BirdTrout
Open the map
Blackfly Larva
A nymph, tied #18–22, a spring pattern. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — all year.
- #18–22Hook size
- nymphType
- SpringSeason
- 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 | Curved hook, sizes 18–22 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 8/0 |
| Body | Black thread or thin tubing, tapered |
| Rib | Fine silver wire, optional |
| Head | Small black bead or a turn of dubbing |
When to fish it
As a dropper off something heavier in a spring riffle. It is small, black and does not look like much, which is exactly right.
A spring 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.
- Black Beauty nymph · #18–24 — Midge pupa, fished under an indicator in slow winter water.
- 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.