a matter of preference and balancing out what you can and can’t change on a pattern. Sure, this may seem like splitting hairs to a few of you, but trust me, it can make a huge difference in your ability to select the right fly on the water. So do yourself a favor, and take the guesswork out of it! Give color coding your fly box a try, and in turn, you’ll have the ability to choose flies with confidence AND catch more fish. It’s that simple.