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Tying materials:
Hook:
. TMC 5263BL #6 (or any 3XL 2X heavy)
Thread:
6/0 olive/brown
Tail:
olive rabbit strip fibers
Underbody base:
.deer hair
Underbody shape:..olive poly yarn
Body:
.large dark olive and light olive chenille, woven dark on top, light underneath
Eyes:
.
. extra large black plastic barbell eyes
Legs:
.
. large olive partridge hackle (feel free to use hen, pheasant rump, chickabou, orany other large, soft hackle)
Head:
.peacock/black sparkle chenille.
Tying Steps:
Lay down a thread base to bend.
2. Tie in a short tuft of rabbit for tail. (Dragonfly nymphs don't have tails, but they do have three short prongs on their rump--like the gills on damsels only shorter.)
3. Tie in deer hair base about 2/3 the length of the shank. Use about a 1/4 inch hank of deer hair. Center the hank of hair around the shank so the deer hair base doesn't spin. Tie securely with thread wraps. Deer hair is used for buoyancy.
4. Cover deer hair base with olive poly yarn. The poly yarn smoothes the contour of the base and builds the body shape. Half the width of normal yarn is easier to work with, so I split the yarn in half before I wrap. I tie poly yarn in at the front, flat on top of the deer hair base, then wrap poly yarn forward, then back to the middle to build an oval taper. Squeeze with pliers to flatten and make body wider in the middle.
5. Tie in light olive chenille on the far side close to the hook bend. Tie in dark olive chenille opposite on the near side. Weave chenille body over poly yarn. Start weave by wrapping dark chenille over the top away from you and looping light chenille over dark chenille. Hold dark chenille securely while wrapping light chenille under toward you. Wrap dark chenille back over top toward you and loop light chenille over it. Repeat about five times until you have completed the body. Adjust your loop points where the chenille strands cross so that the dark chenille on top is slightly more prominent than the lighter color. Tie off chenille with 4-5 thread wraps.
6. Tie in barbell plastic eyes about 3/32 inch from hook eye. Use figure eight wraps and secure. Cement wraps if you wish.
7. Tie in partridge hackle next to body and make two turns. Tie off and trim feather. Pull most of the hackle fibers to the sides.
8. Tie in peacock/black sparkle chenille at eye. Make a couple figure eight wraps to cover barbell eyes and tie off and trim.
9. Whip finish and cement thread wraps.
Dragonfly nymphs can live underwater as long as five years. They prey on other bugs and even tiny fish. They're also big meals for the biggest trout, and when they're migrating toward shore or some dry structure above water to hatch into adults during the summer months, trout shift into attack mode. Dragonfly nymphs are good swimmers. They propel themselves by jetting water out their abdomens. This is easily imitated with a moderately fast, jerky 6-8 inch strip retrieve. Make two or three strips then pause for a couple seconds. Hold on. The strikes are usually violent. I fish dragonfly nymphs in lakes and slow streams near weed beds. I almost always use an intermediate sinking line in lakes and fish them 4-5 feet deep. Dragonfly nymphs live on the bottom, and can be fished any time of the year. However, trout are most keyed on them when they swim up to hatch. The rest of the time they are hiding and less available. But if you want to fish one on the bottom at other times, substitute lead for deer hair in the above pattern and have at it. Tight lines. Hank
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