Success with the Green Weenie

[salmo]

I’m a terrible nymph fisherman. I try but hardly succeed. I have fished the Green Weenie and never caught a trout. I was fishing in the Poconos after the heavy rains this week. The creek was up with evidence of the banks being topped. Flows were spring like. The air temperatures were in the mid 60s to low 70s. Water temperature a consistent 62. The weather started out cloudy with threats of thunderstorms. There was no rain and by afternoon bright sunshine. I had the creek to myself.
I started out fishing a bushy dry with a small nymph dropper. I started taking hits to the dry. After about an hour landed a brown on the big dry. At this point I normally would have cut off the nymph and started fishing dry flies.

I cut off the dry and went to a size 12 beadhead green weenie with a red collar and chartreuse sparkle tail and a size 18 dropper. I then proceeded to catch 8 more brownies 7 on the Green Weenie!

There were multiple hatches including, size 22 midges, size 20 bwos, size 16 yellow stones, multiple different caddis flies and a size 16 PMD. With all that activity I only saw no fish rise.

While the fish were all small, it was my best day by far this year. I’m hooked on the Green Weenie!

 

[redietz]

For all people make fun of it, the Green Weenie is an effective fly, especially in the warmer months.

 

[troutbert]

salmo wrote:
I’m a terrible nymph fisherman. I try but hardly succeed. I have fished the Green Weenie and never caught a trout. I was fishing in the Poconos after the heavy rains this week. The creek was up with evidence of the banks being topped. Flows were spring like. The air temperatures were in the mid 60s to low 70s. Water temperature a consistent 62. The weather started out cloudy with threats of thunderstorms. There was no rain and by afternoon bright sunshine. I had the creek to myself.
I started out fishing a bushy dry with a small nymph dropper. I started taking hits to the dry. After about an hour landed a brown on the big dry. At this point I normally would have cut off the nymph and started fishing dry flies.

I cut off the dry and went to a size 12 beadhead green weenie with a red collar and chartreuse sparkle tail and a size 18 dropper. I then proceeded to catch 8 more brownies 7 on the Green Weenie!

There were multiple hatches including, size 22 midges, size 20 bwos, size 16 yellow stones, multiple different caddis flies and a size 16 PMD. With all that activity I only saw no fish rise.

While the fish were all small, it was my best day by far this year. I’m hooked on the Green Weenie!

Green inchworms are an important part of trout's diet in the summer, into early fall.

So, you just make the fly look as much like a green inchworm as possible, you will catch even more trout.

Eliminate the red collar, sparkle tail, beadhead, etc.

In the cold months of the year, there aren't inchworms around, but there are green caddis larvae. At that time of the year, make your fly look as much like a green caddis larvae as possible.

You can find photos of both online.

 

[wildtrout2]

As TB mentioned, inchworms are as natural as it gets in the summer. I'm always seeing them hanging down over the streams I fish. A GW is a perfect summer match the hatch.
I've had some really productive days using a GW, when they didn't show interest in other offerings. Bead head seems to work best for me.

 

[JerryC]

It should be the state fly of PA. I always had decent luck with the Green Weenie. Alas, I've replaced it with a small bright green mop fly which seems to be more effective,and easier to tie. I tie it with a black bead head and either a peacock herl or small black crystal chenille thorax. And I can do a floating version for when the inch worms are dropping in the water.

 

[iwana]

Used GW on a drop shot rig and had an absolute blast on the Gunpowder today. Fishing it drop-shot under a NZ indicator seemed to work best for me as the trout lost interest as soon as the GW started catching on the bottom when used without an indicator. Caught a largemouth and a few green sunfish hanging around a trib dump as well. As sacrilegious as it is, it's a killer fly when worms are literally dropping on me on the stream. Ew.

 

[klingy]

I was on a stream today and noticed an elm with half of it’s leaves chewed back to the stems. After getting a little closer, I could see dozens of green caterpillars resting all over the branches. A few were even hanging over the stream by a silk thread. No wonder the weenie works!

 

[Swattie87]

If you were on the stream you posted about recently in another thread, it’s got a great inchworm population in the surrounding woods. In the Summer when I get home I end up pulling a few off my pack.

I’ve caught Brookies there before gorged on them and spilling out their gullet. I’m sure I was still fishing a dry, and the Brookies took that just as fine, but the Browns are another story. Good job figuring them out. I don’t fish a GW much but maybe should more as a dropper in Summer...Full terrestrial rig...Hopper with a GW dropper.

 

[jifigz]

The Green Weenie is, without a doubt, one of the best warm weather patterns in Pennsylvania.

 

[Rockfish]

For those days when summer browns get picky about terrestrial offerings, my latest rig is a #10 adult crane fly with a small green weenie dropper. Crushed them at Spring creek Friday with them with half coming on the GW

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Have caught trout, smallies and carp all on green weenies. Versatile fly.

 

[jeffroey]

Here's my favorite green weenie pattern: The green squirmy!

I always carry weenies with me but I usually reach for a green squirmy first. I think it does a better job of mimicking an inch worm and it isn't until after I tear the shreds out of however many of them I brought with me that I reach for a green weenie.