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FIT TO BE TIED
FIT TO BE TIED • BY JOEL EVANS
Sometimes Bigger is Better
Large, helicopter, prehistoric profile, crawly, scratchy, brown or black or orange or yellow – what kind of insect could be so important to fly tying? The opposite of the delicate attributes we assign to mayflies, I’m speaking of stoneflies. Among the several general groups of aquatic insects we imitate for trout, stoneflies are generally the largest. Streamers are typically much larger, but those don’t imitate an insect.
While there are small stoneflies such as a yellow sally or a black winter stone, for this time I am focused on the giant end of the spectrum, the Orange Stonefly. Now call it what you want, and admittedly more common names are used such as Salmonfly, Willowfly, and Pteronarcys (part of its scientific name), I prefer to call it by its color as they do have a distinct orange cast to it, particularly the dry with a large orange band on its neck, compared to the mostly drab nymph. A similar but smaller stonefly is the golden stone, so since it goes by its color name, just seems appropriate to call the orange one by its color. Besides, this fly has nothing to do with traditional salmon flies, so
The orange stonefly hatch of summer is short lived but explosive. On the left is an orange stone as tied by Bob Jacklin. On the right is my version as inspired by Bob’s. Typically fished dry, if the dry is ignored, then intentionally let it get soaked so that it sinks some, and let it dead drift under the surface film. My best takes and largest fish often come when using an upstream drift with a twitch or short strip while it is underwater, somewhat like a streamer.
About The Author
Joel Evans is a fly fishing writer, photographer, and long-time member of Trout Unlimited from Montrose, CO. You can contact him via the HCA editor at frank@hcamagazine.com.
ORANGE STONEFLY
AS INSPIRED BY BOB JACKLIN
HOOK: DRY 6-4X LONG THREAD: ORANGE 3/0 TAIL: (FEMALE EGG SACK) BLACK ELK HAIR BODY: ORANGE POLY YARN WITH PALMERED BROWN SADDLE HACKLE WING: LIGHT ELK HAIR LEGS: BLACK ELK HAIR COLLAR HEAD: ORANGE THREAD
that name is odd to me.
Call it what you want, but if you fish the Rocky Mountain West, do call it. It will answer back with some of the most aggressive and splashiest dry fly strikes you will experience.
In a previous column, I featured my tie of the nymph, called an Evie Fly. (Evie being the resident Siamese cat that supplies the dubbing). For this time, I will focus on the dry version.
I have used multiple versions of the dry from commercial ties to variants of my own, but frankly, after decades of testing (yes decades), the best and most consistently effective version is that of fishing and tying legend Bob Jacklin. His pattern was of course developed thru his own decades of experience. It works.
Many years ago I attended a personal fly tying class with Bob as the instructor, and have been tying his version ever since. I have in my collection several of his personal ties, some loose in a box and some in a framed print. Even his version has some variations, particularly the presence or absence of rubber legs. My ties are very similar, but use some different materials, and so they come out slightly different, but still, it is his pattern.
