SOFT – Tuesday, February 14, 2017
6:00 pm
8401 Old Stage Road, Gold Hill
6:00 pm
8401 Old Stage Road, Gold Hill
This month we are in for a real treat. Lee Wedberg shares his Stonefly Nymph. If you were ever lucky enough to fish with Lee, you know that he is a fishy kind of guy and only fishes with flies that produce. Nuff said.
Lee Wedberg Stonefly
Nymph - 2016
Hook - Size 6 to 4, shank 20-30 mm long, down
turned eye, such as Mustad 9672, 36890, or R75-79580 (2XH/5XL).
Thread - Black
6/0 or 8/0
Lead - Secure 0.030 lead to each side of
shank. To do this, secure one end of lead
near the hook eye using 5 wraps of thread, then bend lead out of the way and
make three firm turns of thread on the shank.
Next secure the another lead strip to the other side of shank with 5
wraps of thread, bend out of the way, and wrap thread three firm turns on
shank. Continue so that one strip of
lead is secured on each side of the shank.
Finally wrap lead on forward 2/3 of shank, and
overwrap with thread spiraled over head to tail.
Tail - Two black
goose biots, short and flared.
Rib - Secure 4 to 7 inches’ dark copper wire at
tail end of shank.
Belly - Tie on
some white fleece on under side at tail end of shank.
Body - Tie on
part of a lock of black Romney fleece by its tip (often sun bleached); wrap
thread forward to head. With an occasional
twist, wrap black fleece forward short of the eye; secure and trim. Turn hook upside down, pull white fleece
forward along belly of fly, and secure by (counter wrapping) spiraling copper wire
forward making evenly spaced segments length of the body. Now spiral thread back over ribs to the
middle of the fly. Return fly upside up.
Wing case - Use barbs from large black goose or mottled
turkey tail feathers. Apply Hard as
Nails (with fingernail polish at grocery store), and snip about 5 mm (maybe 9
barbs) from the rachis. Tie in at
midpoint of body, extending backwards over bend of hook.
Legs - Use guinea
hackle feathers. Determine the length of
barbs to use as legs, then strip and remove all longer barbs. Pinch and flatten the rachis at the base of
the remaining barbs. On top of the wing
case, secure rachis at the base of the remaining barbs with the stripped rachis
pointing toward the head, and the barbed portion toward
the tail. Trim and
remove stripped rachis. Carefully pull tip of feather forward, separate about 5
barbs on each side and secure with two or three thread wraps, then pull wing
case over and secure it at the same point.
Move thread forward and repeat once or twice to complete four or six
legs emanating from beneath the wing case.
Antennae and head -
Wrap a thin head, then tie on two thin rubber legs or peccary hairs for
antennae, holding antennae back over the fly.
Continue wrapping a tapered head.
Finally pull antennae forward and overwrap to hold them splayed
forward. Whip finish immediately behind
the bases of the antennae. Trim antennae
to about half the length of the body of the fly.
Three photos and
instructions for small version are below:
Lee Wedberg Small
Stonefly Nymph
This smaller version seems to hook at least as many fish as
the larger. It is tied exactly the same
as the larger size above, with the following exceptions:
Hook - Size 8
Mustad 7957, or size 10 Mustad 94840
Lead - Size .016.
Wing case - Thinner,
maybe seven or eight barbs.
Rib - Very thin
or black wire.
Legs - Dark brown
pheasant body feather, or partridge speckled.
Antennae - Moose,
or 3-pound test Maxima darkened with felt tip
permanent marker.
 |
| Top view from the side |
 |
| Bottom view |
 |
| Side view |
