nevadanstig
Well-known member
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Stiggy's Stone
Enter name of pattern | Stiggy's Stone
Type of pattern | Stonefly, nymph, wet fly, heavy point fly
Originator of pattern if known | Jason Lighthall (aka NevadanStig)
Tied and Submitted by | Jason Lighthall (aka NevadanStig)
Level of tying experience needed to tie this pattern | Intermediate
Materials listed in order of tie in:|Light Olive Thread, .025 Lead Wire, .015 Lead Wire, Clear/Mottled black Thin Skin, Fine Brown Wire, Olive Dubbing, Olive Goose Biots, Eyes, Olive Pheasant Tail Fibers
Hook | Umpqua U203 (curved, straight eye, 3XL) sized 12
Thread | Light Olive
Tail | Olive Goose Biots
Rib | Fine Brown Wire
Dubbed Body | Light Olive Dubbing Under Thin Skin
Wing Pads | Thin Skin
Head | Dubbing/Thin Skin
Special tying notes | If attempting to bend biots, PRACTICE FIRST!
Target species | Anything that would eat a stonefly
Fishing notes | I fish these as any typical nymph. They are fairly latge and heavy and make a good point fly on a two or more nymph rig.
Step 1 | With hook secured in vise, wrap .025 lead wire from the barb, to roughly half way up the hook shank:
Step 2 | Wrap .015 lead wire forward of the .025 lead wire, stopping just short of the hook eye:
Step 3 | Wrap everything up with light olive thread, forming tapers at the front and rear of the wire wraps. End the thread at the rear of the hook. Should now look like this:
Step 4 | Using a small pair of needle nose pliers, flatten out JUST the .025 lead wire, making it flat on the top and bottom of the hook shank:
Step 5 | Using the pliers again, flatten the .015 section of wire, but this time making the SIDES of the hook shank flat:
Step 6 | Using a SMALL amount of dubbing, dub just the rear taper of thread you formed earlier
Step 6 | Tie in a goose biot to each side of the fly, completing the tail. I like to add some brown mottling to my biots using a fine tipped sharpie:
Step 7 | Cut a length of the Thin Skin roughly wide enough to cover most of the back of the fly, and tie it in on top. Also, tie in a length of fine brown wire along the side. Both of these face back, and end at the start of the tail.
Step 8 | Dub the entire length of the .025 wire.
Step 9 | Pull the thin skin over the top of the dubbed section, and secure it using wraps of the brown wire forming segments. Tie everything off at the end of the dubbed section, forming the abdomen:
Step 10 | Using a SMALL amount of dubbing, form a small ring of dubbing right at the front of the abdomen:
Step 11 | Tie in a goose biot just behind that dubbing ring on each side of the fly, forming the rear legs. I like them to be about the length of the abdomen:
Step 12 | This gets a little tricky. Put on those readers. Time to make the wing pads! Cut a small section of thin skin, same width as what you used to cover the abdomen. This is going to form the rear wing pad. Make it a bit longer than what you think you'll need. Once you have that little square cut out, you'll need to cut out a little wedge from the top.Once you have that, cut out a small tab on the bottom. This will allow the wing pad movement but still allow you to secure it. I also like to color the outside edges of these parts with a fine tipped marker to help give them some definition. Finished wing pads should look like this:
You will need TWO of these!!!
Step 13 | Tie in the wing pad right on top of the fly at the beginning of the legs:
Step 14 | Repeat Steps 10-13 for the middle legs. Thin dubbing ring, then the legs:
With the forward wing pad:
Step 15 | Same exact process for the front legs. Small dubbing ring, legs. Except now we are forming the pronotum. Same thing as the wing pads, but a rounded top without the wedge:
Should look like this once everything is tied in:
Step 16 | Tie in an olive pheasant tail fiber to each side of the hook, facing forward, behind the hook eye, forming the antenna:
Step 17 | Tie in a length of think skin facing back, on top of the fly, just forward of the rear legs. This will be pulled forward to form the head:
Step 18 | Tie in a set of eyes. I like to melt lenghts of thick mono to make my own eyes. A cheap spool of 50lb mono works well, as does the butt end of used leaders. I colored these with a black sharpie:
Step 19 | Cover all the remaining thread with dubbing, forming a head:
Step 20 | Pull the length of thin skin over the top of the head, and tie off right behind the eye of the hook. You can now whip finish and remove your thread. Now cut the excess thin skin, but leave a small tab! Should look like this:
Step 21 | Place a small drop of crazy glue on top of the threads at the head of the fly. before it dries, fold back that small tab you left into the glue. This both seals the thread, and hides it, creating a very clean finished look:
Step 22 | You can fish the fly as is right now. But for better looking legs, you can bend the biots. This is done by heating a needle or bodkin over flame, then touching the hot needle to the legs. The biots will then curl themselves over the needle. THIS CAN BE EXTREMELY TRICKY! You have to get the amount of heat into the needle just right. Not hot enough and nothing happens. Too hot and the biot will burn right through, leaving half a stumpy biot where a leg should be, ruining the fly after all that hard work. If you haven't done this before, I suggest just putting some biots in a vise and practicing until you get a feel for it. Most people use needles, I like to use an old bodkin. You could also try a heavy gauge needle. Basically, I've found the thicker the needle, the easier it is to control the heat, thus the less you'll burn the legs off.
Step 23 | Bask in the glory of your completed fly! Now do what I do: Tie it on, and immediately loose most of them to branches!
[/TABLE]
Hope you all enjoy this walk through! These are pretty good producers out here on the Truckee.
Stiggy's Stone
Enter name of pattern | Stiggy's Stone
Type of pattern | Stonefly, nymph, wet fly, heavy point fly
Originator of pattern if known | Jason Lighthall (aka NevadanStig)
Tied and Submitted by | Jason Lighthall (aka NevadanStig)
Level of tying experience needed to tie this pattern | Intermediate
Materials listed in order of tie in:|Light Olive Thread, .025 Lead Wire, .015 Lead Wire, Clear/Mottled black Thin Skin, Fine Brown Wire, Olive Dubbing, Olive Goose Biots, Eyes, Olive Pheasant Tail Fibers
Hook | Umpqua U203 (curved, straight eye, 3XL) sized 12
Thread | Light Olive
Tail | Olive Goose Biots
Rib | Fine Brown Wire
Dubbed Body | Light Olive Dubbing Under Thin Skin
Wing Pads | Thin Skin
Head | Dubbing/Thin Skin
Special tying notes | If attempting to bend biots, PRACTICE FIRST!
Target species | Anything that would eat a stonefly
Fishing notes | I fish these as any typical nymph. They are fairly latge and heavy and make a good point fly on a two or more nymph rig.
Step 1 | With hook secured in vise, wrap .025 lead wire from the barb, to roughly half way up the hook shank:
Step 2 | Wrap .015 lead wire forward of the .025 lead wire, stopping just short of the hook eye:
Step 3 | Wrap everything up with light olive thread, forming tapers at the front and rear of the wire wraps. End the thread at the rear of the hook. Should now look like this:
Step 4 | Using a small pair of needle nose pliers, flatten out JUST the .025 lead wire, making it flat on the top and bottom of the hook shank:
Step 5 | Using the pliers again, flatten the .015 section of wire, but this time making the SIDES of the hook shank flat:
Step 6 | Using a SMALL amount of dubbing, dub just the rear taper of thread you formed earlier
Step 6 | Tie in a goose biot to each side of the fly, completing the tail. I like to add some brown mottling to my biots using a fine tipped sharpie:
Step 7 | Cut a length of the Thin Skin roughly wide enough to cover most of the back of the fly, and tie it in on top. Also, tie in a length of fine brown wire along the side. Both of these face back, and end at the start of the tail.
Step 8 | Dub the entire length of the .025 wire.
Step 9 | Pull the thin skin over the top of the dubbed section, and secure it using wraps of the brown wire forming segments. Tie everything off at the end of the dubbed section, forming the abdomen:
Step 10 | Using a SMALL amount of dubbing, form a small ring of dubbing right at the front of the abdomen:
Step 11 | Tie in a goose biot just behind that dubbing ring on each side of the fly, forming the rear legs. I like them to be about the length of the abdomen:
Step 12 | This gets a little tricky. Put on those readers. Time to make the wing pads! Cut a small section of thin skin, same width as what you used to cover the abdomen. This is going to form the rear wing pad. Make it a bit longer than what you think you'll need. Once you have that little square cut out, you'll need to cut out a little wedge from the top.Once you have that, cut out a small tab on the bottom. This will allow the wing pad movement but still allow you to secure it. I also like to color the outside edges of these parts with a fine tipped marker to help give them some definition. Finished wing pads should look like this:
You will need TWO of these!!!
Step 13 | Tie in the wing pad right on top of the fly at the beginning of the legs:
Step 14 | Repeat Steps 10-13 for the middle legs. Thin dubbing ring, then the legs:
With the forward wing pad:
Step 15 | Same exact process for the front legs. Small dubbing ring, legs. Except now we are forming the pronotum. Same thing as the wing pads, but a rounded top without the wedge:
Should look like this once everything is tied in:
Step 16 | Tie in an olive pheasant tail fiber to each side of the hook, facing forward, behind the hook eye, forming the antenna:
Step 17 | Tie in a length of think skin facing back, on top of the fly, just forward of the rear legs. This will be pulled forward to form the head:
Step 18 | Tie in a set of eyes. I like to melt lenghts of thick mono to make my own eyes. A cheap spool of 50lb mono works well, as does the butt end of used leaders. I colored these with a black sharpie:
Step 19 | Cover all the remaining thread with dubbing, forming a head:
Step 20 | Pull the length of thin skin over the top of the head, and tie off right behind the eye of the hook. You can now whip finish and remove your thread. Now cut the excess thin skin, but leave a small tab! Should look like this:
Step 21 | Place a small drop of crazy glue on top of the threads at the head of the fly. before it dries, fold back that small tab you left into the glue. This both seals the thread, and hides it, creating a very clean finished look:
Step 22 | You can fish the fly as is right now. But for better looking legs, you can bend the biots. This is done by heating a needle or bodkin over flame, then touching the hot needle to the legs. The biots will then curl themselves over the needle. THIS CAN BE EXTREMELY TRICKY! You have to get the amount of heat into the needle just right. Not hot enough and nothing happens. Too hot and the biot will burn right through, leaving half a stumpy biot where a leg should be, ruining the fly after all that hard work. If you haven't done this before, I suggest just putting some biots in a vise and practicing until you get a feel for it. Most people use needles, I like to use an old bodkin. You could also try a heavy gauge needle. Basically, I've found the thicker the needle, the easier it is to control the heat, thus the less you'll burn the legs off.
Step 23 | Bask in the glory of your completed fly! Now do what I do: Tie it on, and immediately loose most of them to branches!
[/TABLE]
Hope you all enjoy this walk through! These are pretty good producers out here on the Truckee.