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Fly Fishing Devon Rivers – April Flies

The Fox & Hounds Team
April 15, 2025

Tom vs Matt Fly Fishing Series - Our 5 chosen flies for April

This article is part of the Fly Fishing Devon Rivers Tom vs Matt series in which we discuss our selection of flies for each month, our different techniques and setups, the bug life we’re seeing on the rivers, favourite beats, etc. We’re definitely not experts, but we do put in hundreds of hours on the local rivers each year and hope that some of the information will be helpful to new anglers or those fishing with us for the first time.

March Review

With trout fishing opening on the 15th, March was a short month for brown trout on the River Taw. Overall, we found that fish were very particular, targeting only one fly on any given day and ignoring everything else. We were just under the 100 fish mark at the close of the month, with the majority of fish taken in the last week of the month. Of these, 60% were caught on Pheasant Tail Nymphs (14), around 20% on Partridge & Hare’s Ear Spider (14), 10% to a size 14 bead head black nymph Tom found at the local fly shop; and the remainder to salmon flies, GRHE’s and a couple on March Brown imitation dries.

You can read more about March fly fishing in our Opening Season Report 2025.

Fly Selection for April

For April, we each choose 5 flies for the competition. We can fish with anything of course, but only flies caught on our selection count towards our results. As a reminder of the rules, a distinct fly includes its pattern, size and weight; so for the competition, a size 14 is a different fly to a 16 and a bead head is different to unweighted.

Tom’s 5 Brown Trout Flies for April on Devon Rivers

So I did ask Tom to write his own commentary about his fly selection and rationale but since he didn’t get that to me in time, I’ll have to do it myself. After he sees what I’ve written, I’m pretty sure I’ll get his notes to me in time for May. In a word, rubbish! Total rubbish! Actually that’s not true, and in truth, I’m a little worried his selection is better than mine. Of course he has chosen two of my favourite nymphs, but that elk hair caddis is my biggest concern

Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph (14)

OK, so this was a solid choice. PTNs accounted for more than half the fish we caught in March and this fly will catch fish throughout the year. If he hadn’t chosen this before me, I would probably have selected the bead head as well. The weight could be a problem in the skinnier water but if we get a bit of rain later in the month, this fly could well account for the majority of his fish.

Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph (14)

Another good choice which I’m a bit peeved about as I like this tie better than my own. Tom’s supposed to be the dry fly guy, so we’ll need to add something to the rules about staying in your own lane.

Not sure if he’s planning to fish this under his Mega May (below) but for anyone fishing with us in April, we’d definitely suggested a few of these in different weights for the fly box.

Elk Hair Caddis (14)

If I had chosen a dry fly for this month, it probably would have been this one, possibly with an olive body, but the dark brown Tom has gone is arguably the best choice.

Of all the sedge patterns last year, the simple elk hair worked best. When the timing is right and the female Grannom are showing egg sacks, tying this with a bright apple-green butt can produce non-stop action, so do make sure to have a couple in your fly box throughout the spring.

Stimulator

This is a fly Tom started to fish at the end of last year, when things got a bit slower and he’d exhausted the usual suspects. He had some instant success with it and managed to pick up a few nice big fish when nothing else was working, and even hooked into a couple of sea trout. No idea why he’s included it in his selection, and he’s not here to tell me at the moment. I kind of doubt its going to produce fish in great numbers, but when he sends me a photo of a nice 16″ fish, I won’t be surprised if this is the fly he catches it on.

Mega May (12)

I don’t know a lot about this fly other than it’s Tom’s favourite fly, and it works. Not even sure if it has a name, but he calls it a “Mega May”. He gets it tied locally in a variety of colours and I’m sure there’ll be more information in months to come. It’s a very chunky Wulff style fly tied without a tail, normally on a jig style hook. It often comes with a tippet ring, but I think he’s down to his last fly or two so he may just be tying onto the bend. We’ll get a better photo when he gets his next order in and he tell tell us more about it.

Matt’s 5 Brown Trout Flies for April on The Taw River

I’m reasonably confident with my selection of flies for April despite eschewing any dries in favour of a strong nymph selection. I’ve made sure I have something in olive, brown, black and hare colours. I’m concerned about not having anything for a strong Grannom showing, but hoping the Olive GRHE will help. My choice of size and weight is based on the low river levels and to a lesser extent, trying not to overlap Tom too much. However if we get any significant rainfall and we get a two foot rise in the river, I’m hooped.

Partridge & Hare Spider (16)

I’d never fished this style of fly before this year. I came across it over on Andrew Overend’s website, and given its performance in March, I thought I’d include it for April.

I almost swapped it for an olive variant, but perhaps next month. I’ve gone with a 16 as I’m tying it on the longer shanked Kamasan B400.

Pheasant Tail Nymph (14)

This will likely be one of my flies in most months throughout the competition. When the fish turn onto it, you know you’re going to be into double digits.

I normally tie this a bit fuller, closer to the style of the one Tom selected (above), but this simple skinny, Sawyeresque style has been working well for me so far this year and suits the water levers and my style of down stream fishing.

Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear (14)

To be clear, the GHRE is a Matt fly and Tom is just crowding in on my action. By next month I suspect he’ll be all dries, but this is normally the time of year when I pull ahead in the competition, so I suspect he’s just trying to minimise the gap by copying!

I’ve opted for an unweighted version for the competition, but I carry these in sizes 12-16, bead head and plain to match the conditions of the water I’m fishing.

Bead Head Olive Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear (14)

I predict this will be my first or second most productive fly this month. It’s a good all rounder, closely resembling many of the darker mayfly nymphs we’re seeing under the rocks.

Again I tie this in a variety of sizes and weights and in the summer time, I’ve found that a red head version tied with a red plastic bead does very well, especially in 16 and 14.

Zebra Midge variant (14)

This may not technically be a Zebra Midge, but I tie this skinny nymph with simple black thread for the abdomen, a silver wire rib, a bit of straggly black dubbing with a strand or two of prism SLF, and a small bead head. I normally add a few strands of grizzly for a tail, which isn’t a part of the Zebra Midge recipe.

This fly probably accounted for more than 250 fish for me last year tied in sizes 12-16 in different weights.

In Conclusion

So that’s our two sets of choices of flies for fishing for brown trout on the river Taw and local rivers in Devon for April. We’ll report back at the end of the month to tell you how we got on, and let you know about any other flies that did particularly well.

This definitely isn’t the selection we’d be making for a typical April when we’d expect to have another foot or two of water in the river, a lot more colour and temperature six or seven degrees cooler! Despite the conditions, we’ll do our best to get out and brave the warm sunny weather and let you know how the local beats are fishing and we look forward to seeing you if you’re fishing with us this Spring!