Golden Stonefly nymph
It's a fairly detailed pattern without getting TOO out of control or time consuming.....these are actually pretty quick to tie once you figure out the spacing and routine. They look just good enough that you don't mourn losing them in the rocks LOL 😊
I like mine quite a bit darker on top and legs/ tails than a lot of golden stone patterns I see.
I tie mine unweighted as I like them a little more free flowing but you could certainly weight them however you like.
Hook - #8-10 3xl curved nymph hook, unweighted.
Thread - 6/0 dark brown uni
Abdomen topside and wingcase - a single strip of wapsi thin skin "mottled oak natural"
Tail and legs - dark brown goose boots
Thorax and abdomen underbody - Fred Reese's golden stone fly nymph dubbing-fairly coarse rabbit style dubbing
Rib - dark brown antron yarn. Very thin bundle twisted into a rope and then wound.
After you tie and split the tails, tie in the thin skin. I taper the tie in point and abdomen bit then it's wingcase width from there to the head.
The visible abdomen is fairly short on a stonefly. I stop short of 1/2 way up the hook shank and tie off the ribbed abdomen.( If you tie too long of an abdomen you are going to run out of room for legs and wingcase sets.)
Then start your rear leg set, dub in front and back, pinch and fold over the wingcase and tie off.....repeat to the eye with solid leg spacing.
Once you figure out the length of the last wingcase tie in at the head, trim it a bit to taper. Makes it easier to tie down.
I then brush out the thorax a bit to make it a little fluffy and gilly around the legs. The abdomen should remain smooth.
If you've never tied stonefly nymphs before, you're gonna screw up the spacing big time and run out of room .... Curse a couple times and start over. You'll get it. 😉
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