Bead heads and Nymphs

[Sampler 0]

Hello all...

 

I have been tying for years but mainly dries and streamers. This past summer and fall I have ventured off into some serious nymph and dropper fishing. However the cost of suppling by box with an endless supply of nypmhs in all shapes and sizes is pretty scary. So, I have decided it time to start tying my own.

 

Here is where I need the help. I'm looking for a grocery list of materials and hooks to keep me going throughout the winter (hooks, sizes, materials, colors and everything else under the sun). I have a budget of about $75 give or take. So, what's on the list.

 

Thank you for taking the time.

 

Tight lines,

Dana

[Scud 0]

I would start with some dia riki (060) 1x and (730) 2x nymph hooks size 10-16. The 730 work for bead heads. Get some hares ear dubbin, turkey wings, and gold rib and pheasant tails for HE nymphs. Pheasant tails which work for HE tails, and pheasants tails are very important. PT nymphs use peacock herl thorax, gold wire and pheasant for the body and tails.

 

The hares ear dubbin and a copper bead work nice on a tmc 2488h for a caddis nymph. Different color wires work for copper johns. Very important fly.

 

I'm sure people will add more. Just my starting point for ya.

 

Jeremy

[the saltydog 0]

I would say to start with some hares masks (natural and olive), pheasant tails feathers, lead wire, wire (copper at least), peacock, partridge body feathers, biots (black), thin skin (black) and some heavy 2x long hooks like Mustad 9672... all of this is within your budget.

[TitanFlies 0]

There's only 3 nymphs you'll need.

 

The pheasant tail nymph, the hare's eay nymph, and the copper john. It can be argued that prince and maybe the rainbow warrior (depending on the water) are of equal importance. Other than that, beleive, any other nymph that you tie is uneccessary.

[Rp3flyfisher 0]

There's only 3 nymphs you'll need.

 

The pheasant tail nymph, the hare's eay nymph, and the copper john. It can be argued that prince and maybe the rainbow warrior (depending on the water) are of equal importance. Other than that, beleive, any other nymph that you tie is uneccessary.

 

I second this.

 

There are Soooooo many you can tie up, but the top three would be the ones listed above.

 

Start with these and move on from there.

 

Rick

[utyer 0]

Keep it real basic, you can go nuts trying to get everything. For now, get an assortment of Hares Ear Plus dubbing, and a couple of packages of Ice dub in UV pearl. The Hares ear Plus will have a little sparkle, and you can add a little more sparkle and flash by blending in just a little of the Ice dubbing. Pheasant tails or turkey tails are a must have for tying nymphs. I get all mine from hunters, along with duck, grouse, chukkar, and goose feathers. For starters just get a few pheasant tails. A package of peacock herl (if you don't already have some.) Now you need hooks. Nymph hooks you will need will be 1 xl, 2xl and 3xl. If you tie streamers you may already have some 3 and 4 xl hooks. These will work fine for Stone fly nymphs. In the 1xl hook get size 10, 12, 14, 16 18, and 20. In the 2xl hook get 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16. In the 3xl you would want 6, 8, 12, and 10. The hooks will run about $4.50 for a 25 pack, and thats more than $75 right there. You could get by with out the top and bottom sizes in each style for a while. Copper wire will work for ribbing. I salvage electrical cords for all kinds of copper wire. I have lots of sizes of stranded copper. I cut it into 6 to 8" chunks and strip off all but an inch or so of the insulation. I rarely use any gold wire, and almost never use tinsel ribbing. A good source of really fine copper is from ribbon cables from old computers.

 

Tie up some hare's ear nymphs, in tan, olive, and brown shades. Some gray mixed into the olive and tie these real small (19, and 20.) These tiny nymphs don't need to be too fancy, just few fibers from a pheasant tail, or hackle feather, spin a little dubbing on, rib the rear 2/3 of the hook, finish with more dubbing, and pick it out for legs. Treat the hares ear nymph as a pattern, and tie it in different shades. Big, small, olive, tan, brown, gray, there all hares ears.

 

Pheasant tails are a great nymph. Tie these as small as you can, and all the way up to a size 8. Tie in a few fibers from the feather as a tail, wrap 3 to 10 fibers up the rear 2/3 of the hook and counter wrap with copper wire. For the thorax, tie in 6 or more fibers from the pheasant tail for the wing case and legs. You want to tie these in so the tips extend back over the hook just about 1/4 longer than the end of the hook. Now tie in and wrap a few peacock herl fibers forward. Pull the wingcase over the top, and tie off. Divide the tips of the wing case to each side, and tie back as you build the head.

 

I tie up a pheasant tail with a dubbed fur thorax. The back half is just wrapped pheasant tail fibers, and copper ribbing. Then I use the butts of what is left from wrapping the abdomen, for the wing case (you don't need the tips for legs.) Dub a fur thorax, pull the pheasant tail over for the wing case, and finish the head Pick out the fur thorax to each side for legs.

 

The Copper John is nothing more than a Pheasant Tail (just replace the pheasant tial abdomen with copper wire.) You can use pheasant tail or hackle fiber for the tail. Copper wire for the abdomen (wrap this all the way up the hook and 1/3 back.) Tie in pheasant tail fibers for the wingcase, and legs, and finish the thorax by wrapping the herl over the copper. Pull over the wing case and divide the tips for legs. I also tie this with a dubbed fur thorax. Add several coats of nail polish on the wing case.

 

You must already have dry fly hackles, and saddle hackles or strung neck hackles from tying streamers. The fibers from any of these hackles make excellent nymph tails and legs. The Barr's Emerger pattern uses dry fly or saddle hackle as the tail, wingcase, and legs. The abdomen is dubbed and ribbed, then a clump of hackle fibers long enough to make a wing case and legs is tied in extending back over the tail. Dub a thorax and pull the hackle fibers over for the wing case. Divide and tie some fibers back on each side as you finish the head.

 

Wool and synthetic yarn are both excellent and cheap sources of nymph dubbing. It can be free if you know someone who knits. I collect scrap yarn from everyone I know who knits. I have drawers full of yarn. I chop this into small pieces and blend with fur, to make dubbing. I get fur pieces at yard sales, thrift stores, and auctions from time to time. These go a long way in fly tying. I bought a mink fur collar and a fox fur collar once for a dollar. My fishing buddy has an entire coat well not quite, I have the sleeves. Lots of great fur there.

[blakejd 0]

Not sure if its an effective fly on eastern rivers but the good old RS-II is a famed nymph on Colorado rivers and can be tied with stuff you probably have at your tying bench. Theres a great tutorial on Charlie Craven's site. I'm curious if anyone has used this tried and true western fly on eastern waters.

[bad fish rising 0]

the fly shop has all kinds of hooks for 2.88 per 25 i like the 2x strong personally

[creekfishin 0]

for cheap feathers you can always look on ebay

[JSzymczyk 0]

I'm not tyin' anything called "Rainbow Warrior"...

[Firetiger 0]

I strongly support the argument for simplicity.

 

I would recommend for starters (you can always elaborate later)

 

Natural hare mask

Natural pheasant tail

Gold tinsel (rather thin)

Copper wire for ribbing

Lead wire for weighting

some gold heads in medium size (2.8 and/or 3.3 mm are good start)

some flashy floss for tips for the beadheads (red, pink, chartreuse, whatever)

some flashy (SLF is good) dubbing for contrasting collars on the bead heads (peacock, red, pink, whatever)

 

The truth is that no matter how hard you try you just can't beat PTN or GRHE. The best you can do is create interesting variation on the general theme - gold headed GRHE, red or peacock thorax on PTN - but these two designs have stood the test of time.

[z fisher 0]

All good advice above. Make sure you get some peacock herl. When you have those materials together with your dry fly materials, you begin to have no end of nymph combinations. Just a few standard patterns that come to mind are WD-40s (thread, dubbing, PT), all manner of midges (mostly just thread or wire), some basic stonefly patterns.

 

Of course, this becomes a sickness like everything else. How many colors and styles of dubbing can one person have? The answer is: more than you could ever imagine.

 

But that's the joy of our sport.

[flytire 0]

i'd go along with titan flies on this one but would tie flies in the 4 colors of the stream habitat: black, brown, olive and tan.

so for instance, you would have a black, brown, olive and tan hares ear.

 

and tie them in different sizes, 10 thru 20 maybe.

 

a black pheasant tail is a good early stone imitation in the right size.

[planettrout 0]

Hmmmm, let's see...you live in Portland, ME. What are the nymph patterns that have proven to be really effective in that area?:

 

Two that come to mind are The Prince Nymph and The Professor. A suggestion would be to check here:

 

http://www.maineflyfish.com/

 

And view what the hatches are, then look to the period in which what representative nymph patters would work best in the waters that are intended to be fished.

 

One can, like me, go completely overboard on the number of nymph patterns tied and carried in my boxes - just finished up a bunch of BWO's/ Baetis, Midges and am now tying attractor patterns for Spring. The new Mustad Signature hooks are great and save me $$$ over Partridge, TMC and Daiichi. I especially like the C49S and CO68...

 

Good tying!!!

 

PT/TB :bugeyes:

[Sampler 0]

Thanks you all of the information. I do have a quite the extensive collection of materials already but one can never have enough. I'm really anxious to get started and will be planning and quick trip to the local fly shop soon. I need a selection of hooks to get me started with, so I appreciate all of your suggestions. I also have added to the list a variety of 8/0 and 12/0 thread colors. Natural masks and pheasant tails will also be a must pick item. I am lucky enough to have a buddy who gave me 30-40 turkey feathers, those will come in handy.

 

I plan on starting with the bead head pheasant tail and PHT flashbacks. I have great success with these this year as well as the variety of Barr's nymphs.

 

Thank you again and please keep the advance and material selections coming.