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The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph

Combat Stonefly

Insect Species Icon Golden Stonefly, Skwala Stone, Green Stone and 1 others
Difficulty Icon Medium - 5-7 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Standard Jig hook size #10
  • Bead: Slotted tungsten 4mm black nickel
  • Weight: Lead free round wire .020
  • Thread: Veevus GSP+ 50 denier black
  • Tail: Goose biots black
  • Body: Hemmingway’s czech nymph dubbing black
  • Rib: Vinyl d-rib midge black
  • Thorax: Hemmingway’s czech nymph dubbing black
  • Wing case: Thin skin mottled black
  • Legs: Round vinyl rib medium black
  • Hook: Any standard nymph hook will work, jigged or not.
  • Bead: If using a jig hook, slotted beads are required. If using a standard nymph hook, standard beads are fine. Match the bead color with the color of the fly.
  • Weight: Add as little or as much weight as you want. Try not to add too much to the hook shank, or the fly will become unproportionate.
  • Thread: Any thin diameter thread will work. Try not to go too thin, as you may have trouble with tying in the legs. 8/0 or 7o denier is a standard.
  • Tail: If you don’t have goose biots, rubber legs can work great.
  • Body: Use any short fibered dubbing that you like.
  • Rib: Small or brassie sized round wire can work great here.
  • Thorax: Use the same dubbing that you used for the body here.
  • Legs: Round rubber legs can work great here.
  • Wing case: Thin skin works best here.

Feel free to change up materials to get the exact look that you want out of this pattern. Replace the biot tails for a pair of rubber legs for some extra movement. For a slimmer body try taking the dubbing out and just using vinyl rib for the body.

With the knotted legs, this is a bit more of a realistic stonefly pattern that can be fished for trout and steelhead. The large tungsten bead plus the lead wraps underneath makes this fly a heavy sinker, which makes it a great point fly for euro nymphing, or lead fly under an indicator.

This fly fishes best under an indicator or as the point fly on a euro nymph rig. This allows the angler to get this fly to the bottom of the river quickly, and to adjust the depth as needed. If fishing this under a dry during a heavy hatch, be sure to fish the edges of the river, where the water may be a bit shallower. This is also where the actual bugs are going to be, as they crawl out on the banks to hatch.

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 Stone

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

Little Black Stone

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

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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