Stump Lake Damsel Damselfly Nymph Fly Pattern

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Stump Lake Damsel Damselfly Nymph Fly ..

I remember my first really successful day fly fishing Stump lake. It was years ago, the month was June and the damsels were hatching!

We were anchored in the shallows tossing out big yellowish green nymphs and trying to imitate their wiggly progression towards the shoreline. For every damsel that made it out of the water to hatch there were many that didn’t as the trout knew exactly what was going on and flooded the area to intercept them on route. It was kind of humorous, the bows were ambushing the damsels and we were trying to ambush the bows … and when we worked it just right the action was fast and furious!

The damselfly nymph pattern of the day had a pale green wool body with a yellow rib and a pheasant tail wing case. They certainly caught fish but didn’t hold together very well so before heading out a trip to Yosh’s Fly Shop was always in order to ensure an ample supply of ammo! As soon as we started rolling our own we added a marabou tail to better help represent the “damsel shuffle”. Over the years other tweaks and changes were made. Vinyl replaced wool, dubbing & scud back modernized the thorax and, most recently, plastic beads were incorporated for eyes. Although serving the same purpose, the Stump Lake Damsel of today is certainly a very different fly from the original and so, we thought, its name should be adjusted to represent the major transformation from its roots … enter the “Stump Lake Damsel 2.0”!  Will it catch more fish than version 1.0? Doubt it, but we’re planning to have a lot of fun trying! 😀 Here’s how we tie it …….

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Stump Lake Damsel | Material List:

• Hook: TMC 200R OR Mustad C53S – #10
• Eyes: Yellow Glass Seed Beads / Wire
• Thread: Uni 8/0 Olive
• Tail: Olive Marabou
• Under Body: Olive Krystal Flash
• Over Body: Olive Vinyl (small)
• Wing Case 1: Olive Krystal Flash (optional)
• Wing Case 2: Olive Scud Back
• Thorax: Olive Dazzle Dubbing

Stump Lake Damsel | Tying Instructions:

… prepare eyes by placing two beads on a piece of wire and spinning it as above.

… tie the prepared eyes onto the top of the hook.

… tie in a clump of marabou for the tail.

… tie in a the vinyl rib and krystal flash.

… wind up the krystal flash.

… wind up the vinyl.

… tie in a piece of olive scud back for the wing case & form a dubbing loop.

… fill the loop with dubbing and spin it tight.

… for a flash back version tie in a few strands of krystal flash to go under the scud back!

… wind dubbing loop forward

… fold over the wing case (krystal flash first on the flash back version)

… whip finish and your done!

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Stump Lake Damsel | Fishing it …

Next to the June hatch, fishing damselfly nymph patterns is also effective during the insects spring and fall migrations. Timing for the spring migration coincides fairly close with turnover and the fall migration is usually underway by thanksgiving (for the yanks out there that would be Canadian thanksgiving in mid October 😉 ).

During both of these migrations damselfly nymphs are exposed and actively fed upon by trout. In the spring, as the water warms, damsels come out of hibernation and travel from deep to shallow water to feed. In the fall, as the water cools, the process is reversed and the damsels head from shallow to deep. Keep this in mind when positioning your boat!

So now you know the where, when and what. The why is because we can and the who is you … so tie some up and get out there!

*** if you’re interested in custom tied, time tested & proven effective BC Interior fly patterns, but would rather buy than tie, please Contact us for details!

*** for more effective BC stillwater fly fishing patterns be sure to check out all of flies on our BCs best fly patterns index page!

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