Winter Killers

[Nymphmeister]

Here's a pic of what I've been tying the past day or two, hopefully they will catch some Farmington trout tomorrow. It's a mix of different color Fireflies, Czech nymphs, tungsten Caddis larva, and Improved Hare's Ears. Here ya go:

[nutman]

torrey ,
what are you using for a wing case on that hares ear .Ive been using ringneck pheasent body feathers for shell casing . im looking for somthing like that but in a thin skin or something it just makes them easier to tye .Im interested in hearing what products people use .

[alanb_ct]

Torrey - there is a storm advancing today, so I bet you will find relatively good fishing. I just hope it is relatively good to last year!

[wwelz]

What size hooks ,brand and style are you using ?

[TexasChris]

Those are some fishy looking flies! What did you rib the caddis larvae with? I tied up a dozen of your improved hares ear last night, i really like the look of the thin skin for a wing case. What sizes do you find the most productive, i tied up 14's and 12's and am planning on tying up some 16's tonight. How small do you go with them?

[alanb_ct]

I think NymphMeister is out practicing his craft as we speak, so I will answer.

Definitely tie your nymphs down to at least size 18. For the beaded flies, we have been using the TMC 100 SPBL hook; the wide gap makes for better hookups on a beaded fly. I would probably tie some flashback version Hare's Ears too, use pearl or mirage for the back.

[TexasChris]

Thanks a lot. I have some pearl mylar i could use.

I've been weighting all my nymphs to help get them down, any negatives to this? I've heard it makes for a less realistic presentation. I'm guessing for euro nymphing the extra weight helps with the short drifts.

[alanb_ct]

Euro nymphing is nymphing with weighted flies and no added weight to the leader. It is hard to Euro nymph to any depth without at least one weighted fly. If you use an unweighted fly as a dropper, it has a tendency to foul more often. There are always discussions about the pros and cons of weighted nymphs, but I weight all of mine. If I feel I am getting too deep, I simply put on a smaller anchor. For tiny nymphs, I sometimes weight with a glass bead. I also sometimes "lightly weight" my flies with fewer wraps. I also like to have a lot of flies without beads, but still weighted underneath. A simple way to make a lighter beaded fly of the same size is just to use a brass bead instead of tungsten (cheaper too!).

You may even indicator nymph with your weighted Euro flies, although you might end up wasting costly tungsten beads.

When I fish, I almost never say to myself "I wish that nymph was lighter!" You simply have to adjust your rig to the conditions.

Finally, it is hard to keep track of your flies as it is. I have read that some people use different color thread heads on their flies according to weight, but that's complicated.

[TexasChris]

I like the idea with the thread, I currently try to keep my different size weighted flys on different tiers in my nymph box. I think the thread might be a better way to go.

As always, great input. Thanks for the reply.

[Nymphmeister]

Wow, didn't think one little pic would get so many questions.

Hooks & sizes
Hare's Ear- Tiemco (TMC) 3761 (1xl), anywhere from a #8-#20, #16 is my go-to and the size in the photo
Czech Nymph- TMC 2499 SP-BL- #10 in the photo, but Czech nymphs are most commonly tied from #8-12, and can be tied from #6-16
Fireflies (or Hot Bead Pheasant Tails)- TMC 100 SP-BL (or use the regular TMC 100)- #14 & 16 in the photo, but you can tie them from #10-24 if you want. #14-20 prob the most useful overall.

Nutman, the wingcase I'm using on the Hare's Ear IS Thin Skin, usually in black, but you can use brown or the natural mottled oak color. Fast & easy to work with, durable, with a nice shine to it, almost looks like an epoxy wingcase.

RipnLips, I used small black Ultra Wire to rib the Caddis Larva. The most common size Hare's Ears I fish are #14 & 16, but I'll use a #10 during March Browns, #12 during Hendricksons, and even as big as a #8 in high, murky, or super-fast water, or if I want to imitate a larger stonefly.

I find that for me, the easiest way to keep track of how heavy my weighted flies are is just to tie them in different sizes, going heavier as I get bigger. For example, on the #10 Czech nymph I usually use a 1/8" tungsten bead and .020 lead wire on most of the shank. For the #8, .025 wire and a 5/32" bead, and a #12 would take a 7/64" bead and .015 wire. Usually, when you want a heavier fly a bigger one is also appropriate. I may have a smaller, more imitative pattern in my 2 or 3 fly rig, and I will adjust the size/weight of my anchor fly to get my flies down. I find this is easier than tying 3 versions of the same pattern in different weights & trying to keep track of which one is light, medium or heavy.

As Alain mentioned, I also like to have some flies with no beads on them, in case that is turning the fish off. I usually tend not to put beads on certain patterns, such as Hare's Ears & Stoneflies. Stones make great anchors because due to the size of the hook you can tie them on, you can pretty much put as much lead on them as you would need, without even using a bead. Some of my flies I don't usually weight at all, such as egg patterns. I let my anchor fly take them to the bottom. You can add a bead to them if you want though.

For Indicator nymphing I generally prefer lighter flies, and adjust to the conditions with split shot place above my top fly. I like my upper fly to be weighted to some degree, and my bottom fly to be lightly weighted or unweighted. Way less hang-ups that way. The constant tension & leading in the Euro-style seems to keep the weighted flies from hanging up much at all (if you do it right!).

As far as whether weighted or unweighted nymphs fish more naturally, that is a debate that has been ongoing for a long, long time. Both ways catch fish. One good point to remember however, is that while in theory an unweighted or very lightly weighted fly is about the same weight as the natural and SHOULD fish in a more natural manner, there is one thing very different about an artificial fly: it has a piece of tippet tied to & pulling on one end of it! For that reason, I personally think that weight tied into the fly actually HELPS counteract the pull & push of the leader. Kind of ironic. Tom Rosenbauer wrote about this before, and I have to say I agree also.