[sesro1978]

Hi-

Anyone have a good, relatively simple, golden stone nymph pattern they would like to share? I tied some up of my own design but I'm not too confident in their fish catching potential...

Thanks,
Seth

[peregrines]

Easiest would probably be a Brooks Stone, Bitch Creek Nymph (rhymes with "witch" if you get ***** ) and Bead Head Red Fox Squirrel Nymphs tied in golden yellows. You can find them doing the google thing.

More complicated versions involve biot tails and topping the golden yellow body with a tan or brownish strip of turkey quill (about 2x hook length) for the back of the abdomen and thorax and using a webby hackle for legs that's pulled over the thorax (rather the wrapped) so that the stem is in-line with the shank on top of the body. This makes the "legs" stick out to the sides. Something like this:

After you lay a thread body down the shank, tie in lead, tie in biots splayed out.

Tye in ribbing and a tan or brown topping of something like a long strip of turkey quill at the tail good side down. Leave them extending over the back of the hook.

tie in body color (golden yellow wool or chenille) or dubbing loop.

Wrap abdomen part of body up to 1/3 from eye. Take a couple of thread wraps to hold it in place. Don't cut it, because this will be used for thorax too later.

Pull turkey quill forward over the abdomen and take a couple wraps of thread to hold it in place. Don't cut the excess, this will be the top of the thorax.

Rib abdomen with 5-6 open wraps to lock down quill to 1/3 point from eye. Tie off rib and trim excess.

Tie in hackle by the tip on top of hook, dull side up with stem extending towards rear of hook.

Finish wrapping or dubbing the thorax. Tie off excess wool or chenille or dubbing loop.

Pull over hackle so it's centered over top of the dubbing in the thorax. Tie off stem and trim excess.

Pull over the rest of the turkey quill to top the thorax. Tie it off, trim excess, whip a head and dab some head cement on head and coat the quill on top of thorax.

For an added touch if you want, when tying in the lead, instead of wrapping, tie two strips on either side of the shank. Better imitation of the natural.

Since stonefly nymphs are often found in fast water, super realistic, complicated versions are a bit of a waste IMHO, though great to look at. You'll lose a lot on the bottom, and trout don't have much of a chance to inspect things as they tumble by.

I don't add antennae since they always seem to end up in snugged down in tippet when I tie them on and I use one long wing case on the assumption that trout can't count.

Hope this helps

peregrines

[Jose]

Originally Posted by peregrines

...and I use one long wing case on the assumption that trout can't count.

That was a good read and I love this line.

One question for you peregrines: Is the lead "on either side of the shank" a better imitation because it makes it fuller in the middle?

[peregrines]

Jose-

Stonefly nymphs tend to be wider side to side and flatter top to bottom rather than round, like a shoelace rather than a cord. I run one piece down each side from a little behind the eye to the just short of the end of the shank. Usually, I'll tie up a bunch to this point and give the thread wraps a couple of coats of head cement to lock things down, and let it set over night and complete them the next day, just to make it durable. Then i promptly lose them on the bottom just to complete the story.

Honestly can't say if it makes a difference though in terms of catching fish...
just looks better to me. And kinda makes up for the one wing pad thing.

cheers,
peregrines

[peregrines]

Here's a few pics of the real thing for reference:

Acroneuria abnormis (Golden Stone) Stonefly Nymph Pictures

They like water with a lot of oxygen and rocky/cobble bottoms. Fast freestone streams, riffles in slower streams like the West Branch Delaware etc. Because they have a multiyear life cycle (3 yrs I think?), these nymphs are always in the streams that have them in small to medium sizes, and the big ones are there too just before emergence (usually June-ish) when they swim/crawl to rocks and the shore. Look for empty cases on rocks and for the adults hanging out on long grasses next to the bank. The adults fly around at night after dark to mate, and fishing big honking dries can be great 9-11 PM.

Short line nymphing these things in riffles is a good way to kill time between hatches of other stuff.

peregrines