The Floating Dragon Nymph

 

 

Trout are passionate about the dragon fly nymph, I still haven't figured out if it's love or hate. I am sure they hit a well presented dragon nymph hard, it is the one fly I get broke off regularly and it's always on the take. I suspect it has something to do with the way a dragon nymph can swim, they can move very quickly by expelling a jet of water. I was lucky enough once to come upon a lot of nymphs staging in shallow water waiting to hatch. I tried to catch some by hand and was left with an impression of how fast they were, I never caught a one. My hand would get within inches of the nymph and I would make my move and nothing, didn't even see them dart away. The other thing that left an impression was their size, two to three inch monsters, a good meal for trout.

 

I did a lot of reading and studying trying to find the best pattern. The one thing everyone emphasized was the necessity of having a fly that didn't sink like a rock and get hung up in the weeds. A 4X streamer hook is heavy. Spun deer hair seemed to be popular but I worried about the fly standing up to numerous fish. I noticed a lot of guys using foam for the eyes to help the fly to float and started playing around with a foam body and coloring it. The permanent markers turned out to be not so permanent so I began experimenting with a yarn body and that is how the fly was born.

 

I always fish the fly around weeds, because it floats, it requires a sinking line to get it to go down. For the lakes I fish, an intermediate or type one line works best, if you are in water deeper than six or eight feet, the faster sinking lines should work. Retrieves should be brisk with three to six inch pulls, with some long pauses. Trolling around weed beds has worked well for me as well as casting. As I have said, takes are hard and I try and not to hang on to the line too tightly to avoid breakoffs. Watch yourself casting this monster, you will feel it if this sucker nails you in the back.

 

 

The material list for this fly includes, a 4X streamer hook in size 6 or 4, some variegated yarn I picked up at Michaels; some 1/8" window screen foam available at any hardware store; pheasant rump feathers, mine are dyed green, and wing case material. This can be green scud back, raffia, or even pheasant tail fibres. I use a good strong thread for this fly, nothing delicate about it and I like to compress the body foam a little bit.

 

 

First step is to lay a base of thread and tie in the yarn, trim two pieces of foam at a 45.

 

 

 

Tie the foam in by the 45's at the back of the hook laying them side by side. Cut two more 45's about 2/3's of the way to the eye of the hook and tie in. Bind the two pieces of foam fairly tightly, you want the body wide but thin. Next, figure eight a piece of foam in near the eye leaving room for a head.

 

 

 

Tie the wing case material in ahead of the body and then tie in a pheasant rump feather by the tip and wind twice and tie off.

 

 

 

Wind the yarn forward and build the body manipulating the wing case and legs. Aim to keep the legs coming out the side of the fly. I try and get one figure eight around the eye foam and finish with the yarn at the top of the fly behind the eyes. Here I tie it off and trim the excess.

 

 

 

Bind the wing case behind the eyes with a few wraps and then get the thread to the front of the eyes. Pull the wing case between the eyes and tie off and trim. Finish the fly with a whip finish.

 





 

Trim the hackle fibres to make two even sides of legs and then trim the eyes to be about a body width wide. One coat of nail polish can be brushed on the yarn to give it a little sheen and hold everything in place.