Golden Stone Nymph

[CreationBear]

I think Carl has it dialed in (as we might expect . My own personal Holy Grail, though, is coming up with a suitable Yellow Sally flymph--they are by far the longest lived, most consistent "hatch" here in the Smokies, but for some reason they don't seem to share the same "palette" as mayflies and caddis. No doubt you could get close with a bit of nylon thread and some acrylic dubbing, but that really hurts the LL Bean ensemble I've been working.

[Ruard]

Ruard, you recently posted an absolutely gorgeous, semi-realistic yellow stonefly nymph. Have you fished it?

http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 2552&hilit

Hi Lance,

I did not fished with this pattern, but because I go toe Roscoe I searched for books on that subject. I read the book of Eric Leiser: Stoneflies and from there i got an idea. It seems that in the Catskill's there are many yellowish stoneflies so I tied some for Roscoe and I tied some dark ones for our yearly week flyfishing in Europe with Frits and Hans. We go to the Aar in Germany. Not to the Ahr that is a complete other river.
In the book of Eric Leiser there is also a chapter: The secret of the white stoneflie.

Greeting

[Soft-hackle]

Lance,
It is my experience that coloration of the Golden Stone Nymph varies with location. I've seen some that are quite dark on top of the body, and the melt into a golden color toward the underside. In my estimation, stone flies are best imitated by using a good hook profile and the correct coloration.

Emergence in the east usually occurs at night. The nymphs crawl to rocks where the shed their nymphal shuck and fly away. I would think a good imitation would need to be fished deep near or on the bottom to simulate nymph behavior. My take on the a flymph is this:



Looking at this fly, now, I might be tempted to stretch something over the back to denote the dark brown at the top of the body. I might make the body more amber in color depending on the natural for color clues. I'd also change the hook to a Daiichi 1260.

Mark

[Roadkill]

Carl

After a day of macroinvertebrate catching (including your example) with kids for an outdoor school, I tied this version just for fun.



but I fish a simple gold/tan caddis flymph when Goldens are on the water and haven't tied a dedicated stone flymph except for the smaller ones.

[letumgo]

Wow! Those are great patterns.

Here are some photos of the golden stone flies in my area (Western New York). I took these photos a couple summers ago, on one of the local streams.





Next time, I will try to remember to lay a coin in the photo for size reference. These photos lack a sense of scale.

I think a folded biot would also make an effective imitation of the sturdy legs of these insects.

Bill - I think your fly is a dead ringer for the naturals.

[William Anderson]

Lance, and all the others who put this thread together, this has been a wonderful collection and some expecially thoughtful tying. Lance I would have pounced on that first pattern as being just the thing to convert what are usually too realistic stonefly nymphs into the far more suggestive camp, and then I saw your second offering. Now you've done it. That pattern seems just the thing to exhibit the attributes that for me seem elicit or induce a take. I love it. Nicely done on all counts.

Wayne, your more entomologically accurate pattern I'm sure is a killer as well. Partly for all the same reasons (proportion, profile, mobility and presentation) and adds the right notes that would make me want to load my box with similar ties. Great pattern.

Mark, that composition is just spot on. Beautifully thought out. I like your pattern tied in the round and adding the extra parts would diminish the simplicity of the pattern. It's great work.

Ron, You always amaze me with your diverse interest and the realistic pattern is cool to see.

I have not spent a lot of time (in recent years) tying stonefly nymphs as I seem to spend my time trying to temp feeders with very lively presentations and as stoneflies most effectively crawl to the streamside and remain out of reach (Rays and Carls excellent pics are exhibit A and B), I can see where all the occasions where these guys are set adrift could cause a great opportunity for some hard hits. Especially in larger, faster water where the numbers would make it worth the effort.

This is another wondeful thread and if I find some of my older stonefly nymph patterns, I'll try to post one.

Well done, all.

[gingerdun]

Everyone,
You all have enriched this post beyond anything I had imagined. Each and every one of you get my heartfelt thanks.
Going from Ray's empty shuck photos, to Bill's (Roadkill) realistic nymph, then to Mark's sublime flymph, was a visual roller coaster of delight.

You may remember that some time back I was tying Leisenring's Doctor Lyte Palmer from THE ART OF TYING THE WET FLY. I tried using almost the identical technique for a new take on this golden stone nymph. I need to practice this a few more times to get the spiral ribs to wrap more evenly.

The classic hook is one of my father's, a vintage Mustad-Viking, No. 8, 3x-long.

This fly has a much longer, fatter body than Leisenring's Dr. Lyte Palmer. And instead of peacock sword, I used a sparsely-dubbed spun body with a mix of gold-tan hare's mask and wool. The palmer hackle on Dr Lyte goes full-shank, but this one is only about two-thirds, and should probably only go half.

The other modification that I'll try is to use more natural color for the wool body.
Thanks again, everyone.

Lance

[letumgo]

Splendid! That's a keeper, Lance.

[hankaye]

gingerdun, Howdy;

Ga-dang! Looks just fine to me. Bet-cha this one reaps a trout
before any other does on the same line. But that's only my opinion...

hank

[gingerdun]

Ray and Hank, thanks for the feedback.
Here's the same pattern with a darker yarn for the body, and the palmer going only halfway.

Lance