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Copper John
A nymph, tied #12–20, carried year round. It imitates nothing in particular, which is the point: it is what goes on when no hatch matches the water temperature. John Barr, 1990s.
A nymph built around weight: a wound copper wire body on a 2X heavy hook in sizes 12–20, a brass or tungsten bead at the head, two brown goose biots for the tail, a peacock herl thorax, partridge or hen legs, and a black Thin Skin wingcase over flash coated in epoxy or UV resin. Black 8/0 thread. John Barr originated it in the 1990s. The wire and bead together make it heavy enough to be the anchor in a two-fly rig, taking a soft fly down with it and getting the whole rig to the bottom in one cast, and it catches trout on its own account rather than merely serving the dropper. It imitates nothing in particular — no single insect is matched to it — but it is fished for mayflies generally and stoneflies generally, and it is what goes on when no hatch matches the water. Carried all season.
- #12–20Hook size
- nymphType
- AllSeason
- —Hatches 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
It is also tagged for mayflies generally, 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; John Barr, 1990s. — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | 2X heavy nymph hook, sizes 12–20 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 8/0 |
| Tail | Two brown goose biots |
| Body | Copper wire, wound |
| Wingcase | Black Thin Skin over flash, coated in epoxy or UV resin |
| Legs | Partridge or hen |
| Thorax | Peacock herl |
| Head | Brass or tungsten bead |
When to fish it
The weight in a two-fly rig — heavy enough to take a soft fly down with it, and it catches fish on its own account.
Carried all year.
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 — which, for a searching pattern, is all of them. 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 Stonefly Nymph nymph · #12–18 — Dead-drifted along the bottom. Stonefly nymphs are always present in rocky water.
- Frenchie nymph · #12–18 — A Pheasant Tail with a hot spot. The most-fished competition nymph there is.
- 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.