Prince Nymph – 12/7/2025

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Prince Nymph 12/07/2025 Photo Album

My usage of the prince nymph has declined a bit, and this is probably due to the ascent of the 20 incher as a very trusted fly in my repertoire. My post of 12/03/2011 provides a bit of background and a materials table for this fly.

Right Flank

I tie prince nymphs in two sizes; size 12 2XL and size 14 2XL. The larger size nymphs are very similar to a 20 incher with the white goose biot wings replacing the more conventional thorax of the 20 incher.

Left Side

I use the size 14 2XL version, however, as more of a wet fly, and historically I found them to be a solid representation of egg laying grannom caddis. When I was younger, I possessed more endurance, and I remained on the stream until late afternoon, when the egg laying activity commenced. A swinging size 14 prince nymph was a very productive offering that scored quite a few fish. At some point I began tying the ultra zug bug, and it also imitates an egg laying caddis, although I suspect the prince is a better imitation. The ultra zug bug, however, is a far easier fly to tie, and I can afford to lose more to the stream bottom.

Five Plus Materials

I took inventory of my prince nymphs, and I concluded that I needed to tie three size 12’s and two size 14’s to keep my stock at targeted levels. Prince nymphs provide excellent practice at mounting goose biot tails and goose biot wings. Of course these steps also slow down the tying process. I feel adequately prepared for drifting prince nymphs in 2026.

20 Incher – 12/05/2025

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20 Incher 12/05/2025 Photo Album

If you are interested in reading my first post regarding the 20 incher click on this link, 02/06/2014. I have gained confidence in this fly to the point, where it climbed into the upper echelon of my fly choices. The 20 incher is right there among the titans of the fly box.

I began tying this fly after Taylor Edrington of Royal Gorge Anglers introduced me to it on a guided wading trip. In recent years I discovered that it is a great fly to use in a dry/dropper configuration, when getting the fly down and deep quickly is one’s objective. If I am covering promising water, and I am convinced I have the right flies, yet the fish are not responding, I frequently add a 20 incher to my line as the top nymph. The weighted 20 incher sinks rapidly, and it is a solid fish attractor in its own right.

Angled Side View

The 20 incher combined with a blue winged olive seems to be particularly effective in the early season, but I have also experienced success during other times, especially when flows are abundant. During 2025 the 20 incher and olive perdigon were workhorse flies that yielded many trout. Talk about weight! A weighted 20 incher and tungsten bead olive perdigon generate very deep drifts, and this technique is effective in deep pockets behind large boulders and along fast seams. Getting the fly deep and at the level of the trout in these conditions is imperative.

Materials and Seventeen 20 Inchers

Because I used the 20 incher more in 2025 than previously, I registered quite a bit of shrinkage. I found seven damaged nymphs in my restoration canister, and I recovered them to reuse. For the most part I needed to strip them down, but I at least recovered the hook and bead. I approached my vise and tied an additional ten to bring my inventory total to in excess of thirty. Because I fish this weighted fly along the bottom of the stream, I inevitably lose quite a few. Hopefully I am prepared for such losses in the new year.

 

Ultra Zug Bug – 11/29/2025

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Ultra Zug Bug 11/29/2025 Photo Album

Turn back the clock and check out my post from 01/31/2012 for the story of the ultra zug bug and a materials table. Over the years this fly has been one of my most productive. It does not crash the upper echelon of nymphs, which is populated by the hares ear nymph, salvation nymph and olive perdigon, but it is among the next tier.

Reburbished UZB

Left Side

For some reason I failed to deploy the UZB very much in 2025. and this fact was confirmed by minimal shrinkage of my supply. After I counted all my ultra zug bugs, I determined that I only needed to tie two to improve my stock to previously established season opening levels. In fact, I have so many, that I probably could have skipped them, but I like to stay in practice. I discovered two damaged UZB,s in my restore canister, so they became my two replacement flies.

Materials and New Flies

One of the things I love about this fly is the ease of tying. It only requires three materials besides the hook, bead and thread. Originally I viewed this fly as a surrogate for the prince nymph, and I used it during caddis egg laying activity, but I have found it to be effective throughout the year. I suspect the peacock dubbing is an attractor element, and in some cases I have used it in lieu of a salvation nymph, when I experience the loss of an excessive quantity of salvations. For some reason, I seem to lose salvation nymphs at a rapid clip, so the UZB substitution prevails more than one might expect.

 

Salvation Nymph – 11/27/2025

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Salvation Nymph – 11/27/2025 Photo Album

What a discovery this fly has been. If you are interested in how I became acquainted with it, click on this link to my earliest post on the salvation nymph. This post contains a materials table and a description of the tying steps. The only modification that I implemented was to substitute UV resin over the wing case instead of clear nail polish. The salvation nymph continues to be a mainstay in my fly fishing arsenal. 2025 was not an exception, and I found it to be particularly effective when paired with an olive perdigon.

Refurbished Nymph

The originator of this fly named it the tungsten salvation nymph. Given my success when combined with a tungsten bead perdigon, I wonder if I should tie a few with tungsten copper beads to copy the original design. Certainly they would sink faster, and I could avoid the need for two nymphs which heightens the risk of tangles. Well, I did not implement this idea, and I completed my salvation tying, so I will revisit it next year.

Side View

Love This Shot

Unlike the hares ear nymph, the olive perdigon did not cut into my usage of the salvation nymph. Evidence of this was my shrinkage. I counted seventy-five in my various storage containers, so I approached the vise and churned out an additional twenty-five. The first seven were refurbishments of flies that lost legs or unraveled. In most cases I was able to salvage the abdomen construction and only needed to redo the thorax, legs and wing case.

Twenty-Five Salvations

I am ready for another season of casting the salvation nymph in western waters.

Hares Ear Nymph – 11/18/2025

Hares Ear Nymph 11/18/2025 Photo Album

This fly is a perennial workhorse fly among my collection. It is a classic for a reason; it produces. Here is a link to last year’s post, as I have little to add. You can also search on hares ear nymph for historical posts, and if you go back far enough, I am certain you will find a materials table.

Left Side View

There are tons of fly tying videos and materials lists online for the hares ear nymph. I am sure my version is a variation, but I suspect they all work equally well. I use actual fur from the mask of a rabbit that a friend shot many years ago. In spite of tying hundreds of these flies, I suspect that I have a supply of hares mask that will last my lifetime. I like using the real hares mask because it contains a dense amount of guard hairs, and I suspect that the stiff protruding hairs account for much of the fly’s effectiveness. The combination of the soft fur and the spikey guard hairs creates an irresistible buggyness.Sixteen New Hares Ear Nymphs and Necessary Materials

I felt like I utilized the hares ear less in 2025, than I did in previous years. This suspicion was supported by a reduced shrinkage in flies compared to normal. I counted eighty-four flies in my storage containers; and, therefore, I tied sixteen additional versions to bring my total to one hundred for entering the new year. One explanation for the reduced usage may be the ascent of the olive perdigon in popularity as a weighted top nymph that also attracts trout in a major way.

Brown Perdigon – 11/10/2025

Brown Perdigon 11/10/2025 Photo Album

If an olive perdigon is effective, why wouldn’t a brown version produce as well? I plan to find out. My salvation nymphs, pheasant tail nymphs, and supernova PMD’s are productive flies throughout the season, but particularly favored during pale morning dun time. It seems to me that a brown perdigon brings a similar size and color to the menu with the added benefit of extra weight to sink the nymph or sink a second fly on the dropper. What about pairing a brown perdigon with a PMD nymph imitation?

Look at the Taper

I get excited thinking about the possibilities. A month or so ago I tied three brown perdigons, but I never introduced them to the Colorado rivers during the fall. While my perdigon hooks and tungsten beads remained out on my tying tabletop, I decided to add seven additional brown perdigons to my storage boxes to bring my total to an even ten for 2026.

A Batch of Seven and Materials

I simply substituted brown thread for olive and brown spade hackle fibers for grizzly. I am now excited to test these flies and my theories on fly attractions.

Olive Perdigon – 11/08/2025

Olive Perdigon 11/08/2025 Photo Album

The olive perdigon is a relatively new addition to my fly box, but what a weapon it has become! Two years ago I possessed none, and I just finished building my supply from thirteen to thirty for the 2026 season. How did this happen?

On 10/03/2023 my friend, Dave G., invited me to join him on a private stretch of the Eagle River. Within the first hour, Dave G. was landing nice fish after nice fish, and I managed a couple dinks. I asked to borrow one of his productive flies, and it happened to be an olive perdigon with a tungsten copper-colored bead. My fortunes reversed, and I experienced a twelve fish day that included some very respectable fish.

Fast forward to the spring of 2025, and for some reason I began to experiment with the olive perdigon. I tied around ten of them over the winter of 2024-2025, and I was amazed with their productivity in the early season. They produced quantities of fish on all the Colorado rivers that I visited prior to run off. Their fish catching ability faded a bit in the post run off time frame, but when I returned to the large river valleys in the fall, their effectiveness resumed.

Side View

I attribute much of their success to the tungsten bead, I theorize that the very dense bead sinks the fly rapidly to the bottom of the river and provides a longer drift within the feeding range of the trout. When I combine it with another nymph in a three fly dry/dropper, it also sinks the paired nymph to the eye level of the trout. Although the density of the nymph is a positive for achieving long deep drifts, it also offers the disadvantage of snagging more frequently, and consequently I lost quite a few flies. The beads are quite a bit more expensive than the typical brass bead, so each lost fly is mourned by this frugal angler. The loss of flies forced me to approach my vise to tie additional perdigons during the fishing season; a task I normally try to avoid.

Opposite Side

The olive perdigon has climbed from absent to a top five mainstay in my fly box. I tie an olive perdigon to my line more frequently than my revered hares ear nymphs and salvation nymphs, so that is saying something. Given this new status as the top dog of my fly inventory, I kicked off my fly tying season yesterday by augmenting my olive perdigon supply. I counted thirteen among my fly boxes, and I decided to target a starting inventory of thirty. I can report that seventeen flies were added to my count.

Although more expensive than most nymphs due to the cost of the tungsten bead, these flies are relatively straightforward to tie. All that is required is a copper colored slotted tungsten bead, a jig hook, medium olive thread, spade hackles from a rooster neck, a black permanent marker, and UV resin and lamp.

Thread, Feather and Finished Product

Place the bead on the hook with the slot facing upward and toward the rear. Start your thread behind the bead and make tight wraps to lock the bead in place on the angled portion of the jig hook. Wrap the thread to the rear and then wrap forward to one hook eye behind the bead. Tie in six barbules from the grizzly feather to form a tail approximately three-fourths of the length of the hook shank and then wrap the thread to the bend. Wrap the thread forward to the bead and snip off the ends of the hackle. Now repeatedly wrap the thread to the rear and back to the bead to form a nice tapered body. Once you create the taper that flows nicely into the bead without leaving a gap, whip finish and cut off the thread. Grab your permanent black marker and carefully place a black spot on top of the body, where it meets the bead and then on the top of the bead. Get out your UV resin and apply a coat to the point where the bead meets the body of the fly and then coat and cover the entire thread body. Try to make the UV resin at the junction a bit thicker than the body coat. Fire up your lamp and cure the resin. You now have a new sleek olive perdigon.

Hopefully thirty will suffice for the 2026 season. If not, it probably means that the olive perdigon demanded a lot of time on my line, and running out and having to tie more in season is a good problem to have.

 

 

Big Thompson River – 11/04/2025

Time: 12:00PM – 2:30PM

Location: Canyon downstream from Estes Dam

Big Thompson River 11/04/2025 Photo Album

A forecast high of 77 degrees in Denver prompted me to complete a last gasp fly fishing excursion. I was not interested in a long drive, so I considered Clear Creek, South Boulder Creek and the Big Thompson River. According to my weather sources, highs of 62 were expected at all three spots. My intuition suggested that I should visit South Boulder Creek; however, I was averse to making the one mile hike to and from the creek, so I settled on the Big Thompson instead. Spoiler alert. It was a lackluster day.

I arrived at a pullout by 10:45AM, and I quickly prepared for a day on the river. The flows were tumbling along at 25 CFS, and the stream was low and clear, but it looked promising nonetheless. The dashboard temperature was 56 degrees, so I slipped on my fleece hoodie and assembled my Loomis two piece five weight. I like the slower action of the Loomis, and I expected to toss a dry/dropper most of the day.

I crossed the highway and found a fairly friendly route to the river, and then I knotted a Jake’s gulp beetle to my line. The beetle produced well on my last trip to South Boulder Creek, so I was anticipating a repeat on a different Front Range stream.

I completed two desultory casts, and then I decided to move to more attractive pools, but when I stepped with my left boot, it slipped and shot backward. I tipped forward and stopped my fall by bracing with my right hand, but it was not before a small amount of water spilled over the top of my waders. I felt the dreaded trickle down both legs, and then the wetness, as my right sock absorbed liquid. What now? I was wet and chilled, and I barely began to fish.

Had it been the summer, I would have fished on, but I was concerned about the cooler temperatures of autumn, so I scaled the bank and returned to the car. First I removed my fleece hoodie with a drenched right sleeve. Next I removed my undershirt and replaced it with a long sleeve version. I pulled off my waders and turned them inside out and placed them on the hood of the Telluride to dry in the sun. I removed my long underwear and socks and pulled on a dry pair of each. I wanted to provide adequate time for the inside of the waders to dry, so I ate my lunch early, and sure enough, after eating, the neoprene booties were dry, and I pulled them on and resumed my fishing. The sleeve of my fishing shirt was a bit wet, and the front pack was also showing the effects of being submerged, so I pulled on my raincoat to guard against additional soaking from the front pack.

Glare and Shadows Were a Challenge

I wish I could say it was worth it. I began fishing in earnest at noon and continued until 2:30, The beetle was ineffective, so I removed it and replaced it with a peacock hippie stomper and then added an olive perdigon on a two foot dropper. The perdigon registered two small trout barely beyond my six inch minimum for counting. I covered quite a bit of stream real estate to log two small fish, so I added a beadhead hares ear nymph hoping that it would extend the depth of the drift and attract more action.

Small Jewel

The move worked somewhat, as I raised the fish count from two to six by the time I quit at 2:30. The four additional trout were only slightly longer with the biggest extending to eight inches. It was a lot of casting for minimal return. I moved back and forth between the two banks, and the shade and sun glare were alternating hindrances to catching fish. Deep pools were not productive, although I continually attempted to cash in on their appeal.

Productive Spot

I fished around a large bend in the stream and continued into a canyon stretch. I was hoping that the canyon was not as easily accessed by anglers, as it required more rock hopping  and difficult wading, and I did manage to land four small trout, but it was not close to the unpressured bonanza that I envisioned. On the day, three of the landed fish were brown trout and three were rainbows. In the last hour I connected with two or three fish that felt slightly larger, when the flies began to swing at the tail of the run or pool, but in every case I only felt the weight of the fish for an instant.

Foam Pool

Tuesday was a bonus day for this fair weather angler, but it probably convinced we to refocus my efforts on stocking my fly boxes for 2026.

Fish Landed: 6

South Platte River – 10/27/2025

Time: 11:00AM – 3:30PM

Location: Eleven Mile Canyon

South Platte River 10/27/2025 Photo Album

With nice days dwindling during the 2025 fly fishing season, I jumped on the chance to fish on Monday, 10/27/2025. Air temperatures have arrived as a prime factor in choosing a fly fishing destination, and after I surveyed all the likely locations, I settled on the South Platte River in Eleven Mile Canyon. The high in Lake George was forecast to peak at 61 degrees, and that was well within my comfort zone.

Looking Up the River

I arrived at my chosen roadside pullout by 10:30AM, and after pulling on my fleece hoodie and raincoat and assembling my Sage R8 four weight, I was prepared for a day of autumn fishing. I recently saw an Instagram post lauding the superb streamer fishing on a Colorado river. I decided to take advantage of the information, and I loaded my reel with my sinking tip line and knotted a size 8 Mickey Finn bucktail streamer to my line. I crimped a split shot a foot above the streamer, and for thirty minutes before lunch, I cast and stripped the streamer in all directions and varying degrees of stripping speed and movement. I never saw so much as a follow. I have no confidence in my approach to streamer fishing. I suppose I need to fully commit to the method and experiment with different streamers and varying amounts of weight.

Pleased to Land a Fish

Run Near Far Bank Produced

I ate lunch at 11:45AM across from the car, and then I returned to the Telluride and swapped the sinking tip reel and line for my normal four weight. For the remainder of the afternoon I worked my way up the river with my reliable dry/dropper configuration. I suppose repetition breeds confidence, and confidence yields fish. An amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl and olive perdigon were constants on my line, and I cycled through several flies on the end position. I began with a salvation nymph and then converted to a hares ear nymph and ended with a small apricot egg.

Headed Back

One aggressive brown trout clobbered the chubby Chernobyl and created a nasty snarl in the process. One of the early fish nabbed the salvation nymph, and the remainder snatched the olive perdigon. Seven fish in 3.5 hours of focused fishing does not translate to hot action, but given the timing in late October and the absence of insects, I was pleased with the results.

Shelf Pool Was Explored

Two landed fish were rainbow trout in the thirteen to fourteen inch range. Two trout were on the small side, and the remainder were average trout in the twelve inch slot. Large deep pools were unproductive as were seams and glides of moderate depth in areas where the stream widened. I focused most of my attention on long and deep troughs and slots particularly where the deep hole was right above the junction of two faster currents.

Spread Out in the Net

Future outings in 2025 are weather and health dependent. The month of November calendar is sprinkled with various dentist and doctor appointments. I will keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities to extend the season

Fish Landed: 7

 

Eagle River – 10/24/2025

Time: 11:30AM – 3:30PM

Location: Private water between Wolcott and Eagle

Eagle River 10/24/2025 Photo Album

My friend, Dave G., who lives in Eagle Ranch near Eagle, CO belongs to a fishing club with access to private water on the Eagle River. Dave G. invited me to join him on Friday, October 24, 2025; and I accepted the invitation pending favorable weather. When I checked the weather forecast for Friday, I noted that the high near Eagle, CO was in the mid fifties, so that clinched it, and I made the drive on Friday morning.

Held Aloft

I arrived at a wide pullout at 10:45AM, and Dave G. arrived within a few minutes. We car pooled a short distance to a dirt parking area across from the private section of the Eagle River. The dashboard temperature was 46 degrees, so I pulled on my fleece hoodie and rain jacket along with my billed hat with earflaps. I was prepared for the worst. I chose my Sage One five weight in anticipation of tangling with some muscular trout of above average size. The river was quite turbid, and the color resembled a creamy split pea soup. Dave G. said it rained within the last twenty-four hours, but not that heavily, so he was perplexed with the lack of clarity. We walked to the edge of the river to inspect more closely, and we concluded that it would fish decently with two feet of visibility along the edge.

The Waterway Ahead

I waded across the murky river at the wide tail of a shallow pool, and I progressed along the far bank (south bank?). To begin I chose an amber ice dub chubby Chernobyl, olive perdigon, and salvation nymph. In short order Dave G. landed a couple fish on a zebra midge, and I was shut out, so I followed suit with a black zebra midge with a fine copper rib. Finally after an opening drought, I connected with a fish and hauled a nice, fat thirteen inch rainbow trout into my net. The zebra midge was in its lip, and I was amazed that a fish saw the tiny midge larva imitation in compromised river clarity.

Lots of Foam

I continued onward, and before I broke for lunch I landed two small brown trout. One was around eleven inches and the other was smaller. The first and smaller brown nabbed the zebra midge, but after another dry spell, I swapped the zebra for a psycho prince and then an apricot egg. The second larger brown grabbed the olive perdigon.

Decent Brown Trout

After lunch and another slow phase, I exchanged the egg fly for a return to the salvation. Between two and three o’clock the temperature peaked, and I removed my raincoat and folded up the earflaps on my hat. The pace of action improved, and I managed to land a chunky fourteen inch rainbow and a small rainbow barely greater than six inches. Both fish snatched the olive perdigon. In addition, I hooked and failed to land three decent trout during this time, and I sensed that they favored the olive perdigon. Was the increase in action attributable to the warming water temperature, improved water clarity, or my fly choice? I suspect all three, although the improved effectiveness of the olive perdigon along with less olive tinged water suggested clarity as a prime reason.

Love the Riffle Sections

By 3:30PM I reached the end of the private section of the river, so I reversed direction to another wide shallow crossing spot. Dave G. indicated that he was fished out, so we called it a day and returned to our vehicles. Friday was a slow day on private water, although had I landed all the fish I connected with, I may have reached double digits. I was appreciative of Dave G.’s willingness to invite me to share the private water. Was this my last outing of 2025? The answer depends on the weather with a turn to colder temperatures predicted for Tuesday. Stay tuned.

Fish Landed: 5