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Wonder Nymph
Wonder Nymph, PMD
Tying Instructions
1) Attach the hook to the vise. The barb of the hook should be in front of the jaws, not within it. Attach the thread a couple of eye lengths behind the eye and wrap a thread foundation to the tail tie-in position. On a curved hook, I like this position to be about halfway down the curvature of the hook, somewhat above the barb.
2) Clip about a dozen fibers from a dyed Mallard Flank, keeping the tips even. Bundle the fibers together with your fingers.
3) Place the bundle at the top of the hook shank at the tail tie-in position. I tend to have the bundle at the side of the hook initially as the thread tension will bring the bundle to the top of the shank as I apply the next few tight wraps.
4) Adjust the fibers so that the length is about the hook gap.
5) Secure the butt ends of the tailing fibers along the top of the hook shank to the thorax region with thread wraps. Clip off the excess.
6) Attach the wire ribbing to the bottom of the hook shank and wrap the thread to the tail tie-in position.
7) Apply the dubbing to the thread by twisting it in one direction around the thread. Slide the dubbing up the thread until it touches the hook shank.
8) Wrap the dubbing strand once around the shank to lock in the fibers. Then, twist the material to tighten the strand against the thread. This will give you a thin dubbed strand of material to dub the abdomen.
9) Dub a slim tapered body up to the thorax region, about two eye lengths behind the eye.
10) Wrap the wire ribbing forward with 5-6 wraps and secure just in front of the abdomen. Clip off the excess wire.
11) Hen necks will have hackles with thin quills.
12) Select a hackle that has a fluffy base that is about the same length as the hook gap.
13) Use wetted fingers to preen the fibers back where the fluffy base transitions to the hackle fibers. This is where you want to clip the hackle quill using the upper thin part of the quill to anchor to the hook shank.
14) Attach the hackle to the top of the hook shank in front of the abdomen with the fibers facing upwards. Secure with thread wraps.
15) Wrap a thorax behind the eye that is about 1/3 the total length of the body.
16) Pull the hackle over the top of the dubbed thorax and secure the hackle to the hook shank just behind the eye. You may want to dampen your fingers to stroke the fibers back to create a section where you can secure the hackle behind the eye without trapping other fibers.
17) Cut off the excess hackle and wrap a small thread head behind the eye. Whip Finish.
| Materials
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|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 2487, sizes 16-18 |
| Thread | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Head | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Body | Blend of Hareline Dubbing, 50% Rusty Orange and 50% Pale Yellow |
| Thorax | Hareline Dubbing, Dark Hare's Ear |
| Tail | Dyed Mallard Flank Wood Duck Fibers |
| Wingcase | Medium Dun Hen Neck Hackle, fluffy base |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Brad Downey
Wonder Nymph
The Wonder Nymph is a pattern created by the late Brad “Dubbs” Downey, owner of Angler’s Edge in Fort Smith, Montana. Brad had been guiding on the Big Horn since 1983 and emerging PMD’s, as well as Baetis, have been an important pattern on this river system.
Unique Wingcase
The Wonder Nymph is unique by the construction of the wingcase which represents both emerging wings and legs. The base of the Hen Hackle has a very fluffy section that is often discarded when the hackle is used for wet flies. Brad utilized this section by securing the quill section to the hook shank at the base of the thorax and pulling the fluffy section over the thorax as you would do with a flashabou strip on a flashback. Some variations actually do use a piece of flash to do this as well.
Bat Wing Profile
The wingcase has a bat wing profile when completed. The pattern was designed to fish within the film utilizing a light wire hook. To keep the pattern within the film, it is recommended to use a powder floatant, rather than a paste that would mat down the feather fibers. However, this is a versatile pattern that can also be fished deep as a typical nymph with an indicator and weight on the leader. It can also represent a dun that is just emerging from it’s shuck.
Variations
There are a number a number of variations of this pattern depending on how the pattern is fished. Charlie Craven came up with his version utilizing a biot body similar to a biot emerger midge pattern. There is even a John Barr variation utilizing a copper wire body to give the pattern the weight necessary to reach deeper sections of the water column. You can change the coloration of the hareline dubbed body and size of the hook to fish Baetis and Calibaetis hatches.
Variations
Craven Variation, Baetis
| Hook | TMC 2487, sizes 18-22 |
| Thread | Uni-Thread 8/0 Gray |
| Head | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Body | Blend of Olive Gray Goose Biot |
| Thorax | Gray Superfine |
| Tail | Medium Dun Hen Neck Hackle Fibers |
| Wingcase | Medium Dun Hen Neck Hackle, fluffy base |
| Head | Uni-Thread 8/0 Gray |
Wonder Nymph, Callibaetis
| Hook | TMC 2487, sizes 16-18 |
| Thread | 8/0 Uni-thread Gray |
| Head | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Body | Blend of Callibaetis Superfine Dubbing |
| Thorax | Hareline Dubbing, Dark Hare's Ear |
| Tail | Mallard Flank Fibers, Natural |
| Wingcase | Grizzly Hen Neck Hackle Feather, fluffy base |
| Ribbing | Small Gold Wire |
Wonder Nymph, Baetis
| Hook | TMC 2487, sizes 16-20 |
| Thread | 8/0 Uni-thread Olive |
| Head | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Body | Blend of Hareline Dubbing Olive Brown |
| Thorax | Hareline Dubbing, Dark Hare's Ear |
| Tail | Dyed Mallard Flank Wood Duck Fibers |
| Wingcase | Medium Dun Hen Neck Hackle, fluffy base |
| Ribbing | Small Gold Wire |
Wonder Wire, PMD
| Hook | Daiichi 1560, 16-18 |
| Thread | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Head | 10/0 Veevus Rusty Brown |
| Body | Blend of Medium Copper Wire |
| Thorax | Hareline Dubbing, Pale Yellow |
| Tail | Mallard Flank Fibers, Natural |
| Wingcase | Grizzly Saddle Hackle Feather |