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Does anyone
remember the early to mid 90's? The rage in the US, at least among
tyers of trout flies, was Polish woven nymphs. It seemed that
everyone and their brother was running out to the local craft
shop searching for crochet hooks, or complaining about cramps
in their hands from tying one too many overhand knots. The goal?
A nymph that was a) heavy, b) slim, c) had a segmented look, and
d) had an interesting dorsal/ventral color separation. This was
the hot topic for a couple years in the US. Every magazine published
an article or two on the topic, and woven "Polish" nymphs
graced every catalog.
Fast forward
to the dawn of the new century and these articles and flies have
all but disappeared? Were they a fad? What happened?
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Czech
nymphs. Do they look buggy, or what?
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I believe
the heart of the reason is that most folks may have learned to
*tie* these Polish woven nymphs, but did not learn to *fish* them.
As with most fishing flies, Polish woven nymphs and the angling
techniques used to fish them evolved to solve certain problems,
not the least of which was the fact that these were immensely
popular in match fishing competitions where no weight was allowed
on the leader. Combine the no-split-shot rule and the swift currents
common in that area of Europe, the anglers devised a way to get
their flies down to the fish quickly and effectively. Thus - Polish
nymphing and Polish woven nymphs. They worked then - and I'm quite
sure they work now as well.
Are we following
the same path with Czech nymphs? They seem to be the rage these
days. They are in every catalog, and articles (like this, ha!)
are popping up all over the place. Tie them or not - but if you
do - please take the time to learn how, where, and when to fish
them before tossing them off as yet another fad. If nothing else
- check out the results of some recent international competitions
where fellas from Eastern Europe kicked some serious butt using
flies similar to what is tied here.
As with any
style, change the materials to suit your needs. Some authentic
(i.e. tied in the Czech Republic) nymphs sport such diverse materials
as latex taken from surgical gloves, eel skin, and even sausage
casings. Once again, we see where fly tyers are an inventive,
if odd, bunch of folks. Don't believe me? Check out some of the
cat gut nymphs on the web. Given that, all Czech nymphs adhere
to a few simple principles:
- They are
heavy
- They are
slim
- They sport
some sort of shellback, usually darker in color than the abdomen
- They are
tied on a curved "grub" style hook
The fly in
the demonstration below was dressed as such:
| Hook: |
Partridge
K4A, #8 |
| Underbody: |
Adhesive
backed lead tape |
| Thread: |
Danville
Flymaster 6/0, White |
| Shellback: |
Olive
scud back, trimmed to 1/8" |
| Ribbing: |
Flat
gold holographic tinsel and 5x mono tippet |
| Abdomen: |
Scintilla
dubbing, golden olive |
| Thorax: |
Squirrel
dubbing, dark olive |
| Marking
pen: |
Edding
142 (dark brown) |
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Step 1:
Cut a strip
of adhesive backed lead about 1/16th inch wide and about 3 inches
long.
TYING TIP:
Visit your local golf pro shop for a lifetime supply of adhesive
backed lead tape.
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Step 2:
Strip the
paper backing off the lead and start the wraps partially down
the bend of the hooks. Wrap toward the eye in touching but not
overlapping turns, much like you would do with tinsel.
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Step 3:
Wrap a second
layer of lead tape partially over the first - not extending all
the way to either end. For larger hook sizes, a third layer of lead
tape can be added without disturbing the fly's proportions.
TYING TIP:
There is no need to risk your scissors to snip of the waste ends
of the lead. A thumbnail is more than sufficient to break the tape.
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Step 4:
Attach your
thread and wrap over the lead underbody. What you want is a weighted
underbody that is slim and tapers smoothly and evenly to the hook
shank. Don't crowd the eye.
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Step 5:
Trim a point
in the end of a piece of shellback material so that, once tied
in, the material stradles the hook with equal portions of the
material on each side.
TYING TIP:
Buy the wider material and trim to suit fly size.
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Step 6:
Wrap back
over the shellback material deep into the bend of the hook. It
helps to stretch the material as you go, again to keep the underbody
as slim as possible. Once again - try to maintain symmetry with
respect to the hook shank.
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Step 7:
Once the
shellback material is tied in, you can tie in your ribbing material.
TYING TIP:
Holographic gold tinsel is a terrific ribbing material for any
nymph, not just these Czech nymphs. Now - I can't prove it brings
in more fish - but Lord knows I've caught lots of fish with holo
gold tinsel ribbed nymphs.
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Step 8:
For most
Czech nymphs, there are two ribs. One that is goes underneath
the shellback, and one that goes over the shellback to create
the segmentation. A bit of tippet material is the perfect choice,
since it can be wrapped with strong pressure yet practically disappears
in the final fly. Pick a size that is thin yet strong. 5x seems
about right.
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Step 9:
Tie the monofilament
rib on the far side of the hook. This will allow you to complete
almost a ful turn before the ribbing crossed over the fly, allowing
for a proportionally correct first segment.
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Step 10:
All sorts
of things can be used for the abdomen of a Czech nymph, as long
as it supports the goal of a slim finished fly. In this case,
I'm using a bit of synthetic dubbing in a light olive color. This
is Scintilla in Golden Olive.
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Step 11:
Dub the abdomen
such that 2/3's to 3/4's of the body is covered. Since the underbody
of the fly already has a tapered shape, there is not need to intentionally
taper the dubbing amount on your thread. Try to maintain a consistent
sparse amount of dubbing, avoiding lumps and bumps in the body.
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Step 12:
For the throrax,
a spikey dubbing that has a contrasting color will not only help
you create the illusion of movement and legs, but many caddis
and other underwater critters are darker in the throrax/head area.
In this case, I'm using a bit of dark olive squirrel, which dubs
beautifully and lends itself to "picking".
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Step 13:
No need for
bulk. Wrap the thorax to approximately the same thickness as the
abdomen, wrapping the dubbing right to the back of the hook eye.
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Step 14:
Bring your
ribbing tinsel forward in an open spiral. Take care not to space
the wraps too closely. The rib is just an accent - a bit of sparkle
and flash in an otherwise drab fly.
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Step 15:
Bring the
tinsel all the way to the hook eye and tie off.
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Step 16:
Fold the
shellback material forward over the back of the nymph, taking
care to keep it centered. Stretch it enough such that it folks
over the edge of the body, but not so much that it loses much
of its width.
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Step 17:
Tie off the
shellback and check again for position before trimming off the
tag ends. Once the tag ends are trimmed, it would be difficult
to untie and correct a misaligned shellback. Slight adjustments
are possible, but a wholesale re-do would be difficult.
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Step 18:
Stretch the
shellback material and clip off the tag end. By stretching, there
is very little material left once trimmed and thus not much to
cover with thread.
TYING TIP:
Firm wraps, and plenty of them, will keep this slippery material
in place when it is tied on. Being stretched, it wants to shrink
back. Firm thread will hold it.
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Step 19:
Begin to
wind the monofilament ribbing forward, taking care to keep the
wraps somewhat in the middle of the flat tinsel wraps. If you
wrap softly then pull up strongly on the near side (assuming right
handed tyer), there is less chance of shifting the shellback than
if you wrapped over the shellback with high tension.
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Step 20:
Tie off the
monofilament securely. It is slippery stuff, so maintain tension
on the ribbing and the thread as you are tying it off.
TYING TIP:
Don't use your favorite delicate scissors to snip off the monofilament.
Side trimming pliers would be great, but a heavy duty pair of
shears is fine.
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Step 21:
Wrap a neat
head and whip finish. Relax, you're almost done.
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Step 22:
With a bodkin
or needle, pick at the thorax to free up some of the guard hairs,
offering the illusion of legs.
TYING TIP:
A little goes a long way. You don't want to break the ribbing
or clean out all the dubbing. Just loosen a few guard hairs so
they stick out nicely.
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Step 23:
In many respects,
this fly is was completed in the previous step. However, if you
want to dress it up a bit, get a waterpoof permanent marker such
as that shown in the photo and take a deep breath.
TYING TIP:
Not all markers work on all materials. The Edding brand in the
photo is from the UK. Chartpak markers in the US are also good.
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Step 24:
Since I used
white thread, the first step of course is to color the head to
a rich dark brown.
TYING TIP:
Before you hit the fly with your marker, use a scrap piece of
material to make sure the color is good and that the marker doesn't
bead up or wipe off.
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Step 25:
You can also
color the top of the thorax, since this area is usually darker
on many bottom dwelling insects.
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FINISHED:
If you were
so inclined, you could color the entire dorsal surface with the
marker, not only highlighting the segmentation created by the
monofilament ribbing, but also giving the finished fly a dark
top over a light bottom which is so common in this stage of an
insect's life.
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A Global FlyFisher Publication
Submitted March 2nd 2009
Thanks .. from Spain