Golden Stone Nymph

[gingerdun]

I'm curious about the pros and cons of realistic nymphs v. flymph-style nymphs tied in the round. Obviously this forum is devoted to the less-realistic approach, but out there, in the real world, semi-realistic to very realistic nymph patterns seem to be the rule. I searched the pattern on Hans's site, and they were almost all realistic, except for one tied by the Dette's in flymph-style, currently in the collection of Steve Williams:
http://www.danica.com/flytier/wwdette/s ... _nymph.htm
I wonder if the golden stones are still healthy in the Willowemoc? Anybody know?
Ruard, you recently posted an absolutely gorgeous, semi-realistic yellow stonefly nymph. Have you fished it?
http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 2552&hilit

I don't have enough fishing experience to form a preference, but since flymphs are a kind of family business for me, I thought I'd stick with it.
To my surprise, Charlie Brooks advocated tying some nymphs in the round. He doubted that the more realistic patterns could swim right-side-up. His tests showed that they tended to spin underwater, which he said defeated the point of the realistic designs. He fished enough to know what he was talking about—and to know what the trout liked.

This morning, looking for ideas, I found photographs of the living golden stone nymph taken by Thomas Ames, and thought I'd take a shot at a flymph pattern based on his photos. They are huge and athletic, going up to 14 mm or more—active year-round during their two-year life before hatching.
If you have your own imitation of this nymph, please post it on this string. I'm really curious.

Hook—8 Green Caddis sale hook, maker unknown
Silk—brown Pearsall's gossamer
Hackle—Brahma hen dyed golden straw
Tail—pheasant tail (needs to be shorter)
Rib—brown floss blend of silk and merino wool
Body—gold wool and golden olive seal substitute blend on brown tying silk

[DUBBN]

Interesting pattern and very well tied Lance. A few weeks ago I had posted a picture of 20inch Stone Nymph variation. Those pictures were lost with the threads the week the servers went down on this site. I tied a pattern that I am hoping will cover the Golden Stone, aswell as the Giant Stone (Pteronarcys californica) which both inhabit my local Freestone rivers. Both nymphs are very large just before they crawl out of the river to become adults. This pattern is tyed with a dubbing blend I threw together from Sea Lion (Fly Tyers Dungeon) dubbing I received from Hank.





I will not use these patterns in ernest until the rivers start to raise at the end of April. The Stone flies will not start to emerge at the lower elevations until mid May. Then the hatch will progress upstream for a few weeks to a month.

I use Flymphs for the smaller Winter Stones, but must say, I prefer something a tad more realistic for their larger cousins.

[Old Hat]

Great looking flymph Lance. I can see a lot of thought went into this one.

I have to admit I haven't had a lot of luck imitating specific prey items that are bigger with flymphs. That is not to say that I haven't caught trout on big flymphs. I catch trout all the time in the winter months while using #8 flymphs for steelhead, but the patterns don't really match any "hatch" just generic color combinations.

I leave in a week and a half for the Metolius River. Golden Stones are available now. Send me a couple and I'll let you know how they do.

[letumgo]

Lance & Wayne - Great flies. Very fishy (sincere compliment).

[tie2fish]

That is a really nice and eminently fishable pattern, Wayne. It has all of the trademark characteristics of the big stoneflies, combined with the characteristic "bugginess" that you unfailingly provide in your patterns. I would fish that with much confidence on the Upper Delaware system.

[CreationBear]

Lance, I don't know if trout will take that as a stonefly, but I'd fish it all day as Green Drake or Hex... Otherwise, one of the things to remember about Mr. Brooks' fly designs is that his "imitationism" went hand-in-hand with chunkin' some lead--is a weighted flymph still a flymph?

[gingerdun]

Wayne, I love your sea lion pattern. Looks a lot more like a nymph than mine. Great mixture of materials, texture, color.

And CB, I agree with your assessment.
The question about weighted hooks for flymphs, or shot on the leader, is easy to answer. My Dad tied and fished his flymphs both ways. He always carried split shot in his vest, and he left behind weighted flymphs in his sample cards. He usually fished light and high in the water, but sometimes wanted to get to the bottom fast.

Here's another version of a golden stone nymph, inspired by Charlie Brooks, but without the weight.

Hook— no. 8
Silk—black
Hackles—grizzly, and rusty dun, stripped on one side
Underbody—black wool, to build taper, and get a little undercolor
Body—dull gold wool
Tail—pheasant tail

[Old Hat]

I do like the larger body on Mr. William's fly. I think part of the problem with stoneflies, mostly the big ones, like the salmonflies and Golden's is they really don't have a behavior in emergeance that is conducive to using a flymph as an imitation. They don't have a presence in the mid-column as they emerge which is the basic part of the life cycle a flymph is meant to be used for. About the only time they are available in the water column is if they are detached some how from the substrate. Which doesn't occur often. Even in this case, they are more likely to tumble or "swim" near the bottom until they can grasp hold again. Again, this is not the "normal" habitat of a flymph. However I too have used a weighted fly to get a flymph deep but with very little luck with stonefly patterns. Nearly all the people I know that fish These stonefly patterns are fishing big dries or heavy nymph dragged along the bottom. This makes sense. Not to mention they have characteristics that are very easy to spot (for humans as well as fish I would assume), and not so easy to mimic with the generalistic characteristics of a flymph.

On the other hand, I have had good returns with flymph designs on much smaller stoneflies, little black winter stones, mostly. My theory is, not by any means confirmed, that after these little stoneflies emerge they can be seen fluttering all along the banks, dipping to the water's surface. On many occasions I have seen them hit the water too hard or for some other reason, and get "stuck" in the surface. they then wash downstream struggling and since they are heavy enough, sinking a bit. Now this is the place of flymphs. I fish these flymph stonefly patterns in a dry style not emergent. Landing the fly on the surface and letting the current take it down not caring though if it sinks. Most of the take are at the surface or right under.

Edit: you posted as I did Lance. This pattern I like a lot and think it would be a better option for a golden stone. I might suggest a contrasting rib which I think is important in a stonefly nymph design. I also agree with Mr. Brooks on his theory of tying in the round. I also prefer the way the hackle is wound through the thorax area, spreading the legs out which are a big characteristic of these large stoneflies.

[Old Hat]

I don't have any golden stone flymphs for my trip to the Metolius next week. I am gong to tie a few of this last pattern up. Thanks.

[Old Hat]

This is an Arlen Thompson photo. This is a classic PNW golden stonefly nymph. About 2 inches long with the tail. Leggy enough to give you the eeby-jeebies when you hold one in your hand.

Lance, I think you are very close with this second pattern.

golden_larva2_600.jpg (72.26 KiB) Viewed 8070 times