The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph

Little Black Stone Nymph

Insect Species Icon Little Black Stone
Difficulty Icon Easy - 1-3 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Straight Eye, Straight Shank, Perfect Bend Hook (~Tiemco 5262)
  • Thread: UTC 70 Denier Black
  • Legs: Wapsi Spanflex Small Black
  • Body: Wapsi Stretch Tubing Micro Black
  • Wing Case: Pheasant Tail Fibers Black
  • Dubbing: Wapsi Dark Hare’s Mask

This is a simple pattern with a decent amount of interchangeable materials, which is always welcome news. Chances are you won’t need to make a material pit stop before spinning a few of these up.

  • Legs: MFC Sexi-Floss Small Black or MFC Centipede Legs Mini Black will also work, and look just as good.
  • Wing Case: Any pheasant tail fibers in a dark color will do the job, although black does look the best.
  • Body: You can also employ Hareline D-Rib Black in Small or Medium (depending on hook size) for the segmented body of this fly.
  • Dubbing: Hareline Hare Tron Dubbin Black will accomplish a similar look on this fly.

Leg Variations: Try incorporating Olive or Copper legs in place of Black to change it up a little.

The slender, anatomically correct nature of this pattern makes it a great choice to imitate the little black stones that can so easily cure a case of winter blues. The stretch tubing body does a stellar job of imitating the segmentation on these little trout morsels. Another great attribute of this bug is you can thread tippet through the eye without +3 readers, even when your hands are barely functioning on that early spring day.

This fly is a great first fly in two or three nymph rig when the other fly(s) are midges or other small, cold weather trout fare. It can be a worthwhile meal for for a fish used to eating such small bugs all day long during the cooler months. Don’t be surprised if fish move to this fly. It will often be a welcome sight in the water column.

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

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