Part hopper, ant, beetle, gnat, and caddis, the Chimera is a do-it-all dry fly that was originally developed to target high country trout—specifically cutthroat and brookies in alpine lakes—but has since proven effective just about everywhere it’s been fished.

We cooked this fly up in our lab by combining portions of our favorite terrestrial patterns, the Griffith’s Gnat, and even elements of an Elk Hair Caddis. Because it represents a large swath of a trout’s diet on the surface, fish a Chimera as a searching pattern throughout most of the year, especially during warmer months.