BirdTrout
Open the map
Black Beauty
A nymph, tied #18–24, a winter pattern. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — all year.
A midge pupa for cold, clear winter water, tied on a scud or curved nymph hook in sizes 18 through 24 with black 14/0 thread. The body is that same black thread wound thin and tapered, ribbed with fine silver wire; the thorax is black dubbing or a black bead; and a wisp of white Antron can be added at the head for gills. Small, dark and unremarkable is the entire design brief, and the fly is not meant to look like more than it is. It imitates the midge, Chironomidae, which is present all year and active across a range from 33 to 75 degrees, though this dressing earns its place at the cold end of that span. It is fished under an indicator in slow winter water, where the drift is long and the take is soft, and it is carried through the winter for trout.
- #18–24Hook size
- nymphType
- WinterSeason
- 2Hatches matched
What it looks like
A drawing, not a photograph, and not traced from one. Its proportions were read off 5 independent reference photographs of the pattern and written down as 5 measured characteristics — wing angle, tail length against the shank, how far a hackle fibre reaches — every one of which had to hold across more than one of them before it could be drawn. What survives across many photographs of a fly is the fly.
What it imitates
Each of these is the same hatch record the app's own panel reads, so a pattern recommended on a river card in the app is recommended for one of the insects below.
- Blackfly Simulium spp. · April–June · 40–65°F · #18–22
- Midge Chironomidae · all year · 33–75°F · #18–24
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Scud/curved nymph hook, sizes 18–24 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 14/0 |
| Body | Black thread, thin and tapered |
| Rib | Fine silver wire |
| Thorax | Black dubbing, or a black bead |
| Gills | Optional white Antron |
When to fish it
A midge pupa for cold, clear winter water. Small, dark and unremarkable, which is the point.
A winter pattern. The insects it matches are active all year, in water from 33°F to 75°F.
Target species
- Trout
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Blackfly Larva nymph · #18–22 — A tiny black tapered body on a curved hook. Dropped off something bigger in a spring riffle.
- Brassie nymph · #16–22 — Copper wire and peacock. Sinks fast for its size, which is the point.
- Zebra Midge nymph · #18–24 — Two materials and a bead. The winter fly, and the fly for the last two feet of a tailout.
- Higa's SOS nymph · #16–20 — Small, slim, and deadly in clear low water.
- Black Stonefly Nymph nymph · #12–18 — Dead-drifted along the bottom. Stonefly nymphs are always present in rocky water.