here's a good sampling of some dragonfly patterns you may want to consider
dragonfly nymphs are fun to imitate and fun to tie
starting at the bottom we have the good old carry special it's been around for
decades suggestive pattern it still performs
well today the next row are some of the sprawling nymphs generally constructed
out of buoyant material such as deer hair because they're needed to keep the
fly suspended off the bottom as these nymphs are quite sad entry in nature the
top ones that probably this dragonfly nymphs most fly fishers are familiar
with and those are the climbers or Darner dips
these are aggressive and large generally sizes eight through four and this is the
pattern we used today quite successfully just a full variation of a carry special
if you will this is a bunny dragon the dragon and the butler's bug all of these
flies are excellent Dragonfly nymph invitations and should be considerations
in your fly box especially when using sinking lines
what we're imitating to here today on finger Lake located six minutes from
Wasilla is our dragonfly names and dragonfly nymphs
we're imitating the large climbing nymphs very hourglass shape they get big
good two inches plus we're casting out using clear intermediate lines letting
that line sink down and we're imitating how they move and dragonfly nymphs are
aggressive predators they stalk their prey like a cat so we're using steady
hand twist retrieves injures dispersed with strips because they can take water
in through their abdomen and eject it out their back and scoot through the
water the little sort of Mother Nature's afterburner systems so we're using a
very retrieve hand twist applauding along a couple of quick strips to
imitate from darting away and the takes are not aggressive but they're solid
they come in and it's just as a heavy weight on the end and an awful lot of
head shaking so it's the ticket so a varied retrieve as with most still water
applications hand twist spurts and twist and twist spurt keep it varied and see
which one the fish like Spencer
I'm just trying my favorite not when I use exclusively as the non-slip loop not
so I've just tied it overhand not inch or so above the tag end place the tag
end through the eye of the hook take that tag end back through the
monofilament loop draw the fly in the loop together just like your traditional
clinch knot generally the finer the tippet the more times around back
through the overhand loop pull draw it tight a little bit of moisture to avoid
any heat and there you go I just got to trim the tag end and that fly can swing
and move freely
good to go
nice 45-degree angle that's when things have been happening here with this clear
intermediate and twisted back see if we can get a fish to follow and I'd love to
come up right at the last second wall up before my hoping that happens right
there kicking weeds every once in a while so I'm give a couple of quick
trips to strip the fly line up through the water column a little bit skip above
the weed tops
all there is up yeah he's out going out to seat and now he's taking line back
off the drag a little bit yeah he's uh oh yeah he's into my backing though oh
yeah this is a good fish Bob this is a really good fish but he's into my
backing see the orange backing and he is taken line this is a big this is a
quality fish so I want to know if he's gonna try and yeah he's well into my
backing here we may have to drift off and go over to
him because my fear is that long-stem weed that'll be his next stop as you can
still feel them my goodness got me into the weeds and blew me up
that's fishing what brings you back here thats brings
me back good fish he ran me into the weeds and that's the risk you know we're
fishing long stemmed vegetation you can see it right here this this is gonna
happen but actually know what he did he broke me he eventually pulled to the
point and broke me off so he doesn't drop the anchor Jim so I was wrapped
around this man front the gone well that was just a dragon nymph
a dark one about number six and I think I've got another version here so I think
I'll be and what it is we've got Krystal chenille and a dark olive dubbing still
water solutions dark olive green twisted together over a foam underbody
it's got died olive pheasant rump that suggests the legs lots of action and a
piece of sheet foam that I've trimmed and fold it over the head to form the
gape so it's got a buoyant core to it and I can skip it through and over the
weeds and just a steady hand twist and that big fish just whacked it so
hopefully we'll go see if we can get his cousin cuz I don't think I'll be getting
that fly back anytime soon
every Stillwater fly box should include a selection of dragonfly nymphs the
point nature of the foam dragon allows it to be presented in and around wheat
beds and sunken debris here is the pattern recipe for those interested in
adding a few foam dragons to their own fly boxes