Playing with stoneflies

[FrequentTyer]

I was tying some Catskill Coilers a few weeks ago and got to thinking about the pattern. I wanted to get rid of the lead underbody and re-evaluate the triggers that I believe the fish notice. Obviously, no one knows what the fish notice, but this is how I think about it.
I came across this video and was especially impressed by the sequence from about 1 - 2 minutes. The free floating near neutral buoyancy of the nymph was the reason i wanted to get the lead out. But if I had to pick triggers here I would say the 2-toned color scheme, prominent bulky (almost muscular) legs, and antennae/tails are the most obvious patterns that appear as the nymph is tumbling in the current.
Giving this some thought and playing at the vise for a bit, I came up with the pattern below. It's heavily based on the coiler and still in need of some tweaking, especially around the butt and head, but I'm happy with the triggers I set out to accentuate. I hope you enjoy knowing a bit of the thought going into the pattern and would welcome comments.
Mike.

Stone Fly Nymph Variation:
Hook: Streamer 2XH/5XL #8
Thread: Uni tan 8/0
Underbody: Natural wool tied in layers to sides of hook
Back/wing pads: Turkey tail feather
Tails/antenna: Moose body hair
Rib: Persall's brown
Abdomen: Natural wool
Thorax: Tan ostrich herl
Legs: Tied and clipped pheasant tail fibers
Eyes: Maxima Chameleon

 

[redvtec00]

Absolutely gorgeous, great tie!

 

[J55tyger88]

wow. How long to tie? Looks awesome.

 

[poopdeck]

If I were a fish I would eat that in a second

 

[blueheron]

Nice tie Mike, I wouldn't lose all the weight though. I think long and hard about the flies I tie and more importantly how they behave when in the water. That stonefly, like almost all nymphs, migrate from the river bottom to the surface , as you know. My intent is to get my flies down first and then letting them rise in the target area, the variables being the flow and depth of the water. I tie several styles of stone but they all have some weight to them, I also don't use beads as I prefer to weight it around the center for less jigging action and more natural motion .I would be hesitant to use one without weight simply because the materials themselves are so buoyant They are without a doubt the go to fly for me when I blind nymph new water, I see them everywhere and with a multiyear growth phase they're available to fish anytime. I think I'm preaching to the choir with you. Chris

 

[blueheron]

Here's a side by side on the Lehigh.

 

[FrequentTyer]

Thanks for the comments guys. J55tyger88, I have not really timed it, but it is probably a 10 minute tie right now assuming I have the pheasant tail legs pre tied and the mono eyes made.
Chris, you make some excellent points (and some excellent flies! That side by side shot is incredible). I'm thinking of the weight thing as an experiment, and I will obviously have to weight my leader. I'm not sure stoneflies often rise in the water column given they tend to crawl out on to rocks and banks to hatch. So when they are not on the bottom, they are tumbling. But then again you and countless others have had much success with weighted stonefly nymphs. It also might matter how the fly is fished. If you are using tight line approaches then it becomes a different equation altogether. I'll be tying some with weight and let the experiment run.
Mike.

 

[afishinado]

FrequentTyer wrote:
Thanks for the comments guys. J55tyger88, I have not really timed it, but it is probably a 10 minute tie right now assuming I have the pheasant tail legs pre tied and the mono eyes made.
Chris, you make some excellent points (and some excellent flies! That side by side shot is incredible). I'm thinking of the weight thing as an experiment, and I will obviously have to weight my leader. I'm not sure stoneflies often rise in the water column given they tend to crawl out on to rocks and banks to hatch. So when they are not on the bottom, they are tumbling. But then again you and countless others have had much success with weighted stonefly nymphs. It also might matter how the fly is fished. If you are using tight line approaches then it becomes a different equation altogether. I'll be tying some with weight and let the experiment run.
Mike.

FT,

Real nice fly. I've caught oodles and boodles of fish (trout and SMBs) on heavily weighted stonefly nymphs. Great anchor fly. Great fish catcher.

 

[blueheron]

Mike, they don't rise in the way that a mayfly nymph does but they do tumble in different levels in the water column, depending on water flow and speed. Just talking about this is making me itchy to go fling some meat into a few riffles I've found that dump into deep pools, it doesn't seem to matter how cold it is if I can put the fly in the fishes face they will eat it. Guess I'll just settle for tying a few more up in the comfort of cushioned seat and have a cup of coffee.