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Poxyback Biot Stonefly Nymph
Poxyback Biot, Golden Stone
Tying Instructions
1. Slide a bead onto the hook and attach the hook to the vise.
2. Attach two Turkey biots to each side of the hook shank behind the eye for antennae. Secure with thread wraps and cut off the tag ends. Whip finish and trim off the thread.
3. Slide the bead up to the hook eye.
4. Reattach the thread behind the bead and lay a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.
5. Attach a second pair of Turkey biots at the bend of the hook for a tail. Secure the biots along each side of the hook shank to the mid point of the shank and trim off the tag ends of the biots.
6. Attach two sections of leadfree wire along each side of the hook shank from the base of the bead to the bend of the hook. Apply thread wraps along the entire length of the wire finishing just behind the bead.
7. Use smooth faced hemostats to crush the wire into a planar shape and continue to thread wrap back to the tail tie in position.
8. Secure a piece of thread for the ribbing and the tail tie-in position.
9. At the tail tie-in position apply some dubbing that will cover the ends of the leadfree wire.
10. Attach a Turkey biot by it’s tip to the tail tie-in position at the top of the shank with the curvature of the biot facing the bead.
11. Use your hackle clamp to hold the end of the biot and wrap forward to the middle of the hook shank. The biot will produce a ridge with small hairs up it. Secure the end of the biot with thread wraps.
12. Counter wrap the thread ribbing about 4-5 times spiroling to the midpoint of the hook shank.
13. Prep a turkey feather with a fixative and clip off a section that is about as wide as the bead. Attach the section behind the bead on top of the shank and secure with thread wraps to the midpoint of the shank.
14. Select a hen back feather and prepare the feather by sweeping back the fibers leaving a small tip that will be secured behind the bead.
15. The feather should be upside down with the dull side facing upwards and the bottom of the tip is secured at the midpoint wrapping the tip up to the bead.
16. Apply dubbing to the thread below the midpoint of the shank.
17. Wrap a thorax that is about the thickness of the bead, leaving a space between the bead and the thorax.
18. Pull the henback over the dubbed thorax and secure behind the bead. Trim off the tag end.
19. Pull the Turkey section over the henback for a wingcase ande secure behind the bead. Trim off the tag end.
20. Apply some UV Fly Finish to the wingcase and finishing up to the back of the bead. Use your bodkin to smooth the epoxy to all of the turkey edges.
21. Cure the epoxy with a UV lamp. It will cure within 15 seconds.
22. Apply some more dubbing to the thread for a collar behind the bead.
23. Wrap a collar with just a couple of wraps and whip finish.
24. The finished Poxyback Stonefly Nymph, Golden Stone. Another nice touch is to use a brownish marker to touch up the biot body and the tails and antennae for a mottled effect.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 2302 #8-12 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Tan 8/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Weight, Underbody | 0.020 Leadfree wire |
| Body | Sulfur Orange Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | Mottled Nymph Dubbing, Hares Ear |
| Tail and Antennae | Sulfur Orange Turkey Biot |
| Collar | Mottled Nymph Dubbing, Hares Ear |
| Wingcase | Dark Mottled Turkey coated with Loons Fly Finish, Thin |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Henback fibers |
| Ribbing | Veevus 10/0 Yellow thread |
Mike Mercer
Poxyback Biot Stonefly Nymph
The Poxyback Biot Stonefly Nymph was developed by Mike Mercer of Redding, CA in the early 1990’s. Golden Stone nymphs are smaller and lighter in color than salmonflies. They also have a flatter body profile. The belly’s are a rich golden color while the dorsal portion is usually dark. The abdomens have distinct bands and the legs are heavy and bulky. Mike was able to get the flattened body profile by utilizing two strands of lead wire along the shank and wrapping a third strand around the thorax region, gently mashing it down into a planar shape.
Biot Abdomen
The original Poxyback, Golden Stone utilized a dubbed abdomen which was teased out to represent the thin appendages of the actual insect. This was a technique he used on his mayfly Poxyback patterns. Mike refined his pattern with the BH Poxyback, Biot Golden Stone in which turkey biots represent the abdomen in a more realistic way. The biots produces a naturally ribbed segmentation appearance and the Turkey Biot’s are thin enough to represent the whip-like tails and antennae. He included a bead head and and his “signature” epoxied wingcase.
Two Colorations
The pattern has been adapted to many types of stoneflies, ie skwalas, goldens, little browns. Two basic colorations apply, Light and Dark. The dark coloration is used under turbid conditions while the light is used when the water is clear. Mike also designed two size ranges for the stoneflies. The standard size is #8-12 and the micro pattern is #14-18. Since stoneflies are present year-round in the stream, these size ranges and colors will cover all of your stonefly nymphs.
Presentation
You can use these patterns when searching for trout or for a realistic imitation during a hatch. If you are searching, try this pattern in the riffles and current seams, near rocky structures and streamside vegetation. Stoneflies like freestone streams. During Mid-March, the Skawalas will be hatching and in late May and June, the golden stoneflies will crawl along the bottom to reach shore.
Trout will often locate themselves close to shore to intercept the stoneflies while staying in the edges of pockets and slots. The nymphs do not have good swimming abilities and are often swept up in the current. A drift-free presentation of the nymph within the feeding lanes will often produce results. Depending upon the water, some use indicators while others prefer to high-stick nymph without indicators.
Variations
Poxyback Dark Stone
| Hook | TMC 2302 #8-12 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Tungsten Bead |
| Weight, Underbody | 0.020 Leadfree wire |
| Body | Mahogany Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | Mottled Nymph Dubbing, Chocolate |
| Tail and Antennae | Brown Goose Biot |
| Collar | Mottled Nymph Dubbing, Chocolate |
| Wingcase | Dark Mottled Turkey coated with Loons Fly Finish, Thin |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Henback fibers |
| Ribbing | Veevus 10/0 Brown thread |
Poxyback Micro Stonefly, Light
| Hook | TMC 200R #14-18 |
| Thread | Danville Lt. Olive 6/0 |
| Head | Gold Tungsten Bead |
| Underbody | Olive Mottled Nymph Dubbing |
| Body | Turkey Biot, PMD |
| Thorax | Olive Mottled Nymph Dubbing |
| Tail | Turkey Biot, PMD |
| Antennae | Pheasant fibers |
| Collar | Olive Mottled Nymph Dubbing |
| Wingcase | Mottled Turkey and strand of Olive Krystal Flash coated with Loons Fly Finish, Thin |
| Legs | Partridge |
| Ribbing | Veevus 10/0 Yellow thread |
Poxyback Micro Stonefly, Dark
| Hook | TMC 200R #14-18 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Tungsten Bead |
| Underbody | Black Mottled Nymph Dubbing |
| Body | Turkey Biot, Black |
| Thorax | Black Mottled Nymph Dubbing |
| Tail | Turkey Biot, Black |
| Antennae | Black Pheasant fibers |
| Collar | Mottled Nymph Dubbing, Black |
| Wingcase | Mottled Turkey and strand of Black Krystal Flash coated with Loons Fly Finish, Thin |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Henback fibers |
| Ribbing | Veevus 10/0 Yellow thread |