BirdTrout
Open the map
Wiggle Hex Nymph
A nymph, tied #6–8, a summer pattern. It is tied against 2 named insects in this book — June–August.
An articulated imitation of a big burrowing nymph, hinged so it moves the way the natural does on its way to the surface. It is built on two hooks joined into a fly of sizes 6 to 8 overall, tied with tan 6/0 thread: a rear section of pale yellow dubbing on a shank, ribbed, with ostrich-herl gills along it, a joint of fine wire or mono loop, and a front section carrying a dubbed thorax, a turkey wingcase and partridge legs. The weight is kept light, because the fly has to move. It is tied against the Hex, Hexagenia limbata, a mayfly of June and July in water from 60 to 72 degrees, and it is fished in the hour before the duns come off. The hinge does the work: a slow lift on a tight line makes it wriggle like the real thing swimming up. A summer nymph for trout.
- #6–8Hook size
- nymphType
- SummerSeason
- 2Hatches matched
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.
- Hex Hexagenia limbata · June–July · 60–72°F · #6–8
- Yellow Drake Ephemera varia · June–August · 58–70°F · #10–12
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 | Two hooks, articulated, sizes 6–8 overall |
|---|---|
| Thread | Tan 6/0 |
| Rear section | Pale yellow dubbing on a shank, ribbed, ostrich-herl gills |
| Joint | Fine wire or mono loop |
| Front section | Dubbed thorax, turkey wingcase, partridge legs |
| Weight | Light — the fly has to move |
When to fish it
The same window as the Hex nymph, but the hinge does the work: a slow lift on a tight line makes it wriggle like the real thing swimming up.
A summer pattern. The insects it matches are active june–august, in water from 58°F to 72°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.
- Hex Nymph nymph · #6–10 — Big burrower nymph. Worth dredging silt banks months either side of the hatch.
- Cranefly Larva nymph · #6–10 — A fat pale grub. Best in the day or two after high water.
- Dragonfly Nymph nymph · #4–10 — Broad, heavy, olive-brown, fished on the bottom with long slow strips. Weight is the whole pattern.
- 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.