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Published: Jan 1, 2011

If your only going to carry one nymph pattern this is the one.

As a river fly this is my favourite non bead head nymph and it can be fished very effectively alone or in a team.

When lock style fishing in lakes this fly can be fished in any position in a team. If you work through the depths that fish are feeding at you'll be surprised how often this is the fly that fish take out of the team. And, if there is a mayfly hatch in progress this fly is a great alternative for the point position.

My favourite polaroiding fly is an unweighted version of this fly. I like to cast it just inside the path of patrolling fish and then letting it sink naturally often eliciting a strike.

Whilst this nymph is not tied to represent the nymph (sub imago or pupa) stage of any specific insect it is a good 'buggy' looking fly and readily accepted by trout.

I only tie it in brown but I have friends that tie it in brown, olive as well as "Red Tag" and  “Adams” or  “Hare & Copper” colours and and use it as the main player in their non bead head fly box.

Materials

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Understanding hooks Tie in a tail equal 1/2 to 2/3 the length of the hook shank. Resist the temptation to make the tail too bulky and too long. Tie in a length of copper wire.

B	If you going to add weight to the fly now is the time to do it. One of the easiest ways is to use lead wire. Wind the lead wire around the hook shank placing it as far forward as possible. This will enhance the swimming action of the fly. if your going to use this fly for sight fishing I suggest that you leave it unweighted. Adding weight to a fly Wind the thread forward and then back over the lead to secure it in position. You can also add a drop of head varnish if you like.

C	Using the single strand dubbing method dub on a body starting at almost nothing and gradually increasing in width along the back half of the fly. Dubbing techniques Wind the copper wire along the body of the fly forming 5 or 6 segments. Body segments on flies Tie the copper wire off at the half way point and trim the excess copper wire. Take a small section of filo-plume of a complementary colour and tie a little tuft in on each side of the fly to represent the gills. (Filo-plume are sometimes called "after shaft" and are the fluffy feather barbules that look like marabou and are found at the base of many feathers). The tips of the gills should extend out toward the back of the fly at an angle of around 45 degrees and be about half as long as the body of the fly. Tie in the back material directly in front of the body and the gills.

D	Hold the back material and the gills out of the way and dub on the rear half of the thorax making it about 50% thicker than the thickest part of the body. Select a small section of hackle fibres and tie them in on each side of the fly to represent the legs. The tips of the legs should extend out toward the back of the fly at an angle of around 45 degrees and be about half as long as the body. When you look at the fly from above the gills and the legs should all be the same size as each other.

E	Now apply some dubbing in front of  the legs to complete the bulk of the thorax. Take a little of the dubbing over the area where the legs are tied in so as to hold them a little flatter along the side of the fly. Remember that the finished thorax should be 50% thicker than the thick part of the body. Pull the back material over the top of the fly and whilst holding it tight and in place tie it off just behind the eye of the hook. Trim the excess back material whip finish and varnish the thread. Neat thread heads

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