CAM'S DRAGON FLY NYMPH
ORIGIN AND BS:
Well, OK, it doesn't look a thing like a dragonfly nymph. Dragonfly nymphs
have neither legs nor eyes at the hind end, but this fly has hackle and
what appears as eyes at that end.
The fly started life, in a larger size, as a crayfish imitation, which does
have eyes and claws at the back, which is really its front.
Dragonfly nymphs have a unique propulsion system: The nymph blows water
through its, er, bum. David Hughes, in his small book on hatches, refers
to the nymphs "cutting in the afterburners" to escape predation.
What looks like eyes are in fact these glowing afterburners. 8^)
What about the hackle then? It seems to serve two purposes: When the line
is not being stripped, the fly sinks slowly, keeping an even pitch (fore
and aft), without the usual jigging action., accomplished not so much by
an increase in bouancy at the tail end, as an increase in drag. This same
increase in drag, I think, is what makes the fly effective when stripped.
The tail-end hackle, made from quality cock hackle, moves the water and
creates disturbances in the water. I cannot visualise a nymph propelling
itself the way this one does, without causing a fair bit of turbulence.
This might even be 'felt' by the fish.
The afterburners (eyes) add attraction, possibly sonic, but likely just
visual. The unique (I havn't seen it elsewhere, doesn't mean it's new) construction
of the eyes may be used effectively in other pattern.
The body construction, with lead underneath and foam above, very nicely
keeps the fly right side up. The nymph does not tumble when jetting along.
When fishing this fly, short fast strips, with an interval of a few seconds
in-between, seems to work best. We have caught many bass in a lake environment
where the dragonfly nymphs are quite numerous, usually near weedbeds. Might
work in slower trout waters also, haven't tried the fly there yet. We've
had walleye and small pike take the fly also.
Actually, we haven't a clue as to why it works so well!
Cam by the way is Cameron MacInnes, a fishing buddy of mine and also a member
of the Ottawa Flyfishers, who actually does know a lot about entomology.
Any errors or misconceptions in these discussions are my own.
PATTERN:
Hook: size 6, Mustad 9672
Thread: 6/0 or 8/0, rust, green, olive or brown (we like Uni-thread)
Underbody: Lead wire, or non-lead substitute. Upper body flexible closed cell packing foam, the kind available in fabric-like sheets. About 1/16 to 1/10 inch (1.5 to 2.5 mm)
Eyes/afterburners: melted monofilament (20 to 40 lb. Maxima, that is, up to .024 in, or 0.6 mm diameter) with fine gold or silver `glitter dust' imbedded into the `eyeballs'.
`Legs', or `skirt': rooster hackle, grizzly preferred, but brown, ginger, red-brown have worked. Fairly long, easily twice the gap, or more.
Overbody: laquered, mottled brown turkey quill.
COMMENT:
Cam has tied this fly hook-up and hook-down. More lead and more foam are
required for the hook-up version. I use less lead than Cam, and only tie
the hook down style, sometimes with a monofilament loop weedguard.
Consider tying at least half a dozen of these flies at a time. Do all the
preparation first: Make the eyes/afterburners, prepare the turkey quill
with flexament or head cement, press down the barbs, and cut the foam. Actual
assembly time, after the preparation, is maybe ten minutes per fly, for
me, neither expert nor neophyte.
To get the design just right - can't send just anything to the swap - I
spent a few hours making six different pre-production models, and tested
them in the sink (no, not from across the room with my fly rod). Recommend
you make the first few nymphs one or two at a time and also try them in
the sink, or better yet where there's fish. Your foam may be different enough
to upset the balance. These instructions should get you close.
The turkey quill has to be prepared, with cement, much earlier, as it needs
time to dry. Be sure you allow adequate ventillation, as I prepared a whole
quill at a time, (does 18-24 flies) and the volatiles are atrocious, doing
the whole feather, though hardly noticeable one fly at a time. Un-cemented
quill may work for you, for me they just split. I'm going to consider an
alternative which is less toxic for my next batch.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Lead:
Cam's: Tie the lead (70 to 100% of hook diameter) on underside of hook,
from two hook-eye-lengths back of the eye to two hook-eye-lengths ahead
of the hook's point. Then open or tight spiral wrap back to start and tie
off.
Marc's: A single length of lead, @ 100% of hook diameter, underneath the
shank, from one hook-eye-length back of the eye to just ahead of the start
of the bend. This uses about 1/4 to 1/3 the lead of Cam's fly. The amount
of foam used, later, is based on this smaller amount of lead.
Bind the entire length of wire with thread, move thread to back end and
seal wraps with head cement, zap a gap, felaxment or don't bother.
Eyes/afterburners:
Using either a disposable lighter or an alcohol lamp with a fine wick, ignite
and let the end of a piece of the heavy monofilament melt down while holding
it vertically, eye up, in a draft free environment (single malts OK) and
let it burn by itself until the desired size of eye is reached. Blow out
the flame and immediately dip the molten eye into the glitter and move it
gently. Pull it out.Glitter has imbedded itself into and onto the eye. Place
the eye over, not in, the flame, holding the monofilament horizontally this
time. The heat will further seal the sparkle into the eye, and will cause
the monofilament to bend at approximately 90 degrees, usually about 1/8
in (3 mm) from the eye. Cut the mono about a hook-shank length from the
eye and place in a foam block (with holes already punched in with your awl)
to cool. You won't normally get two in a row that bend exactly the same.
Make enough eyes for 6 flies at a time, and pick matching pairs (or close
to it) when tying. Expect to ruin several of the first dozen till you get
the feel. You can further seal the eye by dipping in head cement. I don't
bother.
Attach an eye/afterburner on each side of the shank, with the spheres at
the bend and sticking out horizontally. Wind in (clip the stem at about
the front of the lead), setting the eyes equally to each side before binding
too much, so you can move them forward or backward to fine tune the location.
Figure 8 wrap the eye stems as required. The eyes should be about 1/8 inch
(3 mm once again) from the body. Finish with the thread behind the eyes.
Hackle (legs/skirt): Attach the hackle by its tip, move thread forward,
wind the hackle once or twice behind the eyes (weaving in-between the eyes)
and twice ahead of the eyes. Bind with the thread and cut off stem. Nothing
new or special here.
Foam/quill overbody: Cut a piece of the foam a bit longer than the body,
and wide enough to cover the top 180 degrees of the fly without compressing
the foam. The strip will be about 3/16 in (metric be damned) wide. Tie the
foam in place just ahead of the hackle with a couple wraps within 1/16 in.
(a short distance) of the end of the foam, at the rear. Make sure it is
centered, side to side. Separate a piece of the quill fibers somewhat wider
than the foam. Cut the fiber ends square, and place the fibres over the
foam, wrap a couple timesin the same place as the foam, and give a half
hitch or two. Lift the front of the foam and quill, and run the thread forward
about two thirds of the way. Tie the quill and foam in place here, half
hitch, and then run the thread to the front, under the foam again. Bind
again and whip finish. Tear the front piece of foam off and trim the quill
across. You'll have created a shorter thorax section and a longer abdomen,
assuming that's what you call the parts of a dragon fly nymph. Cement the
three wraps.
Some of the foam may show through on the sides, or the quill may be wide
enough to cover everything. Doesn't much matter to the fish.
Believe me, it takes less time to make half a dozen flies than to describe
how it's done!
__
Marc Dupuis,
Fitzroy Harbour, Ontario, Canada
M.DUPUIS@sauron.globalx.net