Lacking Inspiration today. Looking for a suggestion.

[wschmitt3 0]

Today I sat down to tie some P.T. Nymphs to replace the couple I've lost to snags the last few weeks and the four or five I dropped in the stream when retrieving one from my box with cold wet fingers very very early yesterday morning. After I accomplished my task I wanted to tie something new but have no particular need for a specific fly pattern and nothing struck me as "the one" when I was flipping through my pattern books.

 

So, I am looking for some suggestions of good searching nymph patterns to tie for rainbows and browns as a learning experience and to get feed back on.

 

I have a pretty good variety of common materials but nothing exotic so try to keep that in mind.

 

I already have lots of P.T. Nymphs, Zug Bugs, Prince Nymphs and I'm going to sit down to tie some hare's ears right now. In addition I am holding off on tying any copper J's until I get my order from feathercraft because im out of Thin Skin.

 

If you got a suggestion please post a picture with it and Ill post a picture of the fly I tie for comments and critique

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

-Will

[TheHound 0]

I've always found that quilled bodied nymphs work extremely well for me, you can either do a full quill body or leave gaps and rib with peacock. Whatever colors you normally use would apply. If you need some weight you can weight with lead or tungsten sheets, or even a bead head. Just a good general pattern. Nothing specific.

[Bugsy 0]

Puyans AP nymph, Slattery's Triple Threat Caddis, Whitlock RFSN, Skip's Nymph. Nothing exotic in those patterns. Pics are all over the place.

 

Here's a different style I found in a book 20 odd yrs ago. May be a Mercer pattern.

 

 

PT for tail and legs, biot body, mylar tinsel over back, white antron "buds" or gills, dubbed thorax, epoxy or UV resin over wingcase of turkey, thin skin, or whateveryagot. Not fancy, just a different profile than the others.

[TheBigHenderson 0]

Lightning Bugs and Rainbow Warriors. Stonefly nymphs are fun too.

[Crackaig 0]

If you want something both different and useful try Steve Thornton's Ammonite Nymph

You don't have to tie them in orange, More nymph like colours also work very well.

You'll find instructions here

 

It is quicker if you reverse the order the lead strips are put on. By doing this the lead smooths itself out,then you don't need to do that with thread or floss.

 

Cheers,

A.

[switch10 0]

Here are a few of my favorite searching patterns that you probably won't find in most pattern books. Clicking on the fly name will bring you to my blog with step by step tying instructions for each pattern.

 

Guides choice Hares Ear

 

The Two-bit Hooker

 

Depth Charge Birds Nest

 

Tungsten Psycho

[hairwing 0]

I'll offer you this one.

 

They say that most underwater nymphs are 3/8 " long and are somewhat brown and mottled in color. Here you go...

Hook...mustad #12 94840

Thread...I used white Danville 6/0 and dabbed the head with a brown marker.

Tail ...a few fibers of woodduck flank

Body...Wapsi Antron dubbing #106..."Golden Tan" (use something brown). Tie one light , medium and dark and you are set. Body is ribbed with fine gold wire.

Legs...not really necessary, but what you see is chocolate brown mottled hen.

Wing case.. a slip of pheasant tail feather

[troutguy 0]

Nice nymph Hairwing.

[wschmitt3 0]

All great suggestions. To start with I tied up a half dozen Lightning Bugs. Had a hard time taking pictures of them but here they are.

 

I think I'll also tie up some of those guides choice hare's ear and the nymph suggested by hair wing. Those were on my list a while back and never got around to it.

 

I also like the poxybacks but don't have any epoxy or uv resin. only loon hard head clear and dave's fleximent. I could see myself going to UV adhesives I like the rapid set up. I'm open to suggestions for the purchase of an initial UV set up.

 

I had a hard time getting good photos my camera has a macro setting that works well outside but doesn't seem to work well in the lighting available on my bench.

 

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

 

 

 

 

-Will

[williamhj 0]

Rosenbauer rabbits foot emerger is a favorite of mine. Can be fished in the film or deeper like a nymph.

[JohnP 0]

For resin, I would go with Silver Creek's stuff. Sets up fast and tack-free.

[wschmitt3 0]

Tied up some of the Guides Choice Hares Ear. Mixed some Pearl Ice Dub in with the Rabbit Dubbing for a little flash and used Gold HoloTinsel for the rib. Should there be something under the Pearl Tinsel to darken it up and represent a wing case like on a Flash Back P.T. or a Copper J?

 

 

[switch10 0]

Tied up some of the Guides Choice Hares Ear. Mixed some Pearl Ice Dub in with the Rabbit Dubbing for a little flash and used Gold HoloTinsel for the rib. Should there be something under the Pearl Tinsel to darken it up and represent a wing case like on a Flash Back P.T. or a Copper J?

 

 

 

Nice fly!

 

Sure, you could put some thin skin or PT tail fibers under it to make it pop a little more if you want.

[wschmitt3 0]

Thanks Switch10. Your tying blog is something else. Very well done tutorials. I'm pretty sure I have used it as a reference before.

[switch10 0]

Thanks Switch10. Your tying blog is something else. Very well done tutorials. I'm pretty sure I have used it as a reference before.

 

Thank you for the kind words. I enjoy it but lately I've been building rods much more than tying flies. This post actually inspired me to get behind the vise and tie up a new favorite searching pattern, the psycho prince nymph. I've been using it all spring long while the water was deep and dirty. It's a pretty killer twist on an old classic. Enjoy!

 

Psycho Prince Nymph