Big Hole Demon SBS

[ScottP]

Attributed to Pete Naranchich of Twin Bridges, MT, this fly was developed for the Big Hole River back in the early 60's. Not one you see or hear much of any more, apparently it's pretty popular in Europe as a sea trout pattern; that version is tied with badger hackle tips. Change colors as you see fit - furnace hackle, gold body, etc (red hackled is a Danish favorite)


hook - Mustad 79580 #6
thread - Danville 6/0 black
underbody - non-tox wire .025
tail - hackle fibers badger
rib - wire x-fine silver
abdomen - tinsel silver
thorax - chenille medium black
hackle - badger


Part 1

mash barb, wrap front 1/3 of shank with non-tox




start thread, wrap underbody; taper front and back




tie in rib, wrap back to bend




pull a clump of badger hackle fibers; measure for length (hook gap), tie in and smooth butts






tie in tinsel behind non-tox; wrap to the tail and back and tie off

[ScottP]

Part 2

strip end of chenille, tie in and wrap to head; stop short 1 hook eye width








prep hackle and tie in by butt




wrap hackle counterclockwise (it makes it a whole lot easier to wind the ribbing through if you do it this way) back through the chenille; let it hang there




counterwrap wire up the body and through the hackle (for re-enforcement)






helicopter wire, tie off and smooth with thread wraps; whip, SHHAN and go fish, while humming some Beach Boys tuneage




Regards,
Scott

[James Smith]

Beautiful fly and tied about as close to perfect as you can get. Your SBS photos are simply amazing. Thanks for sharing

Jim Smith

[FishnDave]

I tried this fly this past fall on some stocker trout...It caught a few fish under some tough conditions.
Its a cool-looking fly. Excellent SBS as always, Scott!

[okflyfisher]

Was it fished as a streamer or an attractor stone fly nymph?

[Longs for Cutts]

Huh. It's impossible to have an original idea. A few years ago I tied up some Woolly Buggers that had a normal bugger front third and tail but an abdomen of two strands of one color and one strand of another color sparkle braid twisted together. The goal was to have a pattern I could dead-drift as a stonefly or strip as a bugger, all on the same drift. It looked very, very similar to this, and I thought I was Captain Original.

[Uncle Jesse]

Huh. It's impossible to have an original idea.

I no longer begin a question with "Has anyone ever" because someone always has had the same idea and tried it out, or so it seems. But the idea may be so bad they didn't tell us about it or we joined after that event, the question needs to be repeated ever so often.

[ScottP]

It's impossible to have an original idea.

If we have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants

Regards,
Scott

[FishnDave]

Was it fished as a streamer or an attractor stone fly nymph?

I was slowly but somewhat erratically stripping it in...so more like a streamer.