Golden Stonefly nymphs

[supervdl]

Are you fishing stonefly nymphs during the summer or only in the cold weather month?

 

[sarce]

Personally, I have pretty good success with them in May and June. This is also when I start seeing a few of the adults flying around - I don't think this is a coincidence. A lot of people are fishing the major hatches at that time of year, but these flies are a good choice when the water is on the slightly high side but not quite high enough for streamer fishing.

 

[Dave_W]

I fish 'em year round - they're a high confidence fly for me whenever I'm looking at fast water and boulders. Keep in mind that stonefly nymphs live multiple year cycles and so are available in large sizes throughout the year.

I do agree with Sarce (above) that they are especially active this time of year as this is when I tend to see winged adults.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

I fish them in big freestoners all the time. Saw some husks of big ones that crawled out this past weekend in NEPA.

 

[sarce]

They are like candy to big, rock-dwelling brookies btw. I don't have the photos handy, but recently I poked around a small stream with some nice plunge pools and fished a golden stone the entire time. In only an hour, I caught 6 or 7 brookies over 8" with 3 of those over 9". It's not just a fly for big water and fast, rocky runs - it can bring out some amazing small stream fish, too.

Looking back through photos of most of my large brook trout from PA (10-11"), almost all of them fell for a golden stone nymph in May or June.

 

[JackM]

Does anyone have especially good luck fishing stonefly nymphs in a fast riffle?

 

[Dave_W]

JackM wrote:
Does anyone have especially good luck fishing stonefly nymphs in a fast riffle?

Yes.

 

[SteveG]

Dave_W nailed it. Most stoneflies have a multi-year nymph stage, so there are always various sizes in the water depending on species, age, etc. I always carry downsized golden stone nymphs.

 

[fritz]

A Stonefly nymph has been one of the best flies in the box all spring.

 

[larkmark]

I rarely fish nymphs but when I do I often select a stonefly. My golden stoneflies are not as yellow in color as many I see for sale. Not sure that matters. the naturals I see are not so yellow in color. The two "nymphs" I have recently had good results with are the golden stone and oddly enough the mop fly which of course imitates the crane fly larvae. I fish fast runs and pockets on mountain freestones with these and have good results. I fish them into the summer months.

 

[Dave_W]

larkmark wrote:
My golden stoneflies are not as yellow in color as many I see for sale. Not sure that matters. the naturals I see are not so yellow in color.

Here in PA the golden stones are indeed more of the brown color phase and the term "golden" is used to refer to the large Perlidae stoneflies. Out West, the large Perlids often do have the yellow color tones seen in many fly shop stonefly nymph patterns.

 

[bigjohn58]

What size of these golden stones are you guys throwing? Any photos? I've had minimal luck with them.

 

[sarce]

What size of these golden stones are you guys throwing? Any photos? I've had minimal luck with them.

Here is what I use. Size 8 hook, but tied more like a 10. It's just harder to fit all the rubber legs on a size 10 hook. I don't tie a whole lot so someone more skilled could probably do it better. It's been working for me, though.

I think if you make them too big it is more an imitation of the giant stonefly, which is a rare bug in most places I fish. The goldens are more common and fish definitely recognize them...

I also advise fishing these on a loop knot and occasionally jigging it, it will flutter on the loop and flash the yellow belly - I've witnessed otherwise uninterested fish pounce when this happens.

 

[Dave_W]

bigjohn58 wrote:
What size of these golden stones are you guys throwing? Any photos?

I like my stonefly nymphs to have a body length of about an inch, not counting tail. Bigger ones work too, but I find you get diminishing hooking effectiveness if you get much larger than this. And this size matches most of the naturals I see in PA creeks.

These are tied weighted so as to drift in a hook upward position. Like other nymphs, stones are countershaded: brown over the top and cream colored on the underside.

 

[SteveG]

bigjohn58, my favorite is a standard size 12 or 10, with a golden pheasant tail body, copper rib, a golden brownish dubbed thorax, some barred legs, and a tungsten head. Most commercially tied stonefly nymphs are way too fat, and have incorrect abdomen-thorax proportions.

I can never remember how to post pics here, but if anyone wants me to email a pic, just PM me.

 

[larkmark]

The stoneflies look nice Dave and sarce. I wish I could post pics of mine but I can't figure it out right now. New to this.

 

[mcneishm]

My absolute favorite stonefly tie is the Montana Stone a la Charles Brooks in Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout. It has been an effective producer on NEPA freestone streams. Coincidentally, it is also one of the most effective producers for both salmon and steelhead on the Salmon River.

 

[bigjohn58]

Thanks for the replies...I see a lot of you use a light yellow for dubbing.

 

[Mike]

The golden stoneflies were flying about at lower Mill Ck, trib to Sacony Ck near Kutztown, on Saturday while I assisted by running 8 macroinvertebrate seminars at a field day for kids. Cedar Waxwings were enjoying the stoneflies. I fished a near-by wild BT trib after the event, but did not see any insect activity there.

Regarding some comments in another thread, while the 80 kids, age 5-15, may have been there for topics like fishing, hunting, bow skills, shooting skills, canoeing, etc, I found very few, if any, displaying any lack of interest in the insects as they relate to aquatic ecology/water quality.

 

[Dave_W]

Mike wrote:
Regarding some comments in another thread, while the 80 kids, age 5-15, may have been there for topics like fishing, hunting, bow skills, shooting skills, canoeing, etc, I found very few, if any, displaying any lack of interest in the insects as they relate to aquatic ecology/water quality.

I'm not surprised to hear this. Kids often have a strong natural curiosity about nature and stream insects (and other stream critters) are a source of great interest and an engaging subject to get them involved in science, and, perhaps, outdoor sports like fishing, hiking, birding, etc.

Speaking broadly about this, it's really nice to hear about someone getting out there with kids and teaching them, on the stream, about the natural world. This is the age when we need to capture them and resist the "nature deficit disorder" that many folks (myself included) think plagues kids. Too soon they'll be captured by phones and video games. Kids need more exposure to nature and the outdoors - not more screen time.

Glad to hear there was such good attendance at this event. it's important.