My bead head fly box

I have listed this fly box first because its undoubtedly the most important of my river fly fishing boxes. I am a firm believer that when fishing rivers you have to get down to where the fish are holding and also that flies particularly in faster running water and must include “hot spots”. These flies satisfy both these requirements.

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My Bead Head Fly Box » Nymphs, Spiders,

Nymphs

The word nymph has of course two fly fishing meanings. The first is “Juvenile, sexually immature stage of certain insects, usually similar to the adult in form, and which require an intermediate stage before becoming an adult. Mayflies, Caddis flies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Stone flies and Midges are all insects that spend part of their life cycle in the water and have a nymph stage.” The second is flies tied to imitate the first i.e. “the nymphal stage of an insects life cycle”. I have narrowed down the selection of nymphs that I carry to just the list below. I note however that I have extended the population of flies that I carry in my nymph fly box to include my bead head spiders.

BBH fuzzy nymph

This is the lightest of my bead heads and has its place in both river and still water environments. In rivers they can be fished in the current with as little line drag as possible, can be retrieved at various speeds or can be fished on the drop or through the lift in slower water and pools. In still water that can be fished as an anchor fly in a team or alone.

Collared copper mary

I subscribe to a couple of British fly fishing magazines so its not surprising that I have been aware of “Mary” nymphs for quite a while. They are a recurring feature of many of the articles. I had tied and used them on and off for few years but they really didn’t come into their own until I became more proficient with short line nymphing and fishing faster rivers.

TBH brown mayfly nymph

This is one of a class of TBH caddis nymph flies that I like very much and is my favourite. A very generic representation of a caddis nymph tied on a Czech nymph type hook. A good buggy looking fly that also has a hot spot emerging wing of UV material. Caddis fly (or Sedge) are of the order Trichoptera and are common throughout the year but with the greater concentrations occurring from September through to March. They inhabit both running and still water and are a dominant food source for most trout often reputed to represent up to 70% of a trout’s diet.

TBH caddis nymphs

This generic representation of a caddis nymph tied on a Czech nymph type hook is one of my favourites. A good buggy looking fly that also has a subtle hot spot emerging wing of UV material. It’s such a good fly I carry it in a number of different colour options.

TBH CDC prince nymph

The bead head prince Cul-de-canard (CDC) nymph is a good buggy looking fly that is a variant of the original tie and has a form and function that in an “impressionistic” way incorporates the above shared characteristics. On top of that the CDC wing adds a lot of movement to the fly.

TBH cheeky

This as a good buggy looking fly that has the advantage of having its hot spot on each side of the fly. I like to fish it on my top dropper as an “anchor fly” with one or two lighter flies below.

TBH collared adams nymph

A very effective fly yet perhaps the simplest of bead heads to tie. I think its all about form and function and of course the hot spot added by the collar. Like most of my bead heads I tie it with a fair bit of weight and nearly always use the heavier of my flies on my top dropper if fishing two flies.

TBH flash back nymph

Flash back nymphs have been around for a long time but they still work. In my view the only trick associated with this fly is to select an appropriate flash material for the flash back. I favor several strands of sparkle flash or similar material as from experience I have found that a single strand of flat Lurex or tinsel isn’t all that durable.

TBH pheasant tail nymph variant

The Pheasant Tail Nymph is a New Zealand pattern designed to suggest a small “Deleatidium Vernal” Mayfly. Whilst that family doesn’t extend to Australia I suggest you still carry Pheasant Tail Nymphs or one or two of its variants in a couple of sizes because they are very buggy and particularly useful in faster water.

Spiders

I am a firm believer that when fishing rivers you have to get down to where the fish are holding and also that flies particularly in faster running water should include “hot spots”. Bead head spiders are an important part of my bead head ‘nymph’ fly box because that help satisfy both of those criteria. I like to fish them either on the point or first dropper and find that are a great adjunct to a second weighted fly or an unweighted nymph, wee wet or spider.

Hot butt spider – Chatto’s tie

Bead Head spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape, the peacock herl body, the movement of the soft hackle and the trigger of the hot butt often produce a hit. This mid water fly is suggestive of a drowned beetle. I tie the hot but in both fluoro fire orange and chartreuse as I find they are the best two trigger colours for trout. The orange works best either end of the river season and chartreuse comes into its own during the middle of the season when cased caddis are more prevalent.

Hybrid spider nymph – Chatto’s original

I carry 4 different hybrid spider nymphs in two sizes and find them particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the team. Hybrid spider nymphs are good buggy looking flies and the tail and soft hackle provide plenty of movement. I carry three versions of my hybrid spider: pheasant tail, caddis and brown and peacock.

TBH dark magic – Chatto’s original

Hybrid spider nymphs are good buggy looking flies and the tail and soft hackle provide plenty of movement. One of these hybrid spider nymphs on the top dropper and two unweighted spiders or nymphs below can be a real tease for trout.

TBH thread spiders

Bead Head thread spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape, the movement of the soft hackle often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. I carry both orange and chartreuse versions of this fly.