Damsel fly nymphs

[ducksterman]

The normal damsel fly nymph tends to be rather thin a longish.
Many of the ties for them look fat and juicy...even short.....granted the marabou used in most of them thins in the water...

Do any of you have any strong feelings as to which fishes better...
slender or fat???????????????????

[Normand]

damselfly nymphs vs dragonfly nymphs???

damselfly nymph (thin)

http://www.bugsurvey.nsw.gov.au/html...da-ny_col.html



vs

dragonfly nymph (fat and juicy)

http://www.bugsurvey.nsw.gov.au/html...-ny-b_col.html

[Flyandtie1]

I agree with Norm. You are confusing them with dragonfly nymphs which are quite fatter and shorter. For my damsel nymphs I tie them about a size 8 or 10 an use a very slender marabou tail and body with big plastic nymph eyes. the eyes are usualy the same color about as the body but a little darker olive. I usually use light olive marabou labeled for woolly buggers wrapped around the shank with green wire for a ribbing. I think the eyes being bigger make a difference in nibbles and how the nymphs look when wet.

[dixieangler]

I like the Marabou Damsel Nymph. Link below.

Marabou Damsel Nymph

But I like it in a size 10, wire rib, and all black flashback with small beadchain eyes. This one works well for me. I matched this nymph with the natural on my home waters. Although it is short, the abdomen narrows to long and thin looking like the natural when wet in the water. So I typically don't use the longer hooks which would make the abdomen and tail longer than the abdomen and tail of the natural for the same size. But that is just my preference.



I'm still looking for a good dragonfly nymph. I like the one Norm posted.

[Buddy Sanders]

Duckster,

I've also noticed this.

The ones I tie are very similar to the one Normand posted. I think mine are on a bit longer shank, though. The damsel nymphs we have out here are very long and thin, and I try to mimic that as much as I can.

Never had much luck with dragon nymphs, though I did tie and fish a few of them.

Buddy

[ducksterman]

This post is not about Dragon fly nymphs .

Norm, note I said..."The normal damsel fly nymph tends to be rather thin a longish."....so we are in agreement...no confusion.
Chris, try not to be too dogmatic..."You are confusing them with dragonfly nymphs "... I know the difference.

I have a rather large file of Damsel nymph fly patterns tied by a variety of tyers and many are relatively fat and short...

I also have a file on Dragon fly nymphs...with some pretty good patterns.....
Believe I'll add Norm's pictures to both files ...his ties are always quality....

I'm working on a Damsel fly articulated pattern and I was wondering...as I asked originally...

"Do any of you have any strong feelings as to which fishes better...
"

Probably the fish don't care and take those patterns for many things but I figured maybe some folks here would have some strong experiences.

BTW, Buddy, I'm thinking Dragon flies are harder to fish because they crawl around in the bottom debris most of the time.

[Flyandtie1]

Sorry duckster, I meant to say I think in front of that but brain f!^@*@(ed it out of the message.

[Normand]

T
Believe I'll add Norm's pictures to both files ...his ties are always quality....

they come from www.flyfishusa.com

[PastorEd]

I have been struggling with coming up with a "better" damsel fly nymph for a while now. What I have come up with so far is very long and thin.

It is a lot like Normands flies shown above. but with a much longer tail. up to an inch and a quarter. I can always cut them shorter if that seems nessissary.

I tye on a size 12 or 14 hook, leave a long tail. wrap the maraboo for the body, segment the body with red wire, put make a shell back with 3 or 4 strands of peacock, covered by a peice of plastic from a empty ziplock bag. For fishing in Colorado I tye it with a red bead head. In warmwater with bead chain eyes.

The short hook may miss a few strikes but I think it improves the "action" of the fly...

I caught my largest trout on the above.


Duckster...
To answer your question directly... Yes I think it makes a huge difference AND I think the fish often care a lot.

If you come up with a good articulated fly PLEASE post it here, make it a fly of the week, or better yet send it to me and we will keep it as our little secret!

Ed

[Steven]

I'm going to point out the incongruity of putting both bead chain, or even mono, eyes and a shell back on top of the hook.

Like a Clouser, if you put bead chain eyes on top of the hook, the fly will turn over and ride hook up. Just drop your fly in a bowl of water; you'll see this.

If you're going to put bead chain eyes on top of your hook, shouldn't you put the shell back underneath?

In his book Good Flies (which I feel is very under rated), John Gierach recommends using the Daiichi 1870. According to Gierach, the dip in the hook before the eye puts the bead chain below eye, which has the property of keeping the fly from rolling over.