Golden Stonefly Nymph

*Edit 3-17-2010: This picture is a better representation of the current incarnation of the stonefly nymph I tie-- the recipe below is still pretty close to how it's tied though. The only differences are that I do away with the turkey and use thin skin instead of scud back (scud back isn't wide enough IMO), and I wrap the d-rib flat side out:

So when I started this blog I really wanted to share fly patterns-- if and when I stumbled upon something that was dynamite. And at the end of this summer there are two patterns that really stick out in my mind-- a golden stonefly nymph and a crawdad fly. First, partially at the request of the trout-sticking WFF, I will post the stonefly nymph. This nymph has been absolutely killer during July & August (and will probably work well all fall/winter) and has become one of my favorite lead flies to sink caddis and mayfly nymphs. This is a great fly for big pools, dead drifting it in seams and slow, mid & fast paced water-- I've even taken fish on the swing with it. Drop a prince nymph off this guy and you have a very decent searching rig when not much is happening bug-wise.

Essentially this fly is Bob Jacklin's western march brown fly tied on a big scud hook and epoxied at the end (and with biots). Tie it in hare's ear, black, green, brown and golden!

GOLDEN STONEFLY:

MATERIALS:

thread: Danville 6/0 to match dubbing
hook: #6-8 TMC 2487 or 2499spbl
underbody: .02 in lead wire wrapped in danville 3/0
thread and smashed flat with pliers
tail/antennae: brown goose biots
rib: brown medium vinyl d-rib
dubbing: Kaufman's stonefly blends
legs: Brown hen saddle feather
thorax: turkey (or p.t.) and brown body flex
(or scud back) pulled over and epoxied
head: brown body flex (or scud back)
pulled over and epoxied

FULL STEPS:

for full steps for this fly click on the "read more" button-- it's a new feature I'm trying out to keep things clean!

1. start 3/0 thread, cover hook and wrap a
section with 0.02 lead wire

2. coat lead with thread, tie off (whip finish or half hitch)
and flatten the underbody with pliers
(you can also tie in lead along the sides to
make even wider)

3. coat body in glue and start 6/0 thread
to match dubbing

4. tie in small ball of dubbing (to keep biots spread)
and tie in two brown goose biots

5. tie in brown medium vinyl d-rib along
side of fly (to widen it)

6. dub a somewhat generous body (not too loose
though) up to about the half way mark

7. Rib the fly (either side of the vinyl rib works)

8. tie in brown body flex (or scud back) and
some turkey or pheasant tail (this is just to help
spread the legs in a later step

9. select two feathers for legs and prepare as shown,
measuring off the hook-- note: a variety of feathers works
for this step, I just like metz hen saddle feathers

10. tie in the feathers, concave up, and give
everything a shot of glue for good luck

11. dub a somewhat generous body
(you can pick it out later if you want)

12. pull over the leg feathers and tie off,
then pull the turkey over and tie off--
clip the excess

13. Before pulling over body flex,
tie in two biots for antennae

14. pull over the body flex and wrap over a
small section up to the eye of the hook
for a small head

15. Dub a small head-- try not to crowd the
eye of the hook! (like I sort of did here)

16. pull the body flex back over the dubbed head,
secure it with a couple of wraps and
whip finish -- trim off excess

17. Give the finished body a once over with
the pliers and flatten everything back
down again-- the fly is fishable at this point!

18. this is optional but I think it helps to grab
that little bit of extra attention from trout--
epoxy the thorax and head

And the finished fly!-- let me know how she works for you!