Nick’s Salmon Fly Nymph
Note: Ron Hardwick showed this stone fly pattern to me. He learned it from Nick. This is Ron’s favorite pattern for the Madison River in Montana.
-When the spring waters just start to clear and visibility is 18-24 inches fish it with the gold rib tied in.
-Use darker patterns when the water clears in the summer time.
-Always keep stripping in line and keep line tight the whole time you are fishing it.
-Fish casting against the bank like a dry fly. Letting it drift a little and picking it up and casting in back in again.
-Fish it in pockets of deep water such as in the slack water just in front of or behind larger rocks.
Tying instructions
- Tie in tailing biots.
- Tie in wire along side of hook and then double it back towards the eye. This should leave wire on both sides of the hook for about the 1st half of the body length.
- Start about 1/8 inch behind eye and start wrapping the wire back to about ¾ the body length. Then flatten wire with pliers.
- Tie in Chenille at the tail. Also gold ribbing if desired.
- Tie in 3 sets of biots for legs. Curved slightly downward.
- Tie in antennae biots.
- Tie wing case in between the two closet leg sets (Front two set of legs).
- Wrap chenille and gold ribbing all the way up and tie off.
- Wrap Fluorescent orange thread for thorax. In between the front two sets of legs (just in front of wing case tie in).
- Pull wig case (Black poly) over and tie off at eye.
- Whip finish and head cement.