wiggle nymphs

I'm starting to tie up a stock for next year and on the list are Brown Drake
look-a-likes.

Both my notes and my reference books make a "wiggle" nymph tied on two hooks
with a hinge in the middle seem like a good idea. I've never fished such
a tie and wonder ... are they really worth the effort or are they just
another sounds good and looks good in the vise but doesn't fish that well,
tie ...

I only get a very few days a year to try Brown Drake ties and I'm fairly
happy with my "emerger" but would like to try and extend this last light
hatch by fishing a nymph before the fish start surface feeding .... I've had
good luck with this on the somewhat similar Hex hatch, but have never tried
a wiggling fly

All suggestions and shared experiences, appreciated

Larry L wrote:

Both my notes and my reference books make a "wiggle" nymph tied on two hooks
with a hinge in the middle seem like a good idea.

I experimented with them a bunch several years ago on larger nymphs (green
drakes, October caddis and stoneflies).

I've never fished such
a tie and wonder ... are they really worth the effort

no.

or are they just
another sounds good and looks good in the vise but doesn't fish that well,
tie ...

yes.

I think segmented leech patterns for winter steelhead MAY be slightly more
effective than the non-segmented ones, but since these flies are fished
right on the bottom, and therefore often hung up and lost, I don't think
the extra time, effort and cost are worth it in the end.

JR

Larry L. writes:

I'm starting to tie up a stock for next year and on the list are Brown Drake
look-a-likes.

Both my notes and my reference books make a "wiggle" nymph tied on two hooks
with a hinge in the middle seem like a good idea. I've never fished such
a tie and wonder ... are they really worth the effort or are they just
another sounds good and looks good in the vise but doesn't fish that well,
tie ...

I only get a very few days a year to try Brown Drake ties and I'm fairly
happy with my "emerger" but would like to try and extend this last light
hatch by fishing a nymph before the fish start surface feeding .... I've had
good luck with this on the somewhat similar Hex hatch, but have never tried
a wiggling fly

All suggestions and shared experiences, appreciated

I experimented with them several years ago, and came to the conclusion that
they are nothing more than an unsuccessful gimick.

Think small with no hinges.

"Larry L" wrote in message
...
I'm starting to tie up a stock for next year and on the list are Brown
Drake
look-a-likes.

Both my notes and my reference books make a "wiggle" nymph tied on two
hooks
with a hinge in the middle seem like a good idea. I've never fished
such
a tie and wonder ... are they really worth the effort or are they just
another sounds good and looks good in the vise but doesn't fish that well,
tie ...

I only get a very few days a year to try Brown Drake ties and I'm fairly
happy with my "emerger" but would like to try and extend this last light
hatch by fishing a nymph before the fish start surface feeding .... I've
had
good luck with this on the somewhat similar Hex hatch, but have never
tried
a wiggling fly


the only hex and drake nymph patterns I have fished are the "wiggle" type.
They are very useful bottom fished on deep holes in sandy areas on the
streams in northern michigan. On those waters they are very much worth the
effort.

Wayne Knight wrote:



the only hex and drake nymph patterns I have fished are the "wiggle" type.
They are very useful bottom fished on deep holes in sandy areas on the
streams in northern michigan. On those waters they are very much worth the
effort.


If they're the only patterns you tried, how do you know they're worth
the effort? (although if the "wiggle" is going to work, I think it would be
with big, animated nymphs like that).

Willi

"Willi & Sue" wrote in message
...

If they're the only patterns you tried, how do you know they're worth
the effort?

Maybe because i caught fish with them? More precisely in this case when
inquiring about hex nymphs, that's what the local fly shops pointed out.

"Wayne Knight" wrote

the only hex and drake nymph patterns I have fished are the "wiggle" type.
They are very useful bottom fished on deep holes in sandy areas on the
streams in northern michigan. On those waters they are very much worth the
effort.


I've caught trout on unjointed Hex nymphs.... but the wiggle may be better
for them and Brown Drakes, they are huge bugs and they do wiggle G

I'm going to tie up some with and some without the wiggle joint and try
both, Like Hexs, Brown Drakes hatch at dark and bring up the biggest fish.
That makes entomology and getting good natural models for tying tough, since
you have to choose between trying to catch and examine bugs in the dark or
casting to huge trout .... so far the trout have won G

"Larry L" wrote

FWIW, I tied up several wiggle models and "fished" them in the irrigation
canel on the property to watch the action.

I'm now convinced that they are NOT worth the extra tying effort aned
expense ...I believe that 99% of any trout that looked at a wiggle tie and
thought "yummy, gotta eat that" would feel the same about a single hook tie
using the same materials and construction ... there just isn't that much
difference, in fact the single hook looks more "real" to my, admittedly
non-trout, eyes

"Larry L" wrote

FWIW, I tied up several wiggle models and "fished" them in the irrigation
canel on the property to watch the action.

I'm now convinced that they are NOT worth the extra tying effort aned
expense ...I believe that 99% of any trout that looked at a wiggle tie and
thought "yummy, gotta eat that" would feel the same about a single hook tie
using the same materials and construction ... there just isn't that much
difference, in fact the single hook looks more "real" to my, admittedly
non-trout, eyes

"Larry L" wrote in message
...

"Larry L" wrote

FWIW, I tied up several wiggle models and "fished" them in the irrigation
canel on the property to watch the action.

I'm now convinced that they are NOT worth the extra tying effort aned
expense ...I believe that 99% of any trout that looked at a wiggle tie and
thought "yummy, gotta eat that" would feel the same about a single hook
tie using the same materials and construction ... there just isn't that
much difference, in fact the single hook looks more "real" to my,
admittedly non-trout, eyes

I figured the wiggle nymph was just someones effort at creating a new
gimmick. With that in mind, I figured one out, too. Why not tie a bunch of
flies that have a 'tube fly' upper, and a regular hook fly lower. When you
tie on the fly, you thread the tippet through the upper tube part, then tie
it onto the hook eye. That would give you a two-part fly that might have
some interesting motion, and you could even mix and match colors/patterns
for an interesting effect. It might work especially well for leech
imitations, streamers, etc.

I'm granting any roffians a 1-year grace period on using this idea before I
start charging royalties.

--riverman