The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Dry

Morningwood Special

Insect Species Icon Golden Stonefly, Salmonfly, Skwala Stone
Difficulty Icon Hard - 10-15 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Straight eye 3x long curved hopper hook
  • Thread: UNI 6/0 rusty brown
  • Body: Thin fly foam gold
  • Legs: MFC sexi-legs golden yellow barred
  • Wing: Umpqua stonefly wing
  • Indicator: Hot pink over black McFlyon yarn
  • Special Tools: Sewing needle, Sharpie for details
  • Glue: Zap-a-gap
  • Hook: Any straight eyed 3x long hook will work, curved hooks give the hook point more room below the extended body tail
  • Thread: Any medium sized thread will work, match the color of the thread to the specific insect you want to match
  • Body: No substitutions, foam is the easiest and cheapest way to make this fly with the extended body
  • Legs: Any round rubber legs will work
  • Wing: Propylene yarn will substitute, but use sparingly
  • Indicator: Propylene yarn will substitute
  • Special Tools: If you don’t have a sewing needle and have a spare hook, break the bend or the eye off the hook and use the hook shank. Any permanent marker will work for the detailing
  • Glue: Any thin glue will work

Even though this is a pattern that represents very few bugs on the water at the same time, you can still get creative with the colors and some of the materials used. For more of a hopper pattern, use green or red foam for the underside, and brown or black foam for the top side. If you want to get a more realistic stonefly pattern, try adding turkey quills to the tail and head for antennae.

Since this fly is 90% foam this thing will float like a cork. The extended body adds a level of realism and with the segmented tail, this fly will drive fish crazy during stonefly hatches. The lifelike qualities of this fly also allows this fly to be fished with success drowned. The wing sparkles like the real thing, and will trigger explosive strikes both on the surface and just under.

Since this is a stonefly pattern, try fishing this fly aggressively on the surface of the water. Especially in windy days when larger bugs are flying around, try to slap this fly down by stopping the cast shorter than you normally would when trying to delicately place flies on the surface. Since stoneflies do not have an aquatic emerging stage and crawl out on the banks and willows to emerge, the only time these insects experience water is in the nymph stage, or when they fly back to the water to lay their eggs in the stream. Since this is the case, it is usually the weakened flies that get caught in the wind and forced down to the river, and they don’t land softly.

Golden Stonefly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: Northwest
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: East
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: Midwest
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16

Salmonfly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Salmonfly
Sizes: #6 - #14

Skwala Stone

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Skwala Stone
Sizes: #12 - #16

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