The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph

Pig Tail Nymph

Insect Species Icon Quill Gordon, Blue Wing Olive, Hendrickson and 11 others
Difficulty Icon Medium - 3-5 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Czech nymph style hook size #8
  • Bead: Tungsten bead 4mm black nickel
  • Weight: Lead free round wire .015
  • Thread: UTC 70 denier black
  • Tail: Hungarian partridge natural
  • Body: Lateral scale black coated with clear UV cure resin
  • Rib: UTC ultra wire brassie copper brown
  • Wing case: Lateral scale black covered with clear UV cure resin
  • Thorax: Hares ice dub black
  • Legs: Hungarian partridge natural
  • Hook: Any curved or straight shank nymph hook will work great for this pattern.
  • Bead: Any brass or tungsten bead will work great. Try to keep the colors to classic nickel, copper, or gold.
  • Weight: This step is not necessary, but helps get the fly to the bottom.
  • Thread: Use any thin diameter thread that you like. Go as thin as you are comfortable with, but try not to go thicker than 8/0 or 70 denier, as the fly will bulk up too much.
  • Tail: Pheasant tail is always a good choice for nymph tails. If you want something stronger, you may have to use a bit more for larger flies, but Coq-de-Leon is a great tailing material.
  • Body: Darker flashabou will work great for this fly. Coat it with head cement or UV resin for strength.
  • Rib: Use any brassie sized round wire that you like. Since the body of this fly is made out of flash, you don’t necessarily need to keep with classic colors.
  • Wing case: Use the same material that you used for the body for the wing case. Thin skin can work here too.
  • Thorax: Use any slightly flashy dubbing that you like here.
  • Legs: Substituting rubber legs is a fun way to get extra movement out of nymphs!

This is a fun stonefly/large mayfly pattern that you can have a little fun with the colors and recipe. The main thing to remember for this pattern is the clump of wire just after the tail, so as long as you incorporate this into the pattern, feel free to have fun with the rest of it. For a not so flashy fly, replace the flash body with a few strands of peacock herl twisted together similar to a twenty incher stone body. Add rubber legs mixed in with the thorax to add a little bit of motion to this nymph to really get some attention underwater.

With the large tungsten bead and the wraps of weight underneath a thin and glue covered bug, this is one to keep in your box for getting deep and in front of the faces of any fish. This fly can be tied in larger sizes to imitate stoneflies and larger mayflies, or tied smaller for a general mayfly pattern.

This fly is best fished under an indicator due to the weight of it. If fishing it under a dry fly, be sure it’s a larger dry fly, preferably made of foam to hold it up. Fish this as dead drifted as possible for best results.

Blue Wing Olive

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: Northwest
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: East
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: Southeast
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24
Region: Midwest
Blue Wing Olive
Sizes: #16 - #24

Brown Drake

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Northwest
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: East
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Midwest
Brown Drake
Sizes: #10 - #14

Callibaetis

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Northwest
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: East
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Midwest
Callibaetis
Sizes: #12 - #18

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

Green Drake

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, Midwest
Green Drake
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: East
Green Drake
Sizes: #8 - #14

Hendrickson

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East, Midwest
Hendrickson
Sizes: #10 - #16

Isonychia

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Southeast
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Midwest
Isonychia
Sizes: #12 - #18

Light Cahill

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East
Light Cahill
Sizes: #12 - #20
Region: Midwest
Light Cahill
Sizes: #12 - #20
Region: Northwest
Light Cahill
Sizes: #12 - #20

Mahogany Dun

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Mahogany Dun
Sizes: #14 - #20
Region: East, Midwest
Mahogany Dun
Sizes: #14 - #20

March Brown

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, East
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Northwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14
Region: Midwest
March Brown
Sizes: #10 - #14

PMD

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East, Southeast, Midwest
PMD
Sizes: #14 - #20

Quill Gordon

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East, Southeast
Quill Gordon
Sizes: #12 - #16

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

Yellow Sally

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Midwest
Yellow Sally
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: Northwest
Yellow Sally
Sizes: #12 - #18
Region: East, Southeast
Yellow Sally
Sizes: #12 - #18

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