FAOL - B-cubed Nymph - Our Man In Canada #109

August 7th, 2000

"B-cubed" Nymph

By Sheldon Seale
Photos by Jim Kripps

Fly tyers have gone to great lengths to imitate things fish feed on, sometimes with a degree of realism that seems magical. One area that has seen a lot of development has been the so-called "extended body". There have been some very interesting developments in this area, although largely with dry flies. More recently, nymphs have begun to attract renewed interest, and several new ideas and a couple new products have emerged.

The value of an extended body in a nymph is that it can be more imitative and natural when a fish takes it into its mouth. For example, cased caddis larvae cases are not rigid. They're soft to the touch because they are just small bits held together with silk. In the case of swimming or burrowing nymphs, if the extended body is flexible enough, you may get some movement which can enhance the look of reality about the fly.

Most patterns, however, suffer from a serious drawback. They have a hook shank running down the middle. To a fish picking up the fly, this steel spine feels totally unnatural and it may be rapidly ejected. This is something I have observed frequently in the wild. A fish picks up something, realizes its not food, and spits it out immediately.

To address this problem, Lee Wulff, before his untimely passing, was experimenting with extended bodied nymphs using short pieces of old fly line for the base of the abdomen. His argument was that a fish might hold on to a fly longer if it didn't feel a hook shank. More recently, there have been a number of pre-formed extended bodies available in fly shops. All of these approaches have advantages and disadvantages.

My friend, Paul Schlote, introduced me to the Braided Butt Beadhead Nymph (or the B-cubed nymph for short) in 1990. The tying steps were a little awkward at first and we worked on a couple ideas until we had an approach that simplified the process and made braiding the marabou relatively easily.

Since then, the pattern has been further simplified. While the braiding steps are not that obvious, once you understand the technique, you will be able to tie the pattern with ease. More importantly, you will be able to adapt this technique to other patterns and materials.

"B-Cubed" Recipe

Hook: Standard wet fly or short shank, sizes 10-14.

Thread: Black or to match body, 6/0.

Bead Medium, gold, black, or copper.

Tail: Clump of marabou fibres, braided, tan, ginger, black, or olive.

Body: Seal's fur dubbing, olive, orange, black, or tan.

Hackle: Any mottled soft hackle, as a collar, immediately behind the bead.

Tying Instructions

1. Cut about a 30 cm. length of tying thread and put it on your bench where you can find it easily. You'll need this to tie off the braid later. Slip a bead, smaller hole first, onto the hook (you may have to pinch down the barb), mount the hook in the vise and lay down a base of tying thread.

2. Strip a quantity of marabou from a feather, trim the white bits from the butts and tie in as a long, full tail.

3. Position your vise at about 45º angle away from you to get better access to the tail. To simplify the braiding, use three hackle clips (the "electrical" style). Separate about a third of the fibers and put a clip on near the tips.

4. Separate the remaining fibers into two parts and place a clip on each. You are now ready to braid.

5. Start the braiding process by taking the leftmost clip and passing it over the middle. Now take the rightmost clip and pass it over the middle. Repeat 6 to 12 times, depending on how long you want the braid.

6. Take the 30 cm. length of thread you cut in step 1 in your left hand (I'm using a strand of wool in the photo for clarity). You want to pinch it between your thumb and index finger. Hold the thread behind the braid so it sticks out both sides and then pinch the braid and thread in place with your thumb and index finger. Your thread should be at the exact point on the braid where you want to tie it off. Use your right hand to pass the thread around the braid at least twice and tie it off with any convenient knot.

7. Carefully trim the thread. Remove the clips and put a drop of head cement on the thread. The "tail" now forms the tail proper (which will be trimmed to length last) and the abdomen of the nymph.

8. Reposition your vise to its normal place. Dub a Body (actually, the thorax) and prepare a soft hackle for the collar by stripping off the fluff at the base and isolating the tip, as shown.

9. Tie in the hackle, at the point where you isolated the tip of the feather, right behind the bead with 3-4 tight turns of thread. Trim the tip and make 2-3 turns of hackle to form the collar. Stroke the hackle fibers back before each turn. Trim the excess hackle and tie off with a whip finish behind the bead. Then pinch off the tail proper with your thumbnail to the length you want. I prefer to pinch it off with a thumbnail rather than trimming it with scissors because it gives the finished fly a more natural look. With this final step, the Olive Braided Butt Beadhead Damselfly Nymph is complete.

The B-cubed nymph can be adapted to represent any large swimming/ burrowing or even crawling nymph such as the early Hex (Hexagenia limbata), the late Hex (Hexagenia atrocaudata), other Damselfly and Dragonfly nymphs (order Odonata), the Green Drake nymph (Ephemera guttulata) , the Brown Drake nymph (Ephemera simulans), or the Isonychia (a.k.a. Slate Drake) nymph (Isonychia bicolor or similar). All you have to do is change the mix of material colours and beads.

For variety or a somewhat closer imitation, you can omit the bead, weight the hook and tie in more realistic eyes. You can even add a wing case and/or a rib to the body if you are so inclined. I have never found any of these features necessary for success, so I have now resorted to tying the fly "in the round".

Current Issue Canadian Fly Fisher

When retrieved in short strips, this nymph dips and wiggles enticingly. It will catch just about any species of freshwater fish except, perhaps, large pike and musky, and I've never heard of anyone who caught a Pacific salmon on one, though there's no reason why not. Stillwater trout take this fly eagerly. So do bass, panfish and "coarse" species. Even walleye and lake whitefish, which will feed at the surface on the emergers and adults of the early hex, will take this pattern. I always have a few in my fly box.

Despite being made largely of marabou, this pattern is quite durable. Should the knot slip off while fishing, don't despair. Just bring the fly back to your tying bench for a little maintenance and it will work for you again.

As always, I encourage your feedback on the flies I write about. Feel free to drop the magazine a letter or an e-mail. Your opinions, ideas and suggestions are always welcome. ~ Sheldon Seale

We thank the Canadian Fly Fisher for re-print permission!

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