salmobytes

Yes Leisenring and Rosborough. Thank you.

I forgot the San Juan Worm. Maybe that's a wet fly. Or a worm but not a nymph. Terminology is fuzzy and vague at the edges

Jim Quick wrote Fishing the Nymph in 1950 something but he didn't coin any new fly names

A history of wet flies might start with a soft hackle by Dame Juliana, although there are now some Austrian patterns that precede her. But it would be almost impossible to compile because there are so many flies. So many names. Ray Bergman alone has half a zillion squared patterns. There are not that many historically important nymphs. I'm starting a list for a project I'm working on. In the list below what did I miss? What did I get wrong? Soft Hackle Dame Juliana 1496 (wet fly or nymph?) GEM George Edward MacKenzie Skues 1921 Black Spinder 1850 (wet fly or nymph?) Green Rock Worm Frans Pott 1920? Tellico Nymph North Carolina 1927 Prince Nymph Doug Prince 1930 Zug Bug Cliff Zug 1930 Edward Ringwood Hewitt Hard Body Nymph 1930 Pheasant Tail Frank Sawyer 1930 Birch Creek Unknown 1930 Girdle Bug Frank McGinnis 1930 Montana Nymph Unknown 1930 Don Martinez Black Nymph 1930 Don Martinez Black Nymph 1930 Mossback Nymph Dan Bailey 1940 Pat Barnes Weighted Nymph 1950 Gold-ribbed Hare's Ear (originally a winged wet fly) First when as a nymph? Copper Nymph or Brassie Ken Chandler and Tug Davenport 1960 Beadhead Nymph Italy 1970? Serendipidy Ross Marigold 1970 Czech Nymphing 1980 Perdigon Nymph Spain or France 1980s? Copper John John Barr 1990 Zebra Midge Ted Welling 1990

Lots of good responses. Thank you all.

Ray Bergman mentions an Edward Ringwood Hewitt Hardbody Nymph. Does anybody know what that is? Recipe? url to a photograph?

good stuff

cool bugs. In Montana there is no such thing as FF only. Several streams in Yellowstone Park are still posted as FF only but if you ask a ranger what that means the answer is " not bait." Divers that float at rest are effective and relatively easy to make. Diving wigglers that sink at rest, are a bit trickier.

Is it a problem, as a fly? The image below is a closeup of a flure tied with a #10 grasshopper hook. It is too light to cast with a spinning rod. ...same for the following video. As an rapidly aging old guy I find it easiest to wade slowly downstream where ever possible, on the edges of deeper water, fishing down and across with a wiggler. Want it to swim left? Roll cast a big loop upstream and left. Mend the line. Let out slack as it drifts downstream. In mid to late summer the fish are not hanging out on the banks anymore. They're in deep mid-river runs. Downstream with a diving wiggler, with a loooooong leader, is deadly. If it's not a fly it isn't a lure either, because you can only use it with a fly rod, at least if you do not add lots of extra weight. After a retina surgery that went badly it's too damned difficult to tie small flies on. I can, kinda sorta, if I remember to take 5x jeweler's googles with me fishing. But I don't always remember. Knotting leader tippet to a barrel swivel is a lot easier. And even if do get the dry flies on I can't see them anymore. Across and down and set when I feel the tug I can do with my bad eyes closed.

.............still on the needle, with some wet fabric cement not cured to clear yet I like tying on the needle--and then attaching to a hook later. Not fighting with the bend of the hook while tying is a pleasure.

The hard part is brown-dyed open cell mattress foam. I used to be able to buy it (Art Foam) but now I have to dye it myself. Room temperature water and Rit dye--for a week or so--does it nicely. Hot water does it instantly but then it's harder to control as per too dark or too light. Snip some up. Skewer it on a needle. Lash on two end to end lengths of gold Crystal Flash so it has tails and antennae. Use a sewing needle to sew in tom more criss-cross legs. Rub some water-based fabric cement onto the bottom of the thorax area to fix the loosely sewed legs in place. Ah. The sewing needle.................I heat the eye of a needle with a cigarette lighter and then use needle nose and the barrel of a bobbin to jamb the hot eye down onto the point of another needle. That makes a wide-eyed needle. Narrow needle for Crystal Flash. Fatter needle for bigger flies with rubber legs. More natural moose mane legs do NOT work as well as sparkly Crystal Flash legs. Without a bead it floats half in half out of the surface tension. With a bead it sinks. Sort of a miniature of the world famous (not) https://montana-riverboats.com/?robopage=Flies/Sandy-Pittendrigh/Articles/Marshmallow-Nymph.htm

With a rooster feather replacing the Zelon dubbing loop

Daiichi 1130 is lighter guage, would be a better choice. 1120 is what I had on hand.