The vast majority of fly fishing enthusiasts who approach the watercourses often have equipment worthy of Rambo, with boxes overflowing with all sorts of flies capable of alluring any trout on the planet. These modern anglers, except those with fundamentalist ideas and who practice their hobby by imposing restrictive limitations, such as using only surface imitations, tend to implement well-thought-out fishing strategies and set after a careful analysis of the feeding behavior of the fish, so to offer his opponents the right fly that presumably can entice them.
In practice, the contemporary fly fisherman, thanks to the many sources of documentation and the greater ease with which he can gain experience, knows that before starting to cast the line he must scan the river and look for active insects on the surface, at the same time he has to study the behavior of the fish it sees in the water to determine if they are feeding and at what stage of development their possible prey are.
This widespread refinement of fishing strategies and techniques in the fly sector has contributed to exacerbate the selectiveness of many trout, especially those that live in areas where “no kill”is imposed, with the result that catching a beautiful fish imposes precision and criteria in the presentation of the fly, but also meticulous attention in choosing the most appropriate model for the circumstance: this applies not only to the flies that work on the surface, but also for the nymphs, which in the past occasionally provoked rejection reactions by fish, since they were less used.
The overwhelming spread of nymph fishing on Italian waters is a phenomenon that began about twenty five years ago and that has given rise to a multitude of new series of specific flies to imitate the various juvenile stages of aquatic insects. Over the years, many fans of vice have conceived specific imitations to inspect all levels of watercourses and some models have proved to be so effective that they have become workhorses for many of us. The most striking example is the Gold Heads, nymphs made with a metal bead on the head, which almost all of us use to temp brown trout on rivers and streams, or rainbow trout on lakes. However, as has happened and continues to happen with the most popular surface imitations, even the nymphs that have become famous have begun to lose hits on various waters, since the fish, by dint of seeing them, have learned to recognize them and categorically reject them. Also in this case the Gold Heads confirm my statement, since their brilliant bead makes them unmistakable for those fish that have repeatedly tested their hooked consistency. Hence, when we are confronted with highly experienced opponents, the winning tactic is to resort to unusual nymphs with good imitative skills.
Among the models of nymphs with a realistic silhouette that I have conceived to tempt selective trout, one of my favorites for fishing when there is activity of greenish pupae, such as those of certain species of Rhyacophila, is the Hairy Rhyacophila. This fly is really effective if made to sink to a good depth and then induced to swim towards the surface while it crosses the fish feeding area: in this way it is able to imitate a mature sedge pupa that faces the migration towards the emerging point. Winning peculiarity of the Hairy Rhyacophila is the mobile down that covers its body, able to tremble even if hit by a very weak current and to give a lively aspect to the fly.
I use this nymph both on swirling rivers and on the placid waters of a chalk stream, sometimes combining it with a strike indicator if the characteristics of the watercourse prevent me from fishing on sight: this happens above all on rivers with a rippled surface or on chalk streams rich in outcropping aquatic vegetation, where trout often lurk inside the corridors created by plants.
The alluring qualities of many nymph imitations depend on the fact that their body is has small excrescences or appendages capable of oscillating or vibrating when hit by the flow of the current. Basically the task of these attributes is to reproduce all those swimming or respiratory organs present on the abdomen or on the thorax of the nymphs and which usually contribute to making the prey more palatable to the fish.
In practice, the contemporary fly fisherman, thanks to the many sources of documentation and the greater ease with which he can gain experience, knows that before starting to cast the line he must scan the river and look for active insects on the surface, at the same time he has to study the behavior of the fish it sees in the water to determine if they are feeding and at what stage of development their possible prey are.
This widespread refinement of fishing strategies and techniques in the fly sector has contributed to exacerbate the selectiveness of many trout, especially those that live in areas where “no kill”is imposed, with the result that catching a beautiful fish imposes precision and criteria in the presentation of the fly, but also meticulous attention in choosing the most appropriate model for the circumstance: this applies not only to the flies that work on the surface, but also for the nymphs, which in the past occasionally provoked rejection reactions by fish, since they were less used.
The overwhelming spread of nymph fishing on Italian waters is a phenomenon that began about twenty five years ago and that has given rise to a multitude of new series of specific flies to imitate the various juvenile stages of aquatic insects. Over the years, many fans of vice have conceived specific imitations to inspect all levels of watercourses and some models have proved to be so effective that they have become workhorses for many of us. The most striking example is the Gold Heads, nymphs made with a metal bead on the head, which almost all of us use to temp brown trout on rivers and streams, or rainbow trout on lakes. However, as has happened and continues to happen with the most popular surface imitations, even the nymphs that have become famous have begun to lose hits on various waters, since the fish, by dint of seeing them, have learned to recognize them and categorically reject them. Also in this case the Gold Heads confirm my statement, since their brilliant bead makes them unmistakable for those fish that have repeatedly tested their hooked consistency. Hence, when we are confronted with highly experienced opponents, the winning tactic is to resort to unusual nymphs with good imitative skills.
Among the models of nymphs with a realistic silhouette that I have conceived to tempt selective trout, one of my favorites for fishing when there is activity of greenish pupae, such as those of certain species of Rhyacophila, is the Hairy Rhyacophila. This fly is really effective if made to sink to a good depth and then induced to swim towards the surface while it crosses the fish feeding area: in this way it is able to imitate a mature sedge pupa that faces the migration towards the emerging point. Winning peculiarity of the Hairy Rhyacophila is the mobile down that covers its body, able to tremble even if hit by a very weak current and to give a lively aspect to the fly.
I use this nymph both on swirling rivers and on the placid waters of a chalk stream, sometimes combining it with a strike indicator if the characteristics of the watercourse prevent me from fishing on sight: this happens above all on rivers with a rippled surface or on chalk streams rich in outcropping aquatic vegetation, where trout often lurk inside the corridors created by plants.
The alluring qualities of many nymph imitations depend on the fact that their body is has small excrescences or appendages capable of oscillating or vibrating when hit by the flow of the current. Basically the task of these attributes is to reproduce all those swimming or respiratory organs present on the abdomen or on the thorax of the nymphs and which usually contribute to making the prey more palatable to the fish.
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INSTRUCTIONS
I begin the tying process by fixing the hook on the vice jaw and wrapping a section of thin lead wire around the central part of the hook shank
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I apply the brown thread to the hook and use it to partially cover the lead spirals. I compose a buttonhole with thread and stop it near the hook bend. I lay a coat of wax over a section of the thread and spread a pinch of rabbit or arctic fox hair dyed olive green on it. With the fingertips of one hand, compacting the dubbing to form a tight hairy cord
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I turn the dubbing around the rear three quarters of the hook shank, trying to give a slightly conical shape to the abdomen I am composing
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Using the dubbing clip I realize a buttonhole with brown thread and inside this I place a very small amount of opossum hair; then I tighten the dubbing by repeatedly rotating the clip on itself
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I wrap the opossum hair cord around the abdomen, passing it in large turns to form the body rings
From opposite wings of pheasant or woodcock, I detach two medium-sized feathers and take the apexes from these. I remove most of the fibers that cover the area close to the tips in order to obtain two wings about four or five millimeters long, which I then fix along the lower edges of the fly, placing them to partially cover the abdomen
From a hen pheasant wing feather I cut a large strip of fibers and tie it in front of the abdomen, placing it so that its tips are facing backwards. Always using the dubbing clip, I create a buttonhole with thread and insert a pinch of opossum hair into it, then I form a fluffy cord
I wrap the opossum cord around the anterior quarter of the hook shank so to create a fluffy thorax
I lay the pheasant fiber strip forward and bind it immediately behind the hook eye
From a bronze feather of the mallard's shoulder I cut two fibers and tie them behind the hook eye so that they overhang the fly: their length must be slightly greater than the hook shank
I cut off the front excess of the mallard fibers and then give a curved shape to the antennas by passing under them the needle previously heated over the flame of a lighter. With a few turns of thread I build the head and I whip finish over it.
I brush two coats of glue on the nymph's head and wait for it to dry completely before inserting the fly into my box
I brush two coats of glue on the nymph's head and wait for it to dry completely before inserting the fly into my box
MATERIALS LIST
HOOK: for caddis pattern size 12 to 11
BALLAST: fine lead wire
THREAD: brown
ABDOMEN: rabbit or arctic fox hair dyed olive green
RIBBING: opossum hair
WING DRAFTS: feather tips of pheasant or woodcock wings
THORAX: opossum hair
ELYTRUM: wing fibers of pheasant or gray goose
ANTENNAS: bronze feather fibers of the mallard's shoulder
BALLAST: fine lead wire
THREAD: brown
ABDOMEN: rabbit or arctic fox hair dyed olive green
RIBBING: opossum hair
WING DRAFTS: feather tips of pheasant or woodcock wings
THORAX: opossum hair
ELYTRUM: wing fibers of pheasant or gray goose
ANTENNAS: bronze feather fibers of the mallard's shoulder
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