The Secrets of The Prince Nymph

by

Gene Macri

The Prince Nymph is one of the fly patterns that seems to go in and out of vogue with fly anglers.  One of the reasons for this is the fact that most fly anglers, websites and magazines will tell you that this is basically an attractor pattern. Yes, it's very popular but that doesn't mean fly anglers use it correctly or use it enough. Part of this stems from the idea that it's only an attractor pattern. Another problem is that there are about 22 trillion new magic flies in fly fishing every year that are the latest hot fly (well it seems like this many new patterns; may be it's only 12 trillion).

What most fly anglers don't understand is that depending upon the size, the weight and how it's tied the Prince Nymph can actually be used in a number of ways and used in an number of different methods.  Here's a list of all the ways I use the fly.  Compare it to how you use it.

• In larger sizes such 6, 8 or 10 the Prince Nymph is a decent enough Stonefly imitation.  This is especially true if stonefly nymphs are crawling to the rocks to the shore prior to emergence.  The nymph works great with a rod tip motion and a hand retrieve
• In larger sizes such as 6,8, or 10 the Prince Nymph works very well as a streamer.  Because of the white on the top versus the darker peacock herl with tinsel it's a very good general minnow imitation.  Fish it upstream bringing it back and you'll get some surprises.
• It's an excellent pattern for dredging trout off the bottom when tied as bead head in larger sizes too,  especially in the spring.
• Put some floatant on a size 14 or 16 and fish it in the film for a number of emerging mayflies and you may catch as many trout on it as your exact imitation.
• As many fly anglers know it works good on a dropper at any place from the top to the bottom
• A very small bead head imitation sizes 16 and 18 work very well (if you tie them thin) for Blue Winged Olive Nymphs (Baetis) especially on spring creeks.
• It also makes a great general caddis imitation especially if you cut the tail off!

So there are a few more ways you can use the Prince Nymph.  I hope you explore them because it's really good fly and it's much more than an attractor. The basic fly pattern is below:

• Hook:  2XL (3XL a beadhead)
  Thread: 6/0 Black
  Weight: You may use lead or copper wire to get it down for sunken patterns
  Tail: Goose Biots, Brown
  Body: Peacock Herl; you may wish to reverse wrap fine copper wire to make the Peacock last longer. This will help some
  Rib: Oval Tinsel, Gold
  Hackle: Hen Neck, Brown
  Wing: Goose Biots, White