The power of the greenie weenie

I think the negativity comes from the simplicity of the tie.
 
I've never tried a true green weenie. My friend ties them with a short marabou tail rather than the looped chenille. For a while I thought this was a true green weenie until I saw pictures on the internet. It works great this way because its a cross between a green weenie and a small wooly bugger.
 
I spend two hours today on a fantastic wild brown trout stream and I caught a few wild browns....on a green weenie. I tried for an hour and a half to tempt those fish into biting other things, but lo and behold for the last half hour I fished a weenie and caught four wild browns.

I go fishing to catch fish. I believe that the best part of fishing is catching fish. Yes, I enjoy fishing no matter, every variety of fishing that can be had every where fishing for any fish. But I am there to catch fish, so I would never knock a pattern or technique that is extremely effective. To do so, in fact, is just complete insanity.
 
IMO it is no different than all of the other attractor patterns. You don't have to fish it if you don't want to or it makes you feel ashamed that you had to stoop to that level. I view it as a very productive pattern and I fish it whenever I feel like it ....... just because.
 
Yeah, if you feel ashamed to fish with a green weenie, then WHY even fish at all? I mean, the whole goal here is to catch fish, isn't it? so if a green weenie happens to be the logical choice for the given situation then it would be dumb to fish with anything else. Don't make it hard on yourself.

"Oh, green weenies would kill here, but I want to get skunked and fish articulated spent wing sulphur emerger larvae drakes because it makes me look cool."

If the fish want green weenies, give 'em green weenies. If they want brown drake emergers, use that. The better fisherman adapts and uses what he/she thinks would be the most effective pattern. A lot of the time it's a green weenie. For me yesterday it was a parachute cahill. The day before it was a black zonker. Last week it was a green weenie :-D
 
foxtrapper1972 wrote:
Anyone know who is the inventor of the weenie?
Click to expand...
It's just a variation of a honey bug.
One December several years ago I was fishing in Maine on a bitter cold morning not catching anything, so I said what the heck, and tied on a green worm. I quickly caught 3 very nice Land Locked Salmon.
 
Another nice thing about the weenie as mentioned earlier is it's such an easy tie that it helps put new tiers on the water quickly with a fly of their own that will actually catch fish.
 
It's a confidence fly for me when nothing else is working. If I go a couple hours without a fish, i'll throw one on, so they are always in my fly box.

I probably use more often for panfish, and I agree with a previous poster that these would be great to get kids into fly tying and fly fishing...

 
In George Harvey's book "Memories, Patterns, and Tactics" he claims to have invented the green weenie while working at Fisherman's Paradise. I don't know the exact timeframe offhand but I think it was around the late '30's early '40's.

Edit: I found "the paradise" opened in 1934. So my original timeline stands.

 
Didn't see anyone mention it, so I thought I would.

Drop them at your feet and watch them. That little paddle-tail gives them a very subtile life-like movement.

I know people tie them in other ways, but that little wiggle is deadly if you ask me.

60% Color + 30% Wiggle + 10% "Nothing to scare a fish away." Much like a motor oil tube for the spin fisherman.
 
Many years ago I was fishing what is now known as "The Heritage" stretch on the LL.We noticed trout feeding on green inch worms that were suspending from over head tree branches.Did n 't have anything that looked like that so I improvised.My fly line was green so it got a foot or so shorter and we caught fish.That was my first green weenie.
 
It's bad rap probably has to do with its silly name. It needs a new name.
 
"Rock worms" are still junk flies. 😎

That said, the Green Weenie is characterized by the loop-tail. Though one isn't necessary to catch fish, it is required to call it a Green Weenie, imo.
 
When I was first introduced to it, I was told its name was simpy an "inch worm".

It wasn't til years later when I met a DCNR guy on Kettle that I heard the name "Green weenie". We were having a slow day on the creek, he stopped to check my FL, and told me "Guys have a lot of success with something called the "green weenie".

 
The name Sinking Inchworm has been around for quite a few years. Usually used for patterns that do not have the loop.

"Greenies" or "Greenie Worms" are names also used, sort of generically, for the various versions, both looped and non-looped.

"Tennis Ball Maggot" is a hilarious name for them!


 
Tennis ball maggot ought to garner much more respect from the aficionado crowd.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages
Wayward Trading”/> </center> </div> </div> </div> <div class=


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top