Hook: Curved Nymph #8-10
Thread: Rusty Brown Danville 6/0
Hook: 7-9 wraps .030 lead wire
Tail: Dark brown goose biot
Body: Orange Uni-floss
Ribbing: Orange-dyed peacock
Counter-rib: Fine copper wire
Thorax: Orange-dyed peacock
Hackle: Bronw speckled hen
Wings: Dyed Orange goose biots
Sometimes, as you get older, it is worthwhile to revisit your priors. Food is a classic example—how many of us hated a certain food since childhood, tried it again prepared differently as an adult, and had our minds blown. Spices, flavors, and textures that made us gag as kids often evolve into our comfort foods in adulthood.
I was munching on a rhubarb crumble (a desert that 10-year-old me would deliver promptly to the trash can) while sorting out my winter boxes and realized that maybe I should do the same with my winter flyfishing.
I’ve long been a proponent of tiny flies, supplemented by crane fly larvae and Pupatators (plus scuds and sowbugs where appropriate), for most of my Veterans Day-Valentines Day outings. But this winter, I’m going against entomological reason and really give stonefly nymphs another look. We’ll try to feature about one a month in this space to make up for the dearth of offerings I’ve suggested in the past.
The first one I’m going to start deploying this season is a hybrid of a Prince and the venerable Bird’s stonefly nymph. I had some orange-dyed peacock from the 80’s sitting in my box for years, though the only way you can tell it is orange is the waxy base and the label on the package. But it pulls out the effect a bit with some assistance from orange floss, orange goose biots, and copper wire.
Honestly, it would likely fish better in a golden yellow color scheme, but I have been enamored with some of the hot orange goose biots I ordered from Hareline recently. I’ve used them on Cormorant flies and as cheeks on chironomids, but been trying to play with them on stones and Prince-adjacent attractors.
The hackling is something I’ve also experimented with recently on some of my nymphs. It’s kind of a half-palmer where I wrap half of the peacock thorax, tie in the hackle, finish the peacock thorax, then make one and a half wraps of hackle up to the eye. This creates a little more impression of bulk in the thorax, without all the water resistance of a fully palmered thorax.
Absolutely essential to this pattern is the fine copper wire counter rib. With a single-strand of peacock herl for ribbing and a fragile hen feather tip for the hackles, this fly would fall apart when a trout just thinks about eating it. I make sure to run the counter-wrap through the entire fly up to the eye. It is barely noticeable but essential for the durability of the pattern.
Like all stonefly nymphs, this one should be weighted. I only made about nine wraps of .030 lead wire in the thorax, but it’s enough to feel when you bounce it around your hand. Without rubber legs or a bushy hackle, this still can sink adequately enough in moderate currents. You can always throw a beadhead on it, but I just like the looks of this pattern when it is a little more dressed down.
Jeff Morgan
Author, Tyer, and all-around Fly Geek
