Lightning Bug nymphs

[jkilroy]

Yes I have caught fish with a regular lightning bug. It's a little complicated to tie though, worked good. I tied mine with;
Pt fibers tail
Silver Mylar with gold rib on the body
Thorax peacock with a black wing case and a partridge feather for the legs.

I have enough complicated flies I don't need any more

 

[moto450]

One of my go to flies is a red pheasant tail. Red works out east as well.

 

[PennKev]

YoughnessMonster wrote:
Lightning bugs work good out here in MT. Red bead, red pheasant tail fiber, red ultrawire, and small tinsel body.

Last August, while in MT, Lightning Bugs, Rainbow Warriors, Lil Spankers, Psycho Princes, and Crystal Dips were all THE go to flies. All incorporate a lot of flash and were tied in relatively small sizes. More conservative patterns didn't get much love from the guides. They worked, but not as well as the flashy stuff.

The interesting thing though was the size of the flies. 18 and even 20. The thing I see here in PA with bright attractor nymphs is guys rarely going that small. I've scaled down my flashy nymphs to smaller sizes and i'm already noticing they are more effective. That's not to say I haven't had any luck with flashy nymphs in the past. I have, and in fact flashback variants of traditional nymphs have been a staple for me, getting the nod over the non-flash versions of the same fly. However, the patterns I listed take flash to the next level.

Kev

 

[sipe]

On a related note to the last post regarding downsizing flashy stuff....I tie my San Juan variation with a painted orange bead on a size 16-18 and keep the total length of chenille to about 1/2" and it is my go to "junk"fly on most streams. It far outperforms full size San Juan's in most cases...muddy water is an obvious exception.

 

[mattofcarlisle]

And here I thought you guys were talking about actual lightening bugs. I've fished a sunken lightening bug imitation and have done as well as with a sunken ant on a few if the streams in south central pa. I'll have give your version a shot.
Matt

 

[Chaz]

Troutbert, they look like a flatened greeny worm, 🙂 Our mutual friend uses an adult with startling results.

 

[lv2nymph]

YoughnessMonster wrote:
Lightning bugs work good out here in MT. Red bead, red pheasant tail fiber, red ultrawire, and small tinsel body.

I recently picked up some anodized red tungsten beads that look just like glass. You just gave me an idea, thanks gotta go.