Green Weenie

[jkilroy]

The frenchie catches fish like no tomorrow. Love that fly

 

[buckmasters243]

What it be good to use one this time of year?

 

[flycaster]

I use the Green Weenie often in lakes in the Pacific Northwest and have caught a number of brown trout over 20 inches long using it. I tie it without weight, and it has a tantalizing wiggle when it is fished, using an erratic retrieve. That action is ruined if it is tied with a bead head. Most of the large brown trout were caught in the fall.

 

[Farley]

I have had good success with them fished dead drift under an indicator as a caddis larva. You can use weighted or unweighted.

I had one particular day on a chester county stream where there were a lot of inch worms hanging down from a tree by their threads and the trout were comig up and taking them after they hung there for several seconds.No one else was catching fish andI had a field day using unweighted weenies fished down stream on a fairly long line while draging them to represent angling inch worms.

 

[sipe]

Team GW....I fish it like any other nymph under an indicator and have great success.....on this "junk fly"

 

[lv2nymph]

jkilroy wrote:
The frenchie catches fish like no tomorrow. Love that fly

Yes, love the frenchie.
Hate to say it but never caught a fish on the weenie. :-( Someone mentioned it's a confidence thing, could be right at least in my case pretty much threw it out and didn't think much of it. I know, I know the rest of the world slays trout with them. :-?

 

[Phish_On]

lv2nymph wrote:

jkilroy wrote:
The frenchie catches fish like no tomorrow. Love that fly

Yes, love the frenchie.
Hate to say it but never caught a fish on the weenie. :-( Someone mentioned it's a confidence thing, could be right at least in my case pretty much threw it out and didn't think much of it. I know, I know the rest of the world slays trout with them. :-?

i dont catch many on them either.

 

[robkonowitch]

Caught my first trout on a fly yesterday with a weenie. is the best way to fish it upstream and let it float down?

 

[WildTigerTrout]

robkonowitch wrote:
Caught my first trout on a fly yesterday with a weenie. is the best way to fish it upstream and let it float down?

Fish it like any other nymph.

 

[jeremymcon]

I'm still working on my nymphing technique, but I can now say that I've missed no less than 3 fish while fishing a green weenie! I just started fishing them recently, and it's been so cold and the fishing's been so slow that I've been losing my concentration on the water. Anyway, in theory the green weenie should've caught me at least a couple fish by now.

 

[jkilroy]

They work the best in may-fall time frame. Thats why they arent working so hot now, all the caterpillars falling from the trees.

 

[mario66pens]

+1 on green weenie, dead drifted like a nymph usually hit harder than other nymphs would be, more productive in the summer months. I usually tie them as a dropper to a terrestrial like a mosquito in the summer time.

 

[muskylund1]

I've been tying and fishing the Green Weenie for years. It is one of my go-to nymphs. I usually fish it as a lead fly with a trailing nymph consisting of a Pheasant Tail or GR Hare's Ear. The trailing fly can be a beadhead or just a regular nymph depending on how deep I want it to go. I tie all of mine on a #10 Mustad 3096B and heavily weight the body with lead wire. I also smash down the wire after I have covered it with thread to make it flat. This makes the fly have a sort of rocking motion as it dead drifts. I also make a small loop tail which I also think gives the fly some action.

The fly excels in dirty or stained water, but I have caught trout on the Green Weenie in gin clear spring creeks too. I have also caught them on the Green Weenie using it as the nymph on a Dry/Dropper rig. I typically fish it dead drift with a yarn indicator. Sometime almost all the fish hit the dropper, sometimes it is 50/50 and sometimes most of the fish hit the Green Weenie. It works equally well on wild Browns as it does on stocked Rainbows.

I don't know if it ever scares any trout, but it might sometimes. I do think that sometimes it catches their attention and then they hit the dropper. Any that is just my 2 cents. Good luck.

Tom

 

[mario66pens]

The GW saved me from getting skunked yesterday at spring, I love it.

 

[lv2nymph]

One handed no less!

 

[mike_richardson]

never caught a trout one either.

 

[GreenWeenie]

The success of flies, especially bright colorful flies but this applies to all colors, has more to do with ambient conditions than any other factor. Under certain ambient conditions, a brightly colored fly will most certainly spook a trout while more subdued colors may not spook them but the trout will show zero interest because it doesn’t look right. The color that the trout perceives something to be underwater is totally dependent upon ambient conditions and as conditions change during the day, some colors become more dominant while others become less dominant and if fishing the wrong colors, the sight pattern of your fly as observed by the trout will not look right. While an aquatic insect may look all the same color to you, the reality is there are subtle color differences and ambient conditions determine which colors are highlighted and which ones are muted. The secret is fishing the right color fly at that particular time more than the right pattern.

And this is why a certain fly will work great from 8am to 10am but then suddenly stop working for no apparent reason but then start working again from 4pm to 6pm – ambient conditions changed causing the fly to go from looking good, to not looking good, to looking good again. Or why a particular fly works great today but not tomorrow. It’s not so much that the trout stopped feeding or keyed in on something else ambient conditions changed which affected how that particular color fly appeared.

 

[Flytie09]

+1 on the skunked on the weenie. I've tied and used a bunch of them and the pink weenie for steelies and it's not my go to stud fly. Goose eggs using both patterns.

I've heard the pink weenie / worm patterns are killer. Ive heard if big foot uses them he kicks some ace.

Like any other fly, it's practice, persistence and some jungle voodoo dance luck.

Good luck.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

I've always felt sorry for guys I see fishing this pattern when they say stuff like,"it's the only fly I use." Never used it, but I'll fish a chartreuse inchworm, or bead head. inch worm when it seems appropriate. BTW, even the name irks me a little since the Green Weenie Matuka was around well before it as far as I can tell. (Jack Dennis Western Fly Tying Manual, Vol. Two)

 

[Gone_Phishin]

Let me start by saying i have very little FF experience, much less with the GW.

Was fishing this weekend with little luck and a veteran of the stream I was fishing told me to try the weenie. I put it on and the first two casts I landed two suckers. After that I took it off and went back to the gold stones. The trout wanted nothing to do with it.