{{+1}}Montana nymph{{-1}}

The Montana nymph was developed in the earlier days of fly fishing in Montana America as an imitation for a stonefly. It has two distinct uses. The first is as a bait fly when fished behind a bead head nymph in faster rivers and streams. The second use is as as a middle dropper fly in a team of lock style flies in still water where the the flash of red, yellow, orange or pink in the thorax it make it a great attractor pattern.

Materials

Hook	Thread	Tail	Body & thorax	Rib	Wing Casing	Thorax	Hackle
6 to 10 long shank	Black	Black cock hackle fibres	Chenille	Copper wire	Chenille	Thorax	Hen

Process

Wind the thread from the 95% position to the bend of the hook.

	Understanding hooks

Tie in a tail of hackle fibres. I think the best hackle fibres are those that in the transition zone just above the filo-plume of the hackle. They tend to be softer than the fibres on the main part of the hackle and consequently impart more movement when the fly is fished.

	Different types of tails

Strip the fluff of the tip of a length of chenille and tie the bare cord tip of the length of chenille in at the bend of the hook.
Take the thread half way along the hook shank.

B	Wind the chenille forward to the thread building a body doubling up where necessary so the body gradually increases in size until it is about half as thick as the gape of the hook at the half way position. Tie the chenille off on top of the hook shank but do not trim the excess. Tie in a length of copper wire at the half way position.

Dub on a body that starts at the same thickness as the adjacent body and diminishes to nothing at the 95% position.

	Single strand method of dubbing

Tie in a hackle shiny side forward at the 95% position.

	Wet fly hackles

Palmer the hackle back along the thorax to the body forming three or four segments on the thorax.

	Palmering hackle

Whilst holding the hackle in place at the half way position of the with your left hand pick up the copper wire with your right hand and wind the copper wire forward to the eye of the hook taking three or four wraps of the wire that are equally separated from each other.
Take two full wraps of wire amongst the first two or three wraps of hackle and then whilst holding the hook firm with your left hand break the copper wire off.

E	Trim the excess hackle off with a sharp blade. Stroke the front hackle back and down with the fingers of your left hand and with your right hand pull the tag end of the chenille forward to form a wing casing.