I guess it depends on what you're getting in to. Something that happens around here in late April into May is the smelt runs from the lakes up into the rivers. They go to spawn and the trout and ll salmon are not far behind. Sometimes good smelt streamer patters work like the winni smelt, frost blue smelt, grey ghost, etc.
Don't forget about wooly buggers either.
Early spring you'll find quill Gordons, blue winged olives, and tiny black caddis flies sort of in that order. That's often followed by the hendrickson hatches we have. I like carrying bwo and hendrickson emerger patterns as well as some nymphs. If the streamers aren't working, there's nothing coming off the water, and the nymphs aren't producing, a soft hackle wet fly is ideal. It can be a good fly when it seems that nothing in particular is going on.
