The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph

Black and Tan Jig

Insect Species Icon Quill Gordon, Blue Wing Olive, Callibaetis and 9 others
Difficulty Icon Easy - 1-3 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Jig hook 45 degree eye 2x wide 2x short size #20
  • Bead: Tungsten slotted bead 3/32″ silver
  • Thread: UTC 70 denier black
  • Weight: lead free round wire .020
  • Tail: Coq-de-Leon medium pardo
  • Body: Antron yarn tan
  • Rib: Ultra wire extra small black
  • Collar: Thread and head cement
  • Hook: Any nymph jig hook will work well for this pattern, standard hooks can also work.
  • Bead: Any slotted tungsten bead will work, as well as standard beads if using standard hooks.
  • Thread: Any thin diameter thread will work. Go as thin as you are comfortable with, by try not to go above 8/0 or 70 denier. Going smaller will help with smaller flies.
  • Weight: Weight is not absolutely needed. If you find you’re having trouble with proportions, skip this step.
  • Tail: Coq-de-Leon is great tailing material for its diameter to strength ratio. Other tailing materials that can be used are wood duck flank and pheasant tail.
  • Body: If you find you’re struggling with proportions, a thread body will work great. This also may cut down on time.
  • Rib: Extra small wire, or thin black thread.
  • Collar: Thread collar, so just use the thread you’re tying with.

This fly is specifically geared towards low clear water, but the idea of this pattern can be used year round. For higher flows, try upsizing the hook and using flashier colors for the body. For a more emerger style fly, try adding CDC as a soft hackle for the smaller sizes, or partridge if you’re going to size the fly up. For a little bit of flash, use some UTC mirage opal tinsel as a flashback wing case!

This is a great low water pattern that is not as intrusive as some other flies. This allows you to fish the fly more confidently when trout are laid up in shallow water and want to spook at the splashes of larger beads on larger flies. This is a simple tie as well so you can crank out 10 or 12 of them and still have time to fish afterwards!

If fishing this in shallower water, consider using a dry dropper set up with this as the dropper. If you want to use a nymph rig, either euro nymph this, or be sure to use a low impact indicator, like a NZ yarn indicator. If you don’t have a NZ indicator, a 3″ piece of polypropylene attached to your tippet with a double overhand knot will work great.

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

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

Trico

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Trico
Sizes: #18 - #26
Region: East, Southeast, Midwest
Trico
Sizes: #18 - #26

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