Fished a small mountain stream last year and wasn’t having too much
luck. Saw a small trout slide under a big rock as I tried to sneak up on
a little pool. Couldn’t entice it out with anything and was about to
move on when I spied a “1,000 Legged Worm” crawling near the pool.
Decided to pitch it in and see if there was any reaction. As soon as it
came even with the protruding edge of the rock, the trout shot out of
there, snatched the worm and returned to it’s rocky lair before I could
hardly blink. A little further upstream, found another worm, and
repeated the scene with the same results. Filed that away for future use
and the attached creation is the result of my poor attempt at an
imitation “1,000 Legged Worm.” Just finished yesterday; so, will have
to give it a test and see how it does as soon as we get some rain in my
area.
Materials 1,000 Legged Worm
Hook: Tiemco@ - TMC 9395 - Size #8 Streamer - Straight eye - 3X
Heavy, 4X Long, Forged, bronze.
Thread: Gudebrod@ - 6/0 - Dark Yellow.
Body: Chenille, bright yellow.
Legs: Dry fly hackle, Med. dyed dun, Size #18.
Coloring Pen: FabricMate@ - Chisel Tip - Brown (Pigment fabric
dye - Permanent after 24 hrs.)
- Place hook in vise and wrap thread front to back twice.
- Tie in chenille at back, advance thread to the hook eye, wrap chenille
to just behind hook eye and tie off.
- Return thread to bend and tie in hackle, advance thread to hook eye,
wrap hackle to just behind hook eye using two wraps of the hackle in
each section and try to place it between the wraps of the chenille.
- Tie off a small head of thread just behind the hook eye.
- Scissor trim the hackle from the top and bottom of the fly so that the
remaining hackle protrudes from only the sides creating the multiple legs.
- Color the top of the trimmed chenille with the brown pen and a little
bit down on each side.
The finished fly should approximate the size and coloring of the “1,000
Legged Worm” that I saw that day. ~ Dick Taylor aka Grn Mt Man
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Originally published October 15, 2007 on Fly Anglers Online by Richard Taylor.