Thin profile nymphs

[Adam Grace]

My friend and Idylwilde Fly Company Signature fly tyer Hogan Brown has developed some great thin profile mayfly nymphs.

I am seeing more thin nymphs being tied commercially. The thin profile is much more natural than fat old styles like the Hare's Ear.

Here are a few of Hogan's flies:


"Hogan's Military May" in brown, great PMD pattern.


"Hogan's Military May" in Olive, nice BWO nymph.


The most popular - the "S & M Nymph" a great BWO nymph.

Thin bodied mayfly nymphs look better proportioned and much more realistic IMHO.

What do you guys think?

[Darian]

Hi Adam,.... No doubt, these patterns are good looking and probably productive. However, it looks to me like they're thin abdomen, thick thorax nymphs.

Actually,.... use of a thin abdomen isn't uncommon among fly tyers.... New or old. For my own fishing, I prefer a beefier or tapered pattern, myself, but will use whatever is catchin' 'em.

[Jasonh]

Good looking nymphs! My guess is that they are pretty productive. Adam, have you fished them? Any thoughts? I would like to give those a try on the yuba.

Jason Hartwick

[SullyTM]

Adam...Looks like the abdomen area is nothing more than thin wire wrapped over thread/floss? Could you post any tying instructions. I'm interested in tying up a few. Thanks. Thom

[Adam Grace]

Your are completely correct Thom. Thread covered in wire is the abdomen. Make sure that the wire is not too large in diameter. Give'em a try they work well for me.

Try tying a size 18 BWO on a stout (2-3x heavy wire) #16 nymph hook. Small nymphs can catch some large steelies in the central valley.

[SullyTM]

Thanks Adam...I have the hooks so I'm going to tie some up. I may be going to the Eastern Sierra later this Spring...Gotta think they'll come in handy...Nothing like a new pattern to make my day Thom

BTW...Spring bass/bluegill season is just around the corner

[SullyTM]

Adam...I tied up a few Thin Profiles last night. The S&M Nymph version. Very cool. I had trouble splaying the 3 tail fibers. Any tying tips for that end of the fly? What I enjoyed about this fly is you can "tweak" the materials without compromising the design. My thanks to Mr. Brown for his creation. Thom

[Darian]

Thom,.... Are we talking tying materials, here

Anyway, one of the methods you could use to "tweak" the tail materials is after tying in the tail materials, spread them as desired. Then take one turn of the tying thread under the feather fibers and one over the top to lock them in place.

There're probably many methods available for this....

[SullyTM]

Darian, thanks. Your method makes sense and it's something I didn't even think about. The "under" part that is. I must be gettin' old
Bwup! Thom

[Adam Grace]

Sully Darian's technique sounds good to me. If you really want to lock them into place use a tiny amount of cement at the very base of the tail.

Have fun tying!