Green Weenie

volcanomil

volcanomil

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Joined
Jun 5, 2007
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179
I have never used green weenies or inchworms but I continue to hear wonderful success stories of anglers using these patterns with great results.

My question is - what is the proper way to fish an unweighted green weenie w/o any rubber legs. On the surface, under, dead drift it like a nymph, swing it like a wet fly, or twich it like a streamer? I beleive inchworms are all on top, but the weenie - I am not so sure of.

Could you use the weenie and a small dropper behind it?
If there is any knowledge you can share - that would be great - thanks...
 
I don't know about fishing it like a streamer, but I have caught fish with green weenies using all the methods you ask about.

I think they make great "point" flies for a double nymph rig. They are very visible and really help you watch the flies in the water without a drift/strike indicator.

I don't feel they are a "magic" fly. They are best fished in low light. Either early in the morning or in the evening. And generally, I weight mine even when the green inchworms are around.
 
I think they are a dirty lie. My home h2o is the Loyalhanna. The stream that made them "famous" I have never even caught a chub on them.
 
ryanh wrote:
I think they are a dirty lie. My home h2o is the Loyalhanna. The stream that made them "famous" I have never even caught a chub on them.
Click to expand...

At the Loyalhanna, they have a reputation among the resident fish population for being rather dangerous. Even the fresh stocked fish become aware of the danger, as the holdovers spread the word quickly as soon as the white truck pulls away.
 
The Green Weenie, developed by Ken Igo and the late Russ Mowry of Westmoreland County, is a fish magnet. Have used it successfully in the West and for salmon in the Great Lakes tribs.

I tie it both weighted and unweighted using Mustad 79580, #12. (#8 for salmon).

Grease it up and fish the unweighted version on top or add shot and fish it on the bottom as you do the weighted version.

While you're at it, try the "Red Hot". Same as Weenie but use florescent fire orange medium chenille. Bows and Brookies love it.

My son fishes the pair of them, calling it his "Xmas Tree Rig" and does well with it even on a tough stream like the Yellow Breeches.
 
When the inchworms start "dropping", I dont think there can be a much better pattern to have. I fish it with a beadhead as a nymph, non weighted and greased up on the surface, and non weighted and just free floating. The free floating way usually gets the most hits but theyre sometimes hard to detect in water where you can't see the fly. I've kind of fished it like a streamer before for wild brookies when the water is high and I've had a decent amount of success that way.
 
Fished a Pocono stream last week, and they were droppping off the trees. Saw them from about half the size of my thumb to little tiny pieces of string. When one drops from a distance and you are on a quiet mountain stream, the plop is startling if you are not ready for it.

I have some but haven't fished them in years. Didn't that day either and caught a fair number of nice trout.
 
Jack you MUST be pulling my leg because we all know from recent discussions that fish do not hold over :lol:
 
They obviously think it's power bait :p :p



(I have at least a half dozen in size 14 at all times... "fish bite and won't let go!")

In all fairness, I haven't found a wrong way to fish them yet. The terrestrial "slap" under trees works, deep nymphing works, lifting them works, stripping them works.

I'm trying to find someone to bet me beer to put hackle and wings on one and try to catch em on top. Any takers?
 
There is a good article about them and their mods in the June issue of "Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide" you can get for free.
 
FredofYork wrote:
The Green Weenie, developed by Ken Igo and the late Russ Mowry of Westmoreland County, is a fish magnet. Have used it successfully in the West and for salmon in the Great Lakes tribs.

I tie it both weighted and unweighted using Mustad 79580, #12. (#8 for salmon).

Grease it up and fish the unweighted version on top or add shot and fish it on the bottom as you do the weighted version.

While you're at it, try the "Red Hot". Same as Weenie but use florescent fire orange medium chenille. Bows and Brookies love it.

My son fishes the pair of them, calling it his "Xmas Tree Rig" and does well with it even on a tough stream like the Yellow Breeches.
Click to expand...

Well there you go. If Russ Mowry tied them, they must work.

Fred, did you know Russ?

I didn't know him personally, but I work with his son. Russ was a heck of a nice guy and a heck of a fly tier.
 
Fred,

Its about time you registered an account with this board. Look forward to hearing from you now that you can post.

Welcome aboard,
Maurice
 
Farmer Dave: Russ was my brother-in-law and my mentor for fly tying and fly fishing. Started me when I was about 16, 55 long years ago. He was also my best friend and we first together quite a lot, including a trip to New Zealand.

Maurice: Too many boards to review and too many things to do. Besides, I knew if you were here it was under control.
 
I never met Russ, but I wish I had, just to shake his hand. I have several of his flies. John (Russ's son) must have mentioned to Russ that one of his co-workers was a fly angler from PA who was a beginner at tying so Russ passed some flies on to me through John. He did this a few times. I don't use these flies for fishing. I use them to see how it is supposed to be done. After Russ passed, his wife even passed some tying supplies on to me and another co-worker of John's. I wanted to pay for them, but they would have none of that.

I am also glad to see you on this board.

Dave

P.S. Of course I am now going to have to tease John about his dad being one of the inventers of the green weenie. ;-) Actually, I think John told me that once before, but I didn't remember.

Also, I have been trying to get John back into hunting and fishing, but with no success so far. Maybe this year. I'll be talking to him this morning when he gets in.
 
Dear Fred,

Even if you only stop by from time to time and make an occasional post it's good to see you around here.

Regards,
Tim Murphy :)
 
I'm trying to find someone to bet me beer to put hackle and wings on one and try to catch em on top. Any takers?
Click to expand...

Ever fish a Lime Trude? I've done pretty well with them in June.
 
I've fished bright green caddis for that hatch and done OK, but I'll have to tie some of them up. Yellow sallies are a bit more common on my home streams, and I usually just fish a stimulator for them.

I still wanna do it with a weenie though... loop tail and all. I feel as though it's a mission that I must undertake! :-D


now on to how to make the friggin thing float... :-?
 
jayL wrote:
I've fished bright green caddis for that hatch and done OK, but I'll have to tie some of them up. Yellow sallies are a bit more common on my home streams, and I usually just fish a stimulator for them.

I still wanna do it with a weenie though... loop tail and all. I feel as though it's a mission that I must undertake! :-D


now on to how to make the friggin thing float... :-?
Click to expand...


Instead of chenille, get some Chartruese CDC (I have some) and spin a dubbing loop. :-D

And I've done well during the Lil Yellow Sallie Hatch using a lime trude.
 
The irony of this post is that I just had a rather large pally straighten a green weenie hook yesterday. If I said that it was in "the glenn" I believe volcanomil would know where I was talking about. Dang rodeo leftovers. They're getting quite picky, but there are a few left.

Boyer
 
The Glenn - haven't thought of that place in years - standing on the wall - casting towards the damn?
 
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