Golden Stonefly suggestion for Penns creek

[John Killinger]

Morning everyone,
                               It's raining here in Pa finally and we should be all thanking god for the rain because we really need it, anyways, down to the question. Anyone have any suggestions for a golden stonefly pattern for penns creek and size? Pictures would be appreciated. I always thought black stoneflys worked good in Penns, didn't know to use goldens in that creek untill my buddy told me about that. I'm leaving for the Middle East soon and I need to play catch up on some tying.

Wish I was out fishing this am but thurs I wrenched my knee. Hoping it's just a sprain.

[Dejon Hamann]

One of my favorites is just chenille and legs on a weighted beaded hook!  Match colors to suit. 

[Bill Welz]

The Chenille pattern works fine . Here is a woven version.




Sometimes the woven version is better . The question is it worth the extra time in takes to tie?

 

[Nick Naclerio]

Good looking fly there Bill.

Here is a link to an older post that has a stonefly pattern I used on Penns and it worked very well.

http://troutlegend.com/forum/pennsylvania/pennsfishing-creek/

[Bill Welz]

Thanks  Nick - After checking out your website I have two questions. I tie my stone flies on a Mustad 9671 size 6 or  a 9674 size 6. I matched the hook size to shucks I find on the river. Do you think I am going to large ? Also I have considered wing cases like you tie on your patterns but I question the value of the wing case. How important do you think the wing case is to the effectiveness of your pattern?

[John Killinger]

What's the best choice for weight? Really heavy or pass on the tungsten bead and just use .025 lead wraps. If you use the 3.8 tungsten bead and .025 lead from the hook point the stonefly is like a rock. I'm not sure if stoneflies are found in the deeper water or the shallow stuff.

[Bill Welz]

I have caught fish in six feet of water on stone flies. The question of weight is related to the technique you are using and the speed and depth of the water. I use 3.8 mm with .40 lead to fish the fastest deepest water in the West Branch.

[John Killinger]

Thats alot of weight, wow!

[Nick Naclerio]

Bill if I'm not mistaken those size Mustad hooks should be about the same as the size 8 Skalka streamer hook. So I'd say no your flies are not to large. Plus when flipping rocks I've come across some huge stoneflies, so its kinda hard to go to big. As far as the wing case I'd say the difference lies somewhere between none and absolutely none but I like the way it looks. I mean if a frenchie and a woven nymph can catch tons of fish I highly doubt a fish is not going to eat a stonefly nymph cause the wing case is no there.

The weight is a matter of where you will be fishing and the flows. For full weight use a tungsten bead and lead wire, for the least weight use a brass bead and lead free wire. You can use every combo in between to get the weight you need and still keep a good profile.

[Bill Welz]

Thanks Nick

[Domenick Swentosky]

My stones keep getting more and more simple.  They look like a Rubber Legs lately  -- ok they are a Rubber Legs.     It's one of the only patterns that a carry in a couple different weight configurations.  Light and heavy sometimes medium.

Enjoy the day.
Domenick