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Trigger Nymph
Trigger Nymph, PMD
Tying Instructions
1. Attach a Gold or Copper bead to the hook, sliding it up to the eye. Attach the thread to the shank behind the bead and wrap a foundation to the bend of the hook just above the barb.
2. Clip 3 Pheasant Tail fibers from a tail feather. The center feather of a tail splay will have the best fibers as they will be stiffer than the outside feather fibers. Align the tips and measure the tail length to be about one half the shank length. Hold the fibers on the top of the shank and give it a tight wrap. This should splay the fibers.
3. If not, apply some more thread wraps and use you thumb against the base of thye fibers to splay them. Anchor the butts along the top of the shank up to the bead.
4. Clip a Turkey Biot from a Left wing feather. Attach the tip of the biot to the top of the hook shank just behind the bead. The curve of the biot should face the hook shank. Secure the biot down to the tail tie-in position.
5. Attach your hackle pliers to the biot and wrap the biot forward with evenly spaced wraps. If you’ve selected the right biot and positioned it correctly, you should get some nicely formed ridges. A smooth body can be accomplished by tying the biot with the curved side facing away from the shank. There are differences between the LH and RH biots with the size of the ridges that are formed. Secure the butt of the biot with thread wraps. .
6. Trim off the butt end of the biot and bring the thread to the 60% position on the shank. Wrap a small ball of dubbing in this location.
7. From a Mottled Brown Partridge Feather, remove 5-6 fibers and even their tips. Attach the fibers just in front of the dubbed ball on the far side of the hook shank. The length should not extend beyond the abdomen. Obtain another 5-6 fibers for the other side and attach the the hook shank with the fibers sweeping back toward the tail. Secure with thread wraps and trim off the butts.
8. Wrap some additional dubbing, hiding the thread wraps and creating a thorax that should be slightly larger than the diameter of the abdomen. Bring the thread to the midpoint of this thorax.
9. Wrap the Ice Dubbing around the thread and slide the dubbing up to the thorax. With your hand you can squeeze this material, downwards, onto the thorax.
10. Bring the thread around the shank,behind the bead, and wrap a few times to secure. This should give you a small clump of Ice dubbing sitting on top of the throax.
11.Apply some more dubbing to the thread and wrap the dubbing on both sides of the ice dubbing with the final three wraps between the ice dubbing and the bead.
12. Whip finish.
| Materials
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|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-18 |
| Thread | Camel Uni 8/0 |
| Head | Gold or Copper Bead |
| Body | Rusty Spinner Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | Mottled Nymph Dubbing, Mahogany |
| Tail | Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingbud | UV Light Yellow Ice Dubbing |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Partridge Hackle Fibers |
Mike Mercer
Trigger Nymph
The Trigger Nymph is a pattern designed by Mike Mercer of Redding, CA. Mike wrote about this pattern in his book, Creative Fly Tying (2005), and described how the pattern evolved based upon fishing experiences within the streams of Montana.
Typical Characteristics
The nymph has many of the typical Mercer characteristics for mayflies. Mike uses Turkey Biots for the abdomen which gives segmentation and the appearance of gills from the ridges of the biot. He also likes to use Partridge fibers that are mottled for legs which give movement to the fly. He devised his own blend of dubbing which closely matches the true colors of the various insects and prefers to have a bead head to weight it down. The key to this pattern, however, is the ice dubbing which used as a wingcase.
Floating Nymph Style
Mike ties it in the style of Mike Lawson’s Floating Nymph, except this doesn’t float. Instead, the dubbing acts as a triggering mechanism due to the holographic nature of the material and the contrasting color against the thorax. As the fly gets used, the ice dubbing tends to become unraveled with strands flowing along the body of the nymph. According to Mike, this only makes the nymph pattern better. The pattern can be adapted to many types of insects. The most popular are PMD, BWO, March Browns, and Callibaetis. It is currently being sold in many of the flyshops within the Sierra and has been proven very effective during the emergent periods of various mayflies.
Variations
Trigger Nymph, BWO
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Olive Dun 8/0 |
| Head | Gold or Copper Bead |
| Body | BWO Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | BWO Superfine Dubbing |
| Tail | Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingbud | Ball of Olive Ice Dubbing |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Partridge Hackle Fibers |
Trigger Nymph, Callibaetis
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Tan 8/0 |
| Head | Gold or Copper Bead |
| Body | Callibaetis Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | Mottled Buggy Nymph Hares Ear |
| Tail | Natural Gray Ostrich Herl |
| Wingbud | Ball of UV Tan Ice Dubbing |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Partridge Hackle Fibers |
Trigger Nymph, March Brown
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-18 |
| Thread | Uni-thread Rusty Brown 8/0 |
| Head | Gold or Copper Bead |
| Body | Brown Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | Mottled Buggy Nymph Mahogany |
| Tail | Brown Marabou Tips |
| Wingbud | Ball of Cinnamon Ice Dubbing |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Partridge Hackle Fibers |
Trigger Nymph, Mahogany
| Hook | TMC 3761 #14-18 |
| Thread | Camel Uni 8/0 |
| Head | Gold or Copper Bead |
| Body | Mahogany Turkey Biot |
| Thorax | Rust Antron Dubbing |
| Tail | Ringneck Pheasant Tail Fibers |
| Wingbud | Orange Ice Dubbing |
| Legs | Mottled Brown Partridge Hackle Fibers |