Clayton Peter's Stonefly Nymph

Hook:   Mustad 9671 or 3906B
sizes:  10 3XL and 12 2XL
Thread: Pale yellow 3/0 and 8/0 (I'll explain later)
Underbody: .25 lead wire
Tails:  Brown Microfibetts
Body:   Dark brown and pale yellow embroidery floss
Thorax: Blended fox and yellow-dyed rabbit fur
Legs:   Gold dyed duck quill
Wingcase: Turkey quill feather
Antennae: Turkey quill feather fibers
Hackle: Ginger and light blue dun (large dry fly quality)

Tying Instructions

1. Form an underbody by wrapping the lead wire from the eye to the bend (Leave about 1/16 in. space at each end. Flatten the rear 2/3 of the lead wire with pliers to give the wide flat look of the natural.
2. Wrap a base of 3/0 pale yellow monocord from eye to base. Tie in the tails - slightly spread. Then tie in the embroidery floss (about 8") with the dark brown on the side closest to you. The wrap forward and tie off the thread at the point where the flattened wire ends.
3. Turn the vise, so that the eye is facing towards you and make a simple overhand knot with the dark brown floss crossing the pale yellow to the rear. At the point where the dark bown floss crosses the pale yellow, open a small loop with dark brown on top and pale yellow underneath. Slide the loop over the eye of the hook and back to the rear of the underbody and pull the strands tight. Continue this weaving until the abdomen is complete.
4. Tie in 8/0 pale yellow thread. For the rear legs, tie in two gold-dyed duck quill fibers underneath the forward end of the abdomen. For the wingcase cut a section of the turkey quill feather slightly wider than the width of the abdomen. Cut a V-shaped wedge in the end of the turkey quill section and tie it down with the V facing towards the read of the nymph. Wrap several turns of the thread in front of the turkey quill section to keep it up and out of the way. Tie in the one ginger and one light dun hackle.
5. Apply a blended dubbing of fox and yellow-dyed rabbit to the thread and wind forward forming 1/2 of the thorax. Wind the hackle forward one at a time (approx. 2 1/2 to 3 turns)and tie off with thread. Apply a blended dubbing of fox and yellow-dyed rabbit to finish the thorax.
6. Trim off the hackles above and below the thorax and pull the turkey quill section forward and tie off in front of the thorax. Form a small head in front of turkey quill section and whip finish. Form antennae with the outside fibers of the turkey quill section and trim off the remaining section. Apply head cement to wingcase and antennae for duability.

Notes

Although this was originally tied by Mr. Peters specifically as a Perla Nymph, it can be used to represent the wide range of Perla and Acroneuria Nymphs. I have used this nymph for over 20 years and it is quite effective wherever these large nymphs are present. The weaving of the body is quite simple compared to other intricate nymph patterns. I tie these on both 2XL and 3XL streamer hooks, but the original pattern also suggested 4XL hooks (never tried these myself, they are too difficult to find). It has been particularly effective on large brown trout in Penn's Creek and Pine Creek, for those of you familiar with these Pennsylvania streams.

Dale F. Bonney (dbonney@postoffice.ptd.net)