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Black Stonefly Nymph
A nymph, tied #12–18, carried year round. It is tied against 4 named insects in this book, and stands in when nothing is hatching — January–June.
A weighted bottom nymph on a 3X long hook in sizes 12 through 18, tied with black 8/0 thread over a lead wire underbody. Two black goose biots make the tail; the body is black dubbing or turkey biot ribbed with wire; the wingcase is black Thin Skin in two segments; and the legs are black hen or partridge. It is tied against the little black stonefly, Allocapnia and Capnia spp., out from January through April in water between 34 and 46 degrees, and against the giant black stonefly or salmonfly, Pteronarcys dorsata, of May and June between 50 and 62 degrees. It also stands in for stoneflies generally and works as a searching pattern, since stonefly nymphs are always present in rocky water. It is carried all season and dead-drifted along the bottom for trout, most usefully in winter and early spring, when the little black stoneflies are in the gravel.
- #12–18Hook size
- nymphType
- AllSeason
- 4Hatches 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 6 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.
- Alderfly Sialis spp. · May–June · 52–66°F · #10–14
- Giant Black Stonefly (Salmonfly) Pteronarcys dorsata · May–June · 50–62°F · #4–6
- Little Black Stonefly Allocapnia / Capnia spp. · January–April · 34–46°F · #16–18
- Little Brown Stonefly Taeniopteryx / Strophopteryx spp. · February–April · 38–50°F · #12–16
It is also tagged for stoneflies generally, no hatch at all — a searching pattern.
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 | 3X long nymph hook, sizes 12–18 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 8/0 |
| Tail | Two black goose biots |
| Body | Black dubbing or turkey biot, ribbed wire |
| Wingcase | Black Thin Skin, two segments |
| Legs | Black hen or partridge |
| Weight | Lead wire |
When to fish it
Winter and early spring on the bottom. Little black stoneflies are in the gravel from January and the trout know it.
Carried all year. The insects it matches are active january–june, in water from 34°F to 66°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.
- Copper John nymph · #12–20 — Heavy enough to be the anchor fly. Gets the whole rig down in one cast.
- Early Brown Stone Nymph nymph · #12–16 — Brown, flat, two-tailed and small. The only thing moving on the rock in February and March.
- Girdle Bug nymph · #6–12 — Rubber legs on a chenille body. The cheap ancestor of Pat's Rubber Legs.
- Golden Stone Nymph nymph · #6–12 — A three-year nymph, so it is never out of season. Heavy, and fished on the bottom.
- Hare's Ear Nymph nymph · #10–18 — Looks like everything and nothing. The other half of a two-nymph rig.