fly choice in spring

[spartan]

Hi larry,
I just got back from an evening trip to a nice river in NJ and there was a small hatch of something going on and the fish were rising pretty goood but i couldt get them to commit. It could be my tequnique(im pretty new to flyfishing im 15) or maybe i just couldnt match the hatch. Which dry fly patterns should i be using for the most part? Also, when do you know when to skip the dries and go to nymphs or streamers?
P.S. After 20 mins of no luck with the fly rod i switched to an ultralight spinning setup with a roostertail spinner and first cast to where the rising fish were i got a thick 18 inch brookie! my personal best NJ trout
Thank you, chris z

[dahlberg]

Hi S
My guess is that your fly was not presented with a good drag free drift, which is usually critical when presenting insect imitations. You might give small streamers a try if spinners are working!
You can often tell what stage of insect is being eaten by the type of rise. If you do a little googling you should be able to find lots of info about "rise forms".
best
L