Fly of the Month January 2025
The Twenty Pounder
I have been tying and fishing the Twenty Incher Stonefly pattern for quite a while now, but sometimes it seems too big and/or heavy for some of the waters I fish. This fly pattern – the Twenty Pounder Stonefly – is it’s smaller, lighter, cousin. No tungsten bead, no lead wire, and no long shank hook makes this a more approachable stone fly nymph. It really originated with the steelhead community, but it works very well for our local streams.
Recipe
Hook: TMC 2457 #6 – #8 Thread: Uni 6/0 – Olive Dun Tail: Brown Goose Biots Tail Splitter: Arizona Synthetic Peacock Dubbing Body: Peacock Herle Thorax: Hare’s Ear Dubbing Rib: Copper Wire, Medium Wing Case: Treated Turkey Tail Hackle: Grouse or Hungarian Partridge
Secure hook in vise and start thread behind the hook eye. Advance to hook bend adjacent to the barb with touching turns.
Make a small bump of dubbing at the hook bend. Tie on two biots concave side out about the length of the body, one on each side of the dubbing bump, splayed outward to form a V tail.
Tie in a section of copper wire at the thorax (2/3rd point on hook shank) and bind down back to the base of the tail.
Tie on 5-7 strands of peacock herl by the tips at the thorax and bind down to the base of the tail.
Wrap the herl around the thread and wrap forward to the thorax. Tie off and trim excess.
Spiral-wrap the wire rib the thorax making 5 or 6 wraps. Tie off and trim excess.
Separate out a section of turkey tail feather and tie in by the tip on top of the thorax. Prepare the grouse or partridge feather as if you were going to tie it in for a soft hackle by the tip. Tie in curved side up at the thorax.
Dub a full thorax of the hare’s ear dubbing to just behind the hook eye.
Fold the partridge/grouse feather over the thorax to form legs out both sides and tie off on top behind the hook eye. Trim excess.
Fold the wing case turkey tail section over the thorax and tie in neatly. Trim excess.
Make a nice, neat head and whip finish the thread. Trim excess.
I fish this under a heavier nymph as a dropper on a conventional rig, or as s dropper above an anchor fly on a EuroNymph rig. Stoneflies are not good swimmers, so dead-drifting these is the best way to present them.