Stonefly Nymph
Tying instructions:
Using pliers or vise jaws gently put a slight bend in the center of the hook shank. Place hook in vise and wrap on underbody. Apply thread, and use it to anchor the underbody wraps. Tie in the goose biots and the rib; then wrap thread to just short of the eye. Tie in the yarn for the body and wrap in close turns back to tail position, and then overwrap back to head and tie off. Wrap on a half dozen turns of the rib and tie off. Tie in hackle by tip, fold hackle and wrap about half dozen wraps. Tie off and whip finish.
Notes:
This fly began its life in a Provo, UT, motel room in about 1977. I was about to leave on my first trip to the Yellowstone country, and based on what I had read about the Madison and other rivers in the area, I'd need some big, black stonefly nymphs. I tied a half dozen of the nymphs, but in the next four days they took fish for everyone that tried them in every river we visited. A friend and I, the only fly tyers in our group of seven tied about eight or nine dozen during our stay. The original fly had hackle fibers for tails, a straight shank, and no rib. I've added those niceties over the years, but the basic design has been the same. The pattern has taken dozens of fish for me in the Box Canyon of the Henry's Fork as well as in the stretch from the mouth of the Box down to the north end of Last Chance. The fly also works well as a hellgrammite imitation in rivers that support Dobsonflies.