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| Sleepytime Explosion stone?? Who named this fly... Borat? |
My first day at Spotted Bear Ranch as a newbie guide was a memorable one, to say the least. The head guide at the time walked in with a man wearing what looked like a big, palm-leaf sombrero.
"So you're the new guy, huh? " the head guide asked, "Let me see your fly box."
I was a little intimidated. I had never seen a palm-leaf hat that big before.
I had spent the whole winter tying flies in preparation for my first year as a guide. I was proud of my size 18 zebra midges and hacked together pheasant tails.
"Yeah, that stuff isn't gonna work here." the head guide quickly remarked as he assessed the contents of my fly boxes. He handed me MFC's catalog. "Find 10 patterns in here and put together an order for tomorrow."
The next day I shadowed him on a float down the "lower" stretch of the river and watched fish after fish come up on a Davies' Purple Explosion Stone.
Stoneflies.
Big Stoneflies, a world away from my micro nymphs.
Lesson Learned.
Spotted Bear's big goldens are typically nocturnal. (most likely shortwing stoneflies). But unlike hungover college students, trout will definitely remember their midnight snack the next morning, without the help of a crumpled up receipt.
Here's a step by step for this davies explosion stone inspired stonefly pattern. Honorable mentions for names include: Nocturnal Nancy. Golden Ticket. The Midnight Munchie.
Prep your hook with a beadhead and weighted wire.
Hook: Dai-Riki #270 Size 8.
Natural Bend 3x long
Bead: Gold 3.8mm or 5/32"
Thread: 6/0 Camel
Medium Gold Wire
Anchor your weighted wire with thread so the body won't spin.
Wrap your thread towards the back, securing the gold wire on the bottom of the hook shank.
Goose Biots: Blonde
Secure and split two goose biots
Tie in a good amount of pearly fluorescent material. Enough to wrap the entire body of the fly.
Dubbing: Hareline Ice Dub UV Tan
Dub the body, leaving a space behind the beadhead for the thorax.
Wrap the pearly fluorescent stuff around the body.
Bring the gold wire forward following the segments created by the body wrap.
Tie off and clip the gold wire, leaving the pearly fluorescent stuff to use as a flashback.
Build the thorax. Tie in two goose biots for legs
Dub it!
Add more goose biots for legs: Two facing rearward, two facing forward and dub it!
Pull the flashback material forward and whip finish. Then take a brown sharpie and darken the top of the body segments and barr the legs
Using Loon's UV epoxy build the wing case and articulate the legs, pinching them with your fingers then securing the bend with epoxy.
Loon's UV epoxy tends to dry a little bit tacky, so I add hard as nails to give the wingcase a nice flashy, glossy look.
There you have it. If you got a better name for this fly, let me know.
Someone once told me, "if you really want to get good at fly tying. Tie for the river you fish"
