Some of the most enjoyable hatches to fish throughout the long summer
months would have to be those of the insect order Plecoptera (stoneflies).
When the time is right for the bugs to emerge, there is no need for a
magnifying glass to try and identify what is hatching; these bugs are big
and ugly. Out of the nine families of Stoneflies that occur in North
America, one species sparks a particular interest with fly fisherman; the
huge Pteronarcys stones (Pteronarcidae, pteronarcys, dorsata). These
stones are very elusive to the untrained fly fisher because of a spread
out hatch date (late April to May) and sparse numbers of insects during
the actual hatch.
The intriguing quality about these special stones is their enormous size.
These Pteronarcys stones can range anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 inches in
length (emerged adult). You can just image what a fish would do to get a
good sized meal like that, and with this fly you are about to find out.
The PT stone pattern is a fly that imitates this genus of super-sized
stones, in their adult stage. The body of the fly is tied with deer hair
to help keep the fly riding high on the water surface imitating an egg
laying female or an unluckily individual which has become water logged.
The Pteronarcys stones start their hatch around 5:00 – 6:00 PM so fishing
this pattern at dusk and well into darkness is a must. The dark colored
body and tapering shape will provide a great silhouette under the moon
light and give you the best chance possible to land a trophy fish.
|
PT Stone |
| Hook:
|
Teimco 200R Size 6 |
| Thread: |
Uni-thread Black 6/0 |
| Body: |
Black Deer Hair |
| Tail: |
Black Goose Biots |
| Eyes: |
Black Bead Chain |
|
Antennae: |
Stripped Grizzly Hackles |
| Wing: |
Black Mesh/ MFC Wing Material/ Black Deer Hair |
Tying the PT Stone:
1. To start this fly place you hook into your vice and attach the
thread to the hook shank. Select two good sized black goose biots and
strip them from their hackles.
2. Tie in the two goose biots onto the back of the hook shank on
top of the hook barb. Strip the end of two black ostrich herl's and tie
them on top of the hook shank facing towards the rear of the fly. At this
point place a drop of Dave's flexament to the tie down point to hold the
biots in place.
3. Select a pencil sized section of black deer hair and clean the
hair of any under fuzz. Take two light wraps of thread around the deer
hair and on the third wrap increase the pressure on the thread spinning
the deer hair around the hook shank evenly. Repeat this process until you
have reached approximately the ½ mark on the hook shank (make sure not to
forget to pack the hair between each tying step).
4. With a sharp pair of scissors or a razor trim down the deer hair
to a nice tapered shape (The bottom of the body gets clipped flat). Spin
the two ostrich herls slightly to form a herl rope and wrap it up the
length of the deer hair body you just created.
5. With you MFC wing cutters (or by hand) cut out one wing from the
black nylon mesh and one wing from the MFC winging material. Tie down the
nylon mesh first and then the MFC wing on top of that. Cut and clean
another smaller section of deer hair and stack the tips in your hair
stacker. Tie the deer hair on top of the other winging materials but be
carefully not to flare the hair if possible.
6. Begin again spinning and packing the black deer hair up the hook
shank until you reach the back of the hook eye.
7. With your scissors again clip the deer down close to the hook
(again the bottom of the head gets cuts flat). Instead of the tapered
shape this head section gets a half round shape.
8. Strip two grizzly hackles and tie them onto the front of the fly
as antennae. The last thing to do is tie in the bead chain eyes. Do this
using a figure eight wrap and be careful not to wrap down any of the deer
hair or antennae. Whip finish and cement the head.
Written By: Jason Akl, March 2004
Photographs By: Jason Akl © 2004 |
