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The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph, Emerger

Pretzel Nymph

Insect Species Icon Quill Gordon, Blue Wing Olive, Callibaetis and 8 others
Difficulty Icon Medium - 5-7 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater

Tying Video

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Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Standard jig hook size #14
  • Bead: Slotted tungsten bead 3.5mm
  • Thread: UTC 70 denier olive
  • Tail: Pheasant tail
  • Body: Ultra wire small hot yellow and olive twisted together
  • Thorax: Ice dub peacock
  • Wing: CDC feathers natural in a dubbing loop
  • Collar: Natural hares ear in a dubbing loop
  • Hook: Use and jig hook that you like. Standard hooks will also work fine.
  • Bead: Use slotted beads for jig hooks and standard beads for standard hooks. Tungsten or brass will work.
  • Thread: Any thin diameter thread will work. 8/0 or 70 denier works best, as it wont break with the wire, and it wont build up too bad.
  • Tail: Pheasant tail is a classic tailing material. If you don’t have any wood duck flanks will work or Coq-de-Leon.
  • Body: This is the main part of the fly and what makes it different than most. Any small round wire will work.
  • Thorax: Use any dubbing you like. Match the color to the color of the wires used.
  • Wing: CDC is a great wing, partridge can work, but it may be a little longer than you want.
  • Collar: Use any medium to long fibered dubbing. If you don’t know how to utilize a dubbing loop, take a bodkin or something sharp to tease the fibers out.

The main thing that is unique about this fly is the twisted wire body. Try not to change that up too much besides the coloration. The other parts of the fly however you can get creative with! try different materials, different techniques and different colors for an array of bullet proof nymphs. One thing to try out is to replace the dubbing collar with a few turns of partridge in front of the CDC.

The body of this fly is made up of two small wires twisted together. Not only does this make the fly bullet proof, but also adds a little bit of extra weight to get it to the bottom. The jig hook also allows the fly to ride hook point up, so feel free to dredge the bottom with confidence!

Fish this like any other nymph. You can fish this as the point fly on a euro rig, the lead or trailing fly on an indicator rig, or as the dropper on a dry dropper rig. Try to get this fly in the deeper holes and 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

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

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