Ideas for size 12 nymphs?

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Hi - I'm new to the forum and have only been tying flies for a little over a year. That said, I'm laid up with Covid and quarantining, and am looking to use up some size 12 straight eye nymph hooks.  Don't ask why I bought such large nymph hooks....I'm wondering the same thing myself haha. It's what I've got left after using up all of my 14, 16 & 18's.

Regardless, my searches keep leading me back to advice of only using size 14 or smaller, so I'm not quite sure what I could size 12s for, but I'm all ears.  Any advice greatly appreciated!

[mikechell 0]

Stone fly, dragon fly, helgrammite 

[Poopdeck 0]

I will give you my permission to tie any nymph you tied on a size 14  hook to tie on a size 12 hook. Rest and get well soon. Welcome to the forum. 

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4 minutes ago, mikechell said:

Stone fly, dragon fly, helgrammite 

Thanks for the suggestions!

[niveker 0]

Good advice above, I'll add Micro-Buggers to the list.  

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3 minutes ago, Poopdeck said:

I will give you my permission to tie any nymph you tied on a size 14  hook to tie on a size 12 hook. Rest and get well soon. 

Ha, much appreciated!  As I said, pretty new to this....so maybe a couple other questions I've been pondering you might be able to help answer:

1) what role does the hook eye orientation play in the types of flies to tie?  Example - i was using down eye nymph hooks to tie some size 14-18 purple & olive darth baetis nymphs, so wondering if it's "bad" to use these straight eye size 12 for the same pattern?

2) does thread size to hook size matter much?  Another limiting factor...while waiting for my supplies to arrive, i'm also only working with the following:  140 denier tan & red, and 70 denier black, purple, olive.  hesitant to use the finer thread on the larger hooks, per what i've been learning...

[RickZieger 0]

Hares ears ad Pheasant tail nymphs.

Rick 

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22 minutes ago, niveker said:

Good advice above, I'll add Micro-Buggers to the list.  

Thanks!

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11 minutes ago, RickZieger said:

Hares ears ad Pheasant tail nymphs.

Rick 

Thank you!

[WWKimba 0]

I PM'd you a couple of options and I hope that you get well soon!

Kim

Also, the Sierra site would be a good reference for other flies for your area.

[flytire 0]

from the google machine

nymph fly patterns - Google Search

a lot of ideas on my blog Flytying: New and Old (flytyingnewandold.blogspot.com)

hares ears 

pheasant tails

stonefly nymphs

killer bugs

midges

caddis larva and pupas

zug bugs

winged wet flies

soft hackles

wooly worms

wooly buggers

scuds

panfish patterns

san juan worms

those silly mop and squirmy wormy flies

beadheads

[Philly 0]

Consider me a bad influence.  All these are tied on straight eye size 12 hooks.  Dry fly hooks.  Most of them are Pheasant Tail nymphs.   A  few,  plain old chicken,  parrot, goose biots,  a couple of Copper Johns,  and I don't go anywhere without a few mop nymphs. The soft hackle is starling.  Thorax, peacock herl.  Thread 8/0 black.  All my nymphs are tied on straight eye dry fly hooks.  Cuts down on the number of hooks I have to buy.  

[niveker 0]

Yeah, watch out for that @Philly guy.  No good can come from all those mop flies in your box.  

 

Also, don't overlook soft hackle flies, simple and effective, and its not necessary to use the full hook shank for the fly's body,  you can tie them short, alot of tyers do it as a matter of course. 

With or without tail - thread body, floss body, dubbed body, herl body - with or without ribbing - dubbing, peacock herl, bead, or nothing for thorax - any suitably sized soft hackle at the head - mix and match, possibilities are endless, go nuts and post some photos.   

 

As to your questions, IMHO:

1.  None - its more tradition and tyers preference than anything else.

2.  Does it matter?  Not really to me, but it depends on what and how you tie.  99% of my tying is on size 8-20 hooks, with the vast majority of that in the 12-18 range.  I use 6/0 or 140D  and 8/0 or 70D threads interchangeably until I get into the 18/20 range.  I could no doubt get by with using either just 6/0 or just 8/0 in all my tying, its all a matter of thread control.  

 

[robow7 0]

You know a generation ago, you would see a ton of both dries and nymphs tied on size 12 hooks.  It was almost a standard.  I'm not sure when it happened but over time, many of the patterns came to be tied in 14 and 16's.  The old timers I knew, never had a problem catching fish with those size 12's and in fact often tied a size 14 fly on a size 12 hook if they thought it was needed.  Anyway, best of luck and get well.

[skeet3t 0]

IMHO, any fly can be tied in anything from 4/0 to 32. Just depends on your eyesight and how much material you have. My favorite is the brown hackle peacock: #12 hook (obviously), black thread base, red yarn tail, three strands of peacock herl wrapped around the thread for durability (how about that big word?), two or three wraps of brown or ginger or grey hackle. I tie it in 12, 14, 16 for local trout waters but it is good for bluegill, etc. A friend fishes the grey hackle as a dry fly with great success.