From winter to late spring, one of my favorite searching patterns in the riffles is a stonefly nymph. These patterns below are fun to fish, and more importantly...trout like them, a lot! When nymphing, I prefer to fish these larger nymphs with smaller patterns, attempting to cover all of the bases on the water.
In this fly tying tutorial, I discuss the procedures and techniques to tie the Biot Stonefly Nymph, while also talking briefly about background information related to stoneflies. These bugs can be borderline heavenly from a fly fishing perspective, and the nymphs are especially important being that they can be fished throughout most of the year. The fly in this tutorial is a mix of a couple: Scott Sanchez's "Rubber-Leg Biot Bug" and Clark "Cheech" Pierce's "Twitchy Chicken Stonefly." By combining key elements of both, the Biot Stonefly Nymph is a great representation that is easy to tie and effective to fish.
***In the video, I incorrectly cited Curtis Fry instead of Clark "Cheech" Pierce for the "Twitchy Chicken;" I apologize for this mistake.
During this tutorial, I demonstrate a few methods used on a great all-around nymph pattern, the stonefly. This pattern can be fished with many methods, including European / czech nymphing and when utilizing the hopper-dropper or dry-dropper rigs.
*** When discussing the gill structure in this video, I want to point out that gills on stoneflies are found mainly in the "armpit" area, which is in the thorax. A great resource for this is: http://thedragonflywoman.com/2011/01/...
Josh Miller, our guest tyer for this video, shares one of his own creations with us, the Beach Body Stone. This innovative stonefly imitation gets immediately down to the fish, utilizing the slender body that relates to its name. The fly is an effective one, but also incredibly simple to tie, as Josh shows during his no-nonsense demonstration. This is one pattern that deserves a spot in your nymph box!
In this fly tying tutorial, I selected one of the most popular flies in the country: John Barr's Copper John. This heavily weighted pattern is distinctive in its look; the Ultra Wire abdomen and epoxy over the wing case set this apart from other flies. When tying, I did vary the epoxy by utilizing a UV glass glue instead, plus I also encourage others to create their own variations of the Copper John.
In this fly tying tutorial, I show an easier version of the fish-catching nymph, the Copper John. In this version, I incorporate some characteristics of the Pheasant Tail, ala Frank Sawyer, hence the more appropriate name may be the Copper John & Frank!
The pattern that I show is not the original; instead, this is a variant that will be easier for beginning fly tyers to tie. The body is over-sized and adds some additional weight to get the fly on the bottom immediately.
For this tutorial, I chose a fly that has an extremely traditional look, known as the Bloody Mary. The tying of this nymph includes a few intermediate techniques, but is generally a simple and straightforward process. I commonly fish this as an anchor fly, especially when European nymphing.
In this video, I feature the Prince Nymph tied quickly for my "Two Minute Tying" playlist. This is a very effective nymph pattern, long considered a "standard" to have in every trout fly box. This is a relatively traditional tie, and you may notice the legs in this pattern slightly cover the white wings.
The Mega Prince bears little resemblance to its predecessor, though they have one major quality in common...they both catch fish! This is both a great trout and steelhead pattern, plus you can be creative and modify the Mega Prince with your favorite colors. This is a great fly to both tie and fish, thus as I say in the video, have fun with this one!
For this fly tying tutorial, I chose a pattern that just screams "variations," Mike Mercer's Psycho Prince bead head nymph. Some variations may include altering the body color, ribbing, and hot spot; basically, there are an unlimited number of variations for you to make, thus feel free to tie some and determine how they fish on your local waters.
Featured in this YouTube fly tying tutorial is a classic pattern with a modern twist: the Prince nymph tied on a jig hook for European and Czech-syle nymphing. By slightly modifying this fly, we end up with a "Guide Pattern," being that the fly has reduced materials, fewer procedures, and is effective at catching many fish. I recommend this pattern to all, especially if you are interested in European nymphing, including the Czech and French styles.
The Hot Wire Prince Nymph is an effective pattern, primarily because some of its best characteristics are a combination of those found in the Prince and Copper John nymphs. There are some base characteristics of the Prince Nymph, with the added Ultra Wire giving this pattern weight and color. There are many color combinations that can be used for the body, thus don't be afraid to try some others and see how they work in your area.
In this fly tying tutorial, we welcome guest tier Shawn Holsinger of Holsinger's Fly Shop (co-owner with his father Ron). Shawn shares a variation of his Hot Spot Stone, and stick around after the tying to learn more about tying the pattern, ways to fish, and a bit about Holsinger's Fly Shop.