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Damsel Fly nymph specs
This probably doesn't matter much...since "the fish don't care"...but
I've been wondering about some of this stuff for awhile...and I have heard differing opinions...and there have been a thread or two about the damsel nymph and Al Campbell's link didn't say anything I'll ask about....and his article pointed out how important a food source the damsel nymph is....so to me it matters
When tying the Damsel Fly Nymph....
Should the body be relatively long?
Should the tail be short....or even three separate paddles[seems that is what the pictures show of the real thing]?
How prominent should the thorax and or head be?...eyes?
Gills?
Motion?
Do you have certain things you for sure you want your Damsel Fly nyphs to have???...this may be the simple question I should have asked...
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I believe that most people over dress damsel nymphs. They should be sparse The tail should be with three flu's of marabou half the hooks gape in length the body should be very slim and the thorax and head should stand out the most. I use plastic eys's you can buy them now but we use to make our own from mono. Easy to do with a lighter and a pair of tweezers. I wrap the thorax with one hackle and then trim it top and bottom close to the dubbing but leave it a little longer on the sides. I then pull over the wing case and add the eyes as the last thing.
When fishing these flies during a hatch you have to understand that they have a lot of motion. They swim upwards going for the surface. But in doing so they will go up a bit then sink back a bit. You should fish your nymph in the same manner. Short quick strips with a pause making sure to stay tight to the nymph at all times as you will get most hits when the nymph is sinking back. Hope that helps. Ron
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I agree with Ron. Don't overdress it. I use medium shank hooks when I can because I tie a short tail and get more tail motion than from a longer shank (abdomen). I don't want the abdomen to be too long or too short. I use an old toothbrush to brush out the marabou thorax so that it fluffs. I have been adding a little bit of flash (iridescent tinsel or gift wrap paper) on them now instead of the standard wingcase, sort of a Flashback MDN. Since I tie mine in all black, the beadchain eyes are also black. I use fine silver beading wire for the rib instead of the plastic lace. Well, a picture says it better than I can explain it :D.
#10 black MDN
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...DN2(Small).JPG
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In deed it does...thanks Ron...I was hoping you would respond :D
Any body else?
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Duck, from what I heve seen, the abdomen lenght is about 76% of the forked lenght of the nymph body, the tail is almost 34% in most cases, but heere are exceptions, eyes should be very prominent or bulbous, legs are very slenders and have short filaments in some species, thorax should measure about 19% of the forked lenght the other 5% of the forked lenght is the head area, this are aproximate values I have taken from measuring various damsel nymph species and calculating the mean.
Regards
Xavier
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I've had luck with simplified damsel nymphs. Just a long sparse marabou tail, slim body and soft hackle. It imitates the movement more than the form. Rickards stillwater nymph also works well.
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Dale, as always, your flies are amazing!!!!!!
Xavier
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Too much time on my hands I guess ... :lol:
