Help: Baetis Nymph

[kcflyguy]

Hello all im new to this forum and was looking for some help on some good baetis nymph patterns to use on central PA's limestoners. All the ones i have ever tied never seem to produce and not sure if im even tying the right bug. If anyone would be willing to share some recipes or some photos of their ties would be a great help!

Thank you
~~ KCF

 

[gfen]

pheasant tail.

 

[RowJimmy]

pheasant tail.

 

[jayL]

I prefer an olive tinged hare's ear, but generally agree with the above two.

 

[gfen]

well, so do i because i can't tie a pheasant tail, but i've always been under the impression the PT represents the olive better than the HE.

HE is actually my default answer to everything.

 

[jayL]

When I say "hare's ear", I mean a nymph tied with hare's fur. I don't think I've tied an actual HE nymph in years. I tie it to the exact same profile as a PT for baetis. I just prefer to work with dubbing.

 

[kcflyguy]

Thank you all for the input. I didnt realize how easy it was. I always have PT's in my box just didnt realize they passed off as the Baetis. One more question though. How small of a size do you folks carry these? I carry them now in a 12, 14 and 16.

Thanks ~~KCF

 

[mcwillja]

I have been tying and fishing the bwo Iron Lotus. It's a pattern designed by Lance Egan. I modify mine somewhat but it is a killer pattern. Check it out here

 

[CLSports]

The ones I tie use dark olive dubbing and chartruese fine wire for the abdomen, olive dyed mallard flank feathers for the tail and a small partridge feather for the legs under the wing case. The wing case will be a few strands of dark brown turkey feathers. I generally like to use size 18.

 

[gfen]

kcflyguy wrote:
I didnt realize how easy it was.

simplicity nearly always works. don't let the internet fool you.

 

[mcwillja]

simplicity and sparsely tied flies are what works for me. I guess you could argue they go hand in hand.

 

[wsender]

gfen wrote:

well, so do i because i can't tie a pheasant tail, but i've always been under the impression the PT represents the olive better than the HE.

HE is actually my default answer to everything.

Really? Man PTs are about as easy as they come. I can whip a dozen out in no time! PT Soft Hackles are even better.

But what everyone else said, PTs. I like this recipe a lot. I add a peacock hurl collar to mine though.

http://www.flyguysoutfitting.com/tutorials/nymphs/beadhead-pheasant-tail-nymph

 

[RowJimmy]

wsender wrote:

gfen wrote:

well, so do i because i can't tie a pheasant tail, but i've always been under the impression the PT represents the olive better than the HE.

HE is actually my default answer to everything.

Really? Man PTs are about as easy as they come. I can whip a dozen out in no time! PT Soft Hackles are even better.

But what everyone else said, PTs. I like this recipe a lot. I add a peacock hurl collar to mine though.

http://www.flyguysoutfitting.com/tutorials/nymphs/beadhead-pheasant-tail-nymph

Looks like that guy knows his stuff! Legs, wing case, thorax who needs um!

 

[wsender]

RowJimmy wrote:

wsender wrote:

gfen wrote:

well, so do i because i can't tie a pheasant tail, but i've always been under the impression the PT represents the olive better than the HE.

HE is actually my default answer to everything.

Really? Man PTs are about as easy as they come. I can whip a dozen out in no time! PT Soft Hackles are even better.

But what everyone else said, PTs. I like this recipe a lot. I add a peacock hurl collar to mine though.

http://www.flyguysoutfitting.com/tutorials/nymphs/beadhead-pheasant-tail-nymph

Looks like that guy knows his stuff! Legs, wing case, thorax who needs um!

Seriously! A trout isn't sitting there evaluating the proportionality of your leg lengths or if you used the right thin-skin pattern. Does it look close enough to something that I've eaten before that gave my needed calories? If so, then attempt to eat, if not, pass. It's that simple.

Loren's ties are phenomenal. He had so many good old entries before he changed his site. I wish I had them cached somewhere...

 

[gutcutter]

i agree completely with the above statement. however, a baetis nymph doesn't act like any type of bead head or heavily weighted fly.
i believe that the effectiveness of these other flies discussed has to do with that statement above, not that they imitate a baetis nymph.
a baetis nymph is thin, like a PT or sparsely dubbed HE. It isn't olive, it is brown. it has contrasting segments (gold ribbed). and they swim throughout the water column, not tumble along the bottom. i tie mine without weight and without a bead.

 

[wsender]

gutcutter wrote:


i agree completely with the above statement. however, a baetis nymph doesn't act like any type of bead head or heavily weighted fly.
i believe that the effectiveness of these other flies discussed has to do with that statement above, not that they imitate a baetis nymph.
a baetis nymph is thin, like a PT or sparsely dubbed HE. It isn't olive, it is brown. it has contrasting segments (gold ribbed). and they swim throughout the water column, not tumble along the bottom. i tie mine without weight and without a bead.

All very true, but I think a bead is still needed. A lot of people fish Beatis in the spring, when water is up because it will most likely be the first hatch. In this high water condition, weight is needed to get your fly down into the column and have it stay there. Not saying that there isn't a time and place for an unweighted/no bead PT, but I generally don't find the adding of weight to be a hindrance to the performance, but rather a point of advantage.

 

[gutcutter]

i'm not saying that they don't work. my suspicion is that those fish taken on olive colored bead head nymphs aren't eating that fly as a baetis.
when you watch fish actively feeding before a baetis hatch, they are up in the water column moving back and forth taking the nymphs as they swim to their preferred location prior to hatching. this occurs in high water as well as low water.
i like to sight fish for these with an upstream cast and a tight line. with a properly constructed fly, this method gets down to the fish without any weight on the fly or the leader

 

[jayL]

The baetis nymphs on my local stream are predominantly brown, but they have an olive sheen to them, particularly on the underbelly. An olive dyed hare's mask matches this perfectly, as the darker fibers take only a touch of the olive coloring.

I like to fish them pretty much the same way as gutcutter.

 

[jdaddy]

gutcutter wrote:
i'm not saying that they don't work. my suspicion is that those fish taken on olive colored bead head nymphs aren't eating that fly as a baetis.
when you watch fish actively feeding before a baetis hatch, they are up in the water column moving back and forth taking the nymphs as they swim to their preferred location prior to hatching. this occurs in high water as well as low water.
i like to sight fish for these with an upstream cast and a tight line. with a properly constructed fly, this method gets down to the fish without any weight on the fly or the leader

Since we discussed the weight issues I have been working on presenting the fly further up stream to get it into the right section of the water column. I would note that both Sender and Cutters methods work and a lot of it depends on water being fished and methods. Sight nymphing, Cutter is hands down. Bunch of pocket water and plunge pools, gotta have the weight to get it down quickly. I think the water being fished is what is contributing to the difference in opinion.

 

[RowJimmy]

Brown, olive, pink who cares if you're getting eats that's all the matters right? Some guys lose there minds trying to get patterns as close as possible to the real thing with 3 tails, wing case colors, and such I find that stuff to be a bunch of non sense there just trout they will eat anything that looks like food.