Comment on this pattern

Current Tags for This Pattern
/ Brown / Chenille / Nymph / Saddle / Turkey /

American Salmonfly nymph

 
tied by luvinbluegills
Fly Type: Nymphs,
Target Species: Trout,
Recommended Region: Northeast US,
Imitation: Stone Flies,
Material List*:
Hook: Daiichi size 8 swimming Larvae Hook (weighted with wire wraps)
Thread: size 6/0 Brown
Tail: mottled Tan hen saddle
Rib: Clear Vinyl Rib w/sparkle
Abdomen: Golden Brown Chenille
Thorax: Golden Brown Chenille
Shellback and wingcase: Brown Turkey
Legs and Antennae: mottled Tan hen saddle
*Materials with links give you direct access to that product at the J. Stockard store.
Tying Instructions: 1. Weight hook at thorax with 6 to 10 wraps of wieghting wire.
2. Tie in hen saddle at tail, pointing back and curved side down.
3. Tie in rib at same point.
4. Tie in Turkey segment for shellback, sticking out towards back. Leave as long as possible.
5. Tie in Chenille just behind weighting wire, wrap thread to tail.
6. Wrap chenille to the front of the weight, just behind where the head will be, then wrap back again to the end of the weight where you had it sitting before.
7. Tie in hen saddle to form the legs. Place it tip forward extending past the head, curved side UP, and tie down, several tight wraps on top of each other behind the head, then stretch the thread back to the end of the thorax, holding it there with your finger, and make several wraps on top of each other. Then wrap thread forward again, but don't pull tightly as this will compress your thorax some.
8. Wrap the chenille forward over the wraps that hold down the hackle, forming a third layer of chenille for a substantial thorax, bring it to just behind where the head will be, tie off and cut.
9. Pull the hen saddle forward, stroking most of the fibers back, and tie in where you've tied off the chenille. Leave a good portion of the feather sticking out over the head of the fly, as this will form your antennae.
10. Pull the Turkey segment forward, and tie off at the same point as the chenille and saddle are tied off, making sure it's pressed against the body as closely as possible.
11. Now, look closely at the amount of hackle fibers on each side of the thorax. You're going to separate them into three legs on each side. The easiest way I have found to do this, is to take a few of the fibers, hold them together with your fingers, (hold the tips only) and apply cement to the base with a bodkin or needle or something pointy and thin. This will hold those fibers together to form a leg. After you apply cement to the base of the leg, you can let go and stroke the cement to the end of the leg. Do this until you have 3 legs on each side.
12. Wrap the rib forward, making small segments along the abdomen, widening them at the start of the thorax to form three distinct, wide segments there. Be careful to go inbetween the legs you just painstakingly formed. Tie off at the head.
13. Dub head with rabbit or other dubbing that is close to the color of the shellback/wingcase, or at least is no lighter than the abdomen.
13a. If you have used a lighter dubbing than the back of the nymph, now use a brown marker to color the TOP of the head to match back. You can also add dark eyes using the marker.
14. Snip out middle segments of feather that forms tail, leaving just two long tails. It's okay to leave a little fiber in between the tails at the base, as the natural has this as well.
15. Snip out middle segments of hackle that will form the antennae in the same way you did the tail.

Apply cemnt to the back if desired.
Presentation Tips: Stonefly nymphs inhabit highly oxygenated water, which means a moderate to fast flow, and require a good bit of weight to get down deep in these flows. You can drift along the bottom, (one method that works extremely well for me is to tumble it out of the tail of a rapids or riffle into the head of a pool where the hungry fish sit) or in moderate flows, crawl it toward shore as a real nymph would do if ready to emerge.



This is Skip Morris' "Morristone" pattern, adapted to mimic the very common American Salmonfly (Pteronarcys dorsata) which I have found in almost every stream where I've found Stoneflies in Western PA. While the Morristone is tied in very dark colors, and is very effective, I wanted to mimic this particular, large species, which is dark Brown above, Gold to Tan below, and mottled on the back, which is what makes cementing the back optional, because even if the fibers spread, it still looks right. The shellback can be Turkey or Pheasant for the base color, and I think that using mottled Turkey would be one step closer to an accurate representation. This species of Stonefly is common all over the Eastern U.S. and Canada, and can reach 3 inches in length as an adult. Due to it's size and adult coloration, it is often mistaken at first glance for the Dobsonfly, the adult stage of the familiar Helgrammite.


[First 2 live pics courtesy indianspringsflyfish.com 3rd courtesy of the IWS image library Here is some interesting info on this species: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/762 4th courtesy the Penn State Erie website