{{start}}

This fly is a variant of the original prince nymph which has its origins around 1965 and in California USA. It seems that it was probably developed by western USA angler Jim Black as an extension of his fly collection that incorporated biot quills. His prince nymph was probably tied as a Hellgrammite imitation.

Hellgrammites, commonly known as Dobsonflies and other members of the Insecta Class of Invertebrates such as the Stoneflies and Dragon flies are well represented in the diet of Australian and New Zealand trout and between these classes of Insecta there are something like 230 species in Australasia. Collectively they are generally "clingers", "climbers" or burrowers" in habit. Many of the  pupa of these insects have common characteristics including twin tail like appendages, coloration ranging from dark olive through to brown, long segmented bodies often with lateral gills, and in the area we associate with the thorax of an insect legs and or emerging wings.

The bead head  Cul-de-canard (CDC) prince 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.

Tie them in a couple of sizes as members of the Insecta family can range from less than 1cm right up to 3cm but with insects in the 1 cm to 2 cm range being the more common.

Materials

Process

A	Most beads have a large opening at one end and a smaller opening at the other. Slide a  bead over the point of the hook small opening first and position it behind the eye of the hook. Beads for eyes and or weight Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks If your going to add extra weight do that now. . . I always do because I want this fly to sink quickly and stay in the zone longer. Options for adding extra weight to flies Tie in a biot at the start of the bend of the hook and each side of the hook shank. The V tail should be roughly 1/2 to 2/3 the length of the hook shank. Tie in a length of flat tinsel in at the 10% position i.e. just a little up from where the biot V tail is tied in.

B	Tie in 4 peacock herl along the hook shank all the way to the bend of the hook.

C	Form the herl into a herl rope. Roping peacock herl Wind the herl rope first behind where the tinsel is tied in and then along the hook shank all the way to the bead to form a cigar shaped body. Trim the excess herl.

D	Wind the flat tinsel  along the dubbed body of the fly forming 4 segments. Body segments on flies Tie the flat tinsel off behind the bead and trim the excess flat tinsel with an old pair of scissors. Never use your current fly tying scissors to trim wire or tinsel as that practice will dull the cutting edge of the scissors quickly.

E	Tie in a biot just behind the bead head at about the 10:00 o'clock and 2:00 o'clock positions to represent the wings. The V wing should be roughly 1/2 to 2/3 the length of the hook shank.

F	Tie a CDC feather in by the tip. Other forms of legs on flies

G	Take just two or three turns of the CDC feather and secure it in place with a few wraps of thread. Stroke the CDC tips back along the fly and then finish securing the hackle in that position with additional wraps of thread. Whip finish behind the bead head, trim the thread and varnish the thread behind the bead and the bead itself. If you don't varnish the bead it will tarnish quite quickly.

{{end}}