Wiggle Stone - Fly Tying Tutorial
This is a pattern that is satisfying to tie and produces great results on the water. Sometimes showing fish something a little different with tons of movement can make the difference. This is a fly that's always in our boxes when we're looking for Great Lakes Steelhead.
MATERIALS LIST
- Shank: generic nymph hook (10 or 12) or MFC Offset Shanks (20mm)
- Thread: Veevus 6/0 (black)
- Dubbing: Hare'e Ice Dubbing (black)
- Tails: Goose Biots (black)
- Rib: Ultra Wire Medium or Brassie (silver)
- Resin: Solarez Bone Dry
- Front Hook: Gamakatsu C14s (size 6, 8, or 10)
- Connection: Mono Tippet (8-10lb)
- Dubbing: Hare'e Ice Dubbing (black)
- Wing Case: Thin Skin (black)
- Flashback: Opal Tinsel (medium or large)
- Legs: Goose Biots (black)
- Resin: Solarez Bone Dry & Solarez Thin-Hard
TOOLS USED
- Vise: Renzetti Traveler (Used is the Midge Head Traveler)
- Bobbin: Dr. Slick Ceramic
- Scissor: Dr. Slick Tungsten Carbide
- Whip Finish: Dr. Slick Whip
- UV Resin: Solarez Bone Dry
- UV Light: Loon Infinity Light
TYING NOTES
This pattern will certainly test your confidence using goose biots but the results are extremely satisfying. Please feel free to substitute rubber legs in for the biots, you may actually end up with even more motion in this pattern! This may seem like a large fly for some of you not used to tying for steelhead. I've found that this fly gets more difficult to tie the smaller it gets. I don't think it fishes any better either as the weight of a larger shank in the back helps the wiggle. Experiment with more colors to match water and light conditions in your fishery. Some of our favorite are black, blue, purple, and chartreuse. As always, tweak this fly and make it your own!
FISHING NOTES
Typically we're fishing this fly on a nymphing rig for steelhead in the fall, winter, and spring. This is an unweighted pattern as we use supplemental weight on these rigs to keep our flies out of the woody holes and runs steelhead like to sulk in. Pair this fly up with your favorite egg pattern (I like the nuke egg...) and get fishing!