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Floating Nymph
Floating Nymph, BWO
Tying Instructions
1. Press the barb with the vise and secure the hook to the vise. Attach the thread and lay a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.
2. Select a Medium Dun spade hackle and remover about 10 fibers for the tail for a size 16-18 hook. Reduce the fibers to 5-6 for size 20 or smaller.
3. Tie in dun hackles for tail with a length equivalent to the hook shank. Wrap the butt ends up to the midpoint of the shank and trim the excess.
4. Attach Olive-colored wire for ribbing below the shank and secure with wraps to the base of the tail.
5. Apply one wrap of the thread to the base of the tail fibers to lift the fibers and help separate.
6. Dub a tapered body with Blue Wing Olive Superfine, to approximately 80% of hook shank length.
7. Finish the tapered body at the 80% position.
8. Wrap the ribbing forward with 5-6 spiral wraps and secure with thread wraps just in front of the body.
9. Invert the hook with the vise and apply Light Gray Superfine to the thread. Twist the dubbing around the thread keeping the mass close to the shank.
10. Compress the dubbing towards the shank with your fingers and rewind the thread slack, keeping the bobbin close to the dubbing.
11. Bring the hook back to the upright position with the vise. When the dubbing gets tight enough to twist the thread, twist the dubbed thread even more with your finger and thumb, then hold the dubbed ball with your finger and thumb and bring the thread around the shank directly in front of the dubbed ball and secure with 2-3 additional wraps. The extra twists you add will cause the dubbed thread to wind upon itself.
12. Place a few wraps around the base of the dubbed ball.
13. Add a clump of 15-20 hackle fibers for legs. Even the tips in a stacker and position the fibers below the hook shank with the thread bisecting the fibers so that there is an equal number on each side of the thread. .
14. Secure with one thread wrap just in front of the dubbed ball. Adjust the length so that they do not extend beyond the end of the body and secure with additional thread wraps.
15. Finish the thorax by dubbing Blue Wing Olive Superfine. Make sure to bring the dubbing up tightly against the body so that there is no gap between the thorax and the body. Apply an X wrap on either side of the dubbed wing.
16. Tie off and whip finish. The Finished Floating Nymph.
| Materials
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|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 100 #16-22 |
| Thread | Veevus 10/0 Olive |
| Body | BWO Superfine |
| Thorax | BWO Superfine |
| Ribbing | Small Olive Wire |
| Tail | Med. Dun Spade Hackle Fibers |
| Wing | Ball of Callibaetis Superfine Dubbing |
| Legs | Med. Dun Spade Hackle Fibers |
Mike Lawson
Floating Nymph
There are many floating nymphs using foam, cdc, or hackles to float the nymph at the surface. Mike Lawson of Henry’s Fork Anglers developed an interesting pattern using a ball of poly dubbing to float the fly. What makes this pattern unique from other floating nymphs is that the profile of the nymph lays low within the surface film and is sighted by the angler from the ball of poly. The poly dubbed wingpod has been used by others such as Darrel Martin, who actually learned the technique from Klaus V. Bredow, a European tier. Mike Lawson attributed his version of the pattern to one described in Doug Swisher and Carl Richards, “Selective Trout”. There are many color variations depending upon the specific mayfly. The floating mayfly should use the same colorations as the adult dun.
This pattern is particularly useful during the hatches of small mayflies smaller than size #16. Nymphs of most mayflies rise to the surface and get stuck in the surface film of the water. This surface film can become a real barrier for the smaller mayflies. During this time, the adult will try to crawl out of it’s shuck to fly away but, often, they are an easily available meal to the trout that target them during this susceptible time. Look for bulges in the surface from the trout that are feeding on the subsurface nymphs.
Variations
Floating Nymph, PMD
| Hook | TMC 100 #16-18 |
| Thread | Veevus 10/0 Light Cahill |
| Body | Pale Morning Dun Superfine |
| Thorax | Pale Morning Dun Superfine |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
| Tail | Light Dun Spade Hackle Fibers |
| Wing | Ball of Blue Dun Superfine Dubbing |
| Legs | Light Dun Spade Hackle Fibers |
Floating Nymph, Western Green Drake
| Hook | TMC 100 #14-16 |
| Thread | Veevus 10/0 Brown |
| Body | Olive Brown Superfine |
| Thorax | Olive Brown Superfine |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
| Tail | Medium Dun Spade Hackle Fibers |
| Wing | Ball of Adams Gray Superfine Dubbing |
| Legs | Medium Dun Spade Hackle Fibers |