Silver bling, flashbacks and high viz in general describe the nymphs being used for the last few weeks. This is due to the rivers being swollen and therefore quite often carrying at the least a tinge and at worst a lot of colour. These flies have proved excellent at catching fish in these conditions, with the emphasis being attracting attention and getting noticed.
However recent trips to my local River Test after grayling have seen a change of tactics. The bright beads and high viz thoraxes have been failing to generate takes from the grayling. In fact whilst out guiding, Jim Williams has been watching the Test grayling being noticably spooked by the bright patterns.
A change back to copper and sometimes black beads has proved the answer. I have had some great success with a pattern which has been in my box for sometime but not seen much daylight. Enter the turkey biot nymph with a CDC thorax.
This is a lovely looking nymph with all natural materials (bead aside) and the CDC thorax brings plenty of movement to the fly when in the water.
Materials
Hook – Tiemco 103bl or Fly Tying Boutique ‘Dry fly light’ #16 and #18
Bead – Tungsten 2mm black or copper
Thread – Veevus 14/0 B07 Grey
Tail – Cock cape fibres red game
Body – Turkey biot ‘rusty spinner’
Thorax – CDC natural
Tying
1. Push the bead onto the hook and vice up.
2. Catch in thread, trim waste and wind down towards bend.
3. Take a good pinch of fibres for the tail and catch in with the thread. Hold the waste end of tail materials and gently pull towards eye until tail is desired length. No longer than the length of the shank, I prefer slightly shorter.
4. Now for the turkey biot separate a couple of fibres from the stem and trim with scissors (I find tearing with fingers can damage the fibres)
5. Separate into individual fibres and choose a perfect one to use. Catch in the biot with the thread about 5mm to 10mm from the brittle tip of the biot to prevent breakages.
6. Now wind the thread up towards the bead catching in all the waste materials. Trim the waste tight to the bead
7. Using the thread build up a taper in the body to create a carrot shape. Take care not to build up the thread at the tail as it will make a bulky profile. Leave the thread just short of the bead.
8. Add a thin layer of varnish to the body before winding the biot this will increase the durability of the body.
9. Carefully wind the biot up the body allowing gaps between the fibres to create a segmented effect. Slightly different effects can be achieved by altering how close the turns are together. I prefer quite close turns giving nice even segments. Catch in the biot just short of the bead. And trim the waste. I like to add a couple of whip finishes at this point to ensure the biot stays in place while the thorax is formed.
10. Take a CDC feather and place in a Pettijean Magic Tool clip leaving the stem proud enough to carefully trim the stem away. This should leave the CDC fibres in the clip proud enough to add to the
dubbing loop.
11. Take the thread between finger and thumb and using your dubbing needle carefully split the thread to create a loop. Using your finger hold the loop open.
12. Now for the tricky bit! Insert the CDC fibres inside the open loop and release the loop allowing to close so the thread catches in the fibres. Then carefully open the clip to leave the CDC being held in place by the tension of the split thread.
13. Now spin the bobbin holder and the thread clockwise as you continue to spin you will notice the CDC fibres twisting and catching in the thread to form a dubbing rope.
14. Once all the fibres are twisted together and held tightly in place by the thread the CDC can be wound behind the bead to form the thorax, remembering NOT to let go of the spun thread.
Push the fibres back with fingers towards the body as you wind.
15. When all the CDC is wound behind the eye apply a tiny amount of varnish to the thread and then whip finish. Trim the waste thread to finish the fly. You will notice the long CDC fibres on the pictured fly I like to leave a few of the nymphs like this for extra movement but the majority I use my fingers and a gentle pull (not scissors) to give a quick ‘haircut’.
The Finished Fly.
Before and after a haircut.
Pre barbers (hippy!!!)
Short back and sides.
Look out for these…
1. If the turkey biot is tied in too far up the fibre you lose the segmented effect when forming the body. The end result becomes flat and the segments are reduced to two or three along the body.
2. Don’t worry if your thorax appears too bulky or the fibres are too long, use your fingers to pull the fibres to thin out and shorten. Do not be tempted to use scissors they will spoil the uneven effect which allows the movement of the CDC under the water. I like to have these nymphs with both long and short thoraxes in the box to give options.
3. Beauty tips !!!!!!!
The forming of the loop in the thread can be tricky when using such a fine thread, care must be taken not to break the individual strands of the thread. These will then splay when twisted and make the whip finishing difficult. Unfortunately working on a building site my fingers are quite the opposite of smooth which can catch the thread (a problem not often highlighted in fly tying articles!!) Get in touch with your feminine side and pinch the missus’ hand cream or even braver buy your own, the Neutrogena stuff is also great for keeping the cold at bay on winter grayling trips.
Summary.
A simple enough nymph to tie except for one part …..
The use of the loop in the thread and the Magic tool is at the best tricky and at the worst dammed frustrating and seemingly impossible. Please persevere as it is a great technique and gives amazing results especially when used on CDC dry fly patterns.
The Pettijean Magic tool is widely available and a great ‘gadget’ to have on your bench.
I have tried to show the technique in my tying instructions but is better shown in video form, here you can watch the man himself explaining the tool. Please note in this pattern I only use the ‘clip’ with one CDC feather but in the video the whole Magic Tool kit is shown with two or more feathers.
As ever, experiment with colours although I prefer the natural sombre colours for the reasons mentioned at the beginning of the article. I prefer this pattern, as with pretty much all my river patterns, in #16 and below and with 2mm and 1.5mm beads.
A great all round nymph that is definitely worth a place in boxes all year round.
You can contact Warren via email or call him on 07771 558 028.