My 9 best trout flies for June on the beautiful Welsh Dee

Interested in “Go-To” trout flies for June that will also catch grayling while fishing on the Welsh Dee and other rivers in the North West?

Well, you’ll find this post useful and interesting. Especially, if you are a newcomer to river fly fishing.

Initially, I thought it would be a challenge to put together a list of my best trout flies for June because of the variety of flies I’ve seen in June during 30 years of fly fishing rivers in the North West:

However, after analyzing my detailed fishing log, I was surprised that selecting the best-performing trout flies for June was easy because…. 

Seventy-five percent of the June trout I have caught fell for one of the three wet flies: 

• 35% on a black hopper (size 14)
• 25% on a March Brown spider (size 14)
• 15 % on Iron blue dun (wet) (sizes 14 & 16)

Therefore, my default recommendation would be to start with a three-fly cast on a 3 lb copolymer (point: black hopper #14; middle dropper: March Brown spider #14; top dropper: Iron Blue #14). 

If you are new to fly fishing and want to fish one fly, then it would have to be a…

“size 14 black hopper”

Because it has accounted for most of the fish I have caught during June on all rivers in the North West.

Black Hopper (wet)

• Hook:       Kamasan B170 size 14
• Thread:    Black UNI-Thread 8/0
• Body: Black seals fur substitute
• Rib:           Uni Pearl Mylar #14 (1/32)
• Legs:         Knotted black pheasant tail

Tying Instructions

March Brown Spider

• Hook:      Kamasan B170 size 14
• Thread:   Burnt orange UNI-Thread 8/0
• Body: Fox squirrel dubbing
• Rib:          Fine gold wire
• Hackle:    Brown partridge neck feather

Tying Instructions

Iron blue dun wet fly

• Hook:      Kamasan B170 size
• Thread:   Grey UNI-8/0
• Tail:         Iron blue cock fibres
• Tag:         Red UNI thread -6/0
• Body:      Tan UNI-Thread 8/0
• Wing:      Starling
• Hackle:   Iron blue hen

How to fish wet flies during summer

When the Welsh Dee is at its summer level, your wet fly fishing efforts are best focused in two places:

• the fast water leading into pools, and
• the tails of pools

Because more often than not that is where the trout will be lying.

Now let’s consider what to do if the above approaches fail to catch trout and grayling.

Backup trout flies for June:

Dry flies – grayling and trout flies for June

When trout and grayling are preoccupied with taking dry flies, the best approach is to try and match the hatch. As a beginner, this can be a difficult task which is made easier with this mobile-friendly guide on…

• Flies for river fishing

If that doesn’t work, I’ve found that a deadly method for these fussy fish is a double dry fly set-up consisting of a:

• sight fly – size 12, elk hair caddis (cream tag), and
• trailing fly – size 18 or 20, Griffith’s Gnat – 18” behind the sight fly, or
• trailing fly – size 18 or 20 black gnat

Elk hair caddis

• Hook: Kamansan B170 (#14 & 12)
• Thread: 8/0 Burnt orange
• Tag: Cream Antron Yarn
• Body: Fox Squirrel dubbing (WAPSI)
• Rib: Gold wire
• Wing: Natural elk hair

Tying Instructions

Griffith’s Gnat

• Hook:      Kamasan B170 (#18 & 20)
• Thread:   Black UNI 8/0
• Body:      Peacock herl
• Hackle:   palmered Grizzle cock

Tying Instructions

Black Gnat

• Hook – Kamasan B100 (#16 to 20)
• Thread – Black 8/0
• Wing post – Cream Antron yarn
• Body – Black 8/0 head
• Thorax – black dubbing
• Hackle – black cock

Tying Instructions

On the rare occasions when all the above has failed, let’s now consider what might avoid a blank…

Czech nymphs – trout flies for June

Czech / Euro nymphing is not everyone’s cup of tea, but when the fish are feeding on the riverbed, I find it the best way to catch them.

Consider the following scenario…

 “After some great sport on wet or dry flies in the morning, the river turns dead from mid-day until the sun starts to fall in the evening.”

How do you fill in the hours until evening?

• Go to the pub for a long lunch and rest – not a bad option, or
• Search for where fish have gone.

If it’s the latter, then you will need to switch to nymphing the deep, shady pockets of water, where you will find trout and grayling feeding on small nymphs and caddis.

Over years of practice, I found fishing a couple of sizes 16 or 18 nymphs above a heavy (ca. 4-5mm) tungsten bead point nymph works well.

Normally, one of the following small nymphs will produce trout of grayling, from the deep:

• size 16 red nymph with a 2 mm tungsten bead
• size 16 Hare’s ear nymph with a 2 mm tungsten bead
• size 16 Quill nymph with a 2 mm tungsten bead

Hare’s Ear Nymph

• Hook:        HENDS BL 454 #16 or 18
• Bead:         2mm tungsten (natural, copper or gold)
• Thread:     Brown UNI-Thread 8/0
• Body: Hare’s Ear dubbing
• Tail: Cul De Leon

Peacock Quill nymph

• Hook:        HENDS BL454 #16 or 18
• Bead:         2mm tungsten (natural or copper)
• Thread:     Brown UNI-Thread 8/0
• Thorax:     Fox squirrel dubbing       
• Body:         Stripped peacock

Red nymph

• Hook:          HENDS BL454 #16 or 18
• Bead:          2mm tungsten (natural or copper)
• Thread:       red UNI-Thread 8/0
• Body:           red UNI-Thread 8/0
• Thorax:      Fox squirrel dubbing
• Wing case   Pearl Mylar 1/8”

Below is a list of posts that you’ll find interesting, which cover how I have used the advice for fishing on the Welsh Dee in June

• Fishing in June on 2 beautiful Welsh river
• June fishing report Welsh Dee & River Ribble: beautiful trout and grayling
• Exploration of Midland Fly Beat of the Welsh Dee
• Mayfly fishing on the beautiful River Derwent

All the above advice is based on my fishing records, and it’s a reliable starting point for a newcomer to fishing the Welsh Dee and other rivers in the North West.

If you are interested in fishing the Welsh Dee it has some excellent Day Ticket water. Also, it would be great to hear of any trout flies for June that you wouldn’t be without.