Prince nymph – tied by InTheRiffle.
By Skip Clement
[dropcap]G[/dropcap]o with a fly that has a history of catching. For me, in freshwater and for trouts only, that would be the “traditional” Prince Nymph. The best sizes tied on a hook, not a tube, are #12, #14 and #16. My experience with a tube tied Prince Nymph is limited and thus far unsatisfactory.
Traditional to me means like I used to buy them when I lived in Pittsburgh some 30 years ago and fished Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia. Three months ago, I could have unraveled a store bought prince and tied from that instruction, but YouTube and Vimeo via Tim Flagler, InTheRiffle, and Jay Nicholas make life easier.
The Prince Nymph has been around for decades. It, like so many other great flies, is a perfect replica of “nothing in particular.” Some say it looks like a stonefly nymph? To me, more like a Jackson Pollock painting that looks like Angelina Jolie — sure it does. Hey, the Prince Nymph looks like “nothing.”
The better or more traditional tie that suited both my many thumbed tying skills and my fly fishing irregularities was the Prince Nymph fly tying video by InThe Riffle.
Featured Image: Rainbow Trout – US Fish and Wildlife Service illustration. A public domain image.
Prince Nymph Fly Tying Recipe:
Hook: #08-18 Tiemco 3761 or Daiichi 1710
Thread: Black Veevus 12/0
Tail: Brown Goose Biots
Body: Peacock Herl
Rib: Small Gold Tinsel
Wing: White Goose Biots
Collar: Brown India Hen Back or Natural Hungarian Partridge
[youtube id=”rHhgtgrYm2A” width=”620″ height=”360″]
