Damsel Fly Nymph

Since all of my warm water haunts are not so warm this time of year, most of the blog posts over the next few months will be focused on fly tying.  One of my favorite fly patterns for panfish are damsel fly nymphs.  Damsel fly nymphs are probably some of the most productive nymph patterns I use on a regular basis.  They can be tied ornate or extremely simple.  For bluegill and other panfish I lean towards simple versions.  The adult insects pictured above are an important food source but fish are in contact with nymphs in various stages year round.  As an added benefit, they are the perfect pattern to present to fish when fishing from the shore.  Damsel flies spend the majority of there lives under water.  When they are ready to molt the nymphs will actively swim towards shore where they will crawl onto lakeside vegetation.  This shore bound migration is easily imitated when retrieving a cast fly back to shore.

  Once on dry land they split their exoskeleton, climb out of the shuck and emerge as an adult damsel fly.  After a short waiting period, as their wings dry,  they take to the air.  They will live for several weeks before returning to the water to mate and deposit their eggs on the stems of aquatic plants.  They are voracious predators in both the nymphal and adult forms.

Damsel fly emerging from nymphal stage (image from dkfindout.com)

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Spent shucks on lake side vegetation.

The pattern I am highlighting in this post is a simple one, only three materials if you don't count the hook its tied on.  Marabou in a color matching the nymph, a piece of wire for segmentation and a bead to provide weight and a proper silhouette in the water.  There are no wing buds, legs or mono eyes.  Very simple, very quick to tie and very effective.

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Marabou Damsel Fly Nymph

Step by Step Instructions:

Mount bead on hook

Attach thread

Wrap back to a point over the hook eye

Tie in gold wire

Tie in the marabou feather for a tail leaving the waste end attched

Wrap the waste end of the feather up the hook shank and tie off behind the bead

Counter wrap gold wire, tie off and whip finish

Tenkara Angler - Winter Edition 2015-16

Although I have not written about it on this site yet, I am an avid tenkara angler.   I first adopted the technique for fishing in cold water for trout, but I quickly saw it's value as a warm water fly fishing technique.   Using tenkara equipment and methods are one of my favorite ways to fish for panfish.  I will be writing more on the subject in the future, but until then check out this relatively new online magazine Tenkara Angler

This is the second issue of the Tenkara Angler to hit the digital news stands.  It contains over 100 pages of information on tenkara, including using the technique in warm water. In addition, you'll find information on fly tying, photographing and some non traditional methods of utilizing tenkara such as Czech nymphing (which is the reason I was first attracted to tenkara).   If you like what you read you can find the first issue here.

The Hot Butt Panfish Bug

It's no secret that bluegills and other members of the sunfish family are attracted to color.  The exact color that turns them on may vary from day to day or even hour to hour.  In my neck of the woods, orange is a long standing favorite day in and day out.  This particular pattern was created during a tying session when I was refilling one of my still water, trout boxes with damsel fly nymph patterns.  I had just finished tying a few dozen damsel fly nymphs for my annual pilgrimage to Grebe Lake in Yellowstone National Park.  My tying desk was littered with 2x long nymph hooks, bead chain eyes and a material I was using to add legs to a new damsel fly nymph pattern I was experimenting with. Truth be told,  I could have simply continued tying the same pattern and throw some in my panfish box and call it day.  Damsel fly nymph imitations are some of my most productive sub surface bluegill flies.  

I had something different in mind.  I wanted to add a little bit of color to the fly and change up the profile a bit.  The olive marabou tail was replaced with a small tuft of UV orange marabou.  The slim marabou dubbed body was replaced by winding the polar chenille material I was using to imitate legs on the trout patterns.  The result was a fly that was incredible easy to tie, had a bright spot of color at the business end of the hook, had just enough weight to break the surface tension of the water and enticingly sink to the bottom and created a lot of movement in the water.  The UV olive brown polar chenille created a fly with lots of leg like appendages that move in the water even when the fly is slowly sinking or at rest.  Every twitch of the line brings the fly to life.  In addition to being an attraction to the fish, the orange tail works like a strike indicator under some conditions.  Panfish can be masters camouflage at times. In waters with certain bottom types, they are damn near invisible. Fortunately, over those same bottoms, the orange tail of this fly glows like a beacon.  I have often detected strikes when the little spec of orange I had been staring at simply disappeared.  When that occurs it is usually because a fish approached the fly from behind and sucked it in with out grabbing it and running off.  If I did not set the hook at the visual clue, the fish would have likely rejected the fly a split second later.  If I was not able to see that little spec vanish before my eyes I would have not been able to pick up on the hit.  Crappies are masters of this method of feeding.  Time and time again I have seen fish take these and other flies and have never physically felt the actual taking of the fly.

Many of my bluegill sub-surface patterns are tied on 2x or 3x long hooks.  I find that a longer hook helps when releasing the fish.  Bluegills and sunfish have very small mouths and removing a deeply set hook usually results in injury to the fish.  A longer hook often will be easier to I dislodge even when taken deeply by the fish.  The 2xl hook on this pattern fits the bill perfectly.

I have experimented with other colors for the body and tail and all have worked well, but the olive brown/orange combo is my by far my favorite.

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Hot Butt in olive brown and orange

The Willowfish Soft Hackle

Okay, the name is strange.  I agree, but I can't change it.  The fly was designed and named by my son who was seven at the time.  As I was tying up some soft hackles and hot butt nymphs for a anticipated Hendrickson hatch my local trout stream, he sat down beside me and wanted to try his hand at fly tying.  Away went the drab olives and browns and out came the flashy steelhead dubbing.  Bright yellows, greens, purples and blues.  When we were done it looked like kaleidoscope broke open on the tying desk. Out of that colorful mess one fly stood out.  I tucked it into one of my panfish fly boxes and forgot about it.

The next spring while out on a local farm pond, I rediscovered the pattern tucked away in a box of experimental patterns.  I grinned as I tied the fly to the leader, recalling that winter afternoon watching my son whipping up some of the most outrageous looking flies I ever laid eyes on.  On it's maiden voyage it connected with a fish, then another and another.  After a half a dozen crappie in just about as many casts I clipped the fly off and tucked it back into the fly box.  I did not want to risk losing it before getting the chance to replicate it.

My son is thirteen years old now, so that means I have been fishing this pattern for nearly 7 years  It works as good today as it did on the first spring afternoon when I found it tucked into the corner of my fly box.

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Cold Weather Bluegills

Cold weather fly fishing for bluegills and other sunfish is often a tough proposition.  Fish leave their shallow water haunts and will typically move to deeper water near structure to find the most comfortable temperature.  As many an ice fisherman will attest to, they do continue to feed throughout the winter months, but not with the same voracity that they do during warmer weather.  Bluegills will move into shallow water on clear warmer days if the sun can warm the water temperature by a few degrees.  Most of the time however it will be a deepwater game.  The good news is if you find one fish you likely to catch others in very close proximity.  In cold water bluegills will gather in dense schools, often with other fish species.  

Presentations need to be slow and takes may be difficult to detect.   I have the best success with small streamers, nymphs, soft hackles and wet flies.  Soft hackles probably account for more fish due to the alluring movement of the feathers during the painfully slow retrieves.

Cover as much water as possible, searching for fish.  Once you detect a strike or catch a fish thoroughly fish that area.  Once you locate a single fish you are likely to connect with more in the immediate area.  Experiment with the speed and depth of your retrieve until you dial in on an effective presentation.

To be honest,  I much prefer fishing for bluegills during the warm weather of spring and summer (notice the lack of fish pictures in this post).  But when a mild winter day comes along and there is open water to fish,  it beats sitting around the house suffering from cabin fever.