Adding rubber legs to nymphs. Any of you use these?

The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

Since I'm asking the above question, I might as well ask about adding
a bead head to these patterns too. Does the bead make them any more
effective?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

On Nov 29, 2:19 pm, mdk77 wrote:
The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

Since I'm asking the above question, I might as well ask about adding
a bead head to these patterns too. Does the bead make them any more
effective?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

p.s.

I was half-scared to post again after the "boiled giblet gravy leader
war" that erupted the last time I posted here :-)

Surely this is an easier question to answer...

mdk77 wrote:
The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

I doubt it. Look at an actual nymph. Does it look like it has rubber
legs? No. This is something to catch fishermen, not fish.

As an exception, rubber legs on a stonefly or salmonfly nymph look
pretty good to my eye.

Since I'm asking the above question, I might as well ask about adding
a bead head to these patterns too. Does the bead make them any more
effective?

I don't like bead heads, either. They're only good, IMO, for adding
weight. I'd rather add my own weight in the amount I want. Also, I want
the nymph to float *above* the weight. That's why I like to use Frog's
Fanny or the much cheaper hydrophobic Cabosil in the dubbing.

I tie my nymphs in a minimalist style. YMMV.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Nov 29, 12:22 pm, mdk77 wrote:
On Nov 29, 2:19 pm, mdk77 wrote:

The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

Since I'm asking the above question, I might as well ask about adding
a bead head to these patterns too. Does the bead make them any more
effective?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

p.s.

I was half-scared to post again after the "boiled giblet gravy leader
war" that erupted the last time I posted here :-)

Surely this is an easier question to answer...

I vote yes. Don't know the exact pattern but I have some nymphs with
rubber legs( with and without bead heads) that seem to work ( better
in lakes it seems). Some have white legs some black. It may be that
I fish them more and more attentively that makes them work better, but
they work

On Nov 29, 2:30 pm, rw wrote:
mdk77 wrote:
The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

I doubt it. Look at an actual nymph. Does it look like it has rubber
legs? No. This is something to catch fishermen, not fish.


That's one of the reasons I posted the question. They don't look like
an actual nymph. But I wondered if this was one of those crazy things
that fish go after, even though it doesn't resemble anything "real" in
their world. Thanks.

mdk77 wrote:
On Nov 29, 2:30 pm, rw wrote:

mdk77 wrote:

The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

I doubt it. Look at an actual nymph. Does it look like it has rubber
legs? No. This is something to catch fishermen, not fish.



That's one of the reasons I posted the question. They don't look like
an actual nymph. But I wondered if this was one of those crazy things
that fish go after, even though it doesn't resemble anything "real" in
their world. Thanks.




I think that sometimes trout respond to a "super stimulus" -- something
that exaggerates a natural feature. I just don't think that rubber legs
on a nymph work that way. I may be wrong.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"mdk77" wrote

fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?



Me answering a nymph question is pretty silly,

but G

I think it's probably true, given my VERY limited experience with rubber
legged nymphs

However,

I'd restate it to "Internal motion increases effectiveness." Rubber legs
are ONE way to achieve internal motion, but not, imho, the easiest or best
way ... except maybe in very large flies.

I don't like beadheads( their look) , but I use them because it's easy to
see how much weight the fly has in it, something I like when sight nymphing.
To my mind getting the fly ( damn near any pattern will usually work ) to
the fish's level and having him notice it before you make so many attempts
that he notices YOU and takes off is the "secret" of sight nymphing. I
find this easier with a beadhead of known sink rate than with shot/
unweighted fly when I'm casting with the need for great accuracy,
especially to fish holding mid -column or near the top ... bottom huggers
are relatively hard to miss with "too much" weight. Fishing the water
.... I generally use shot and an unweighted fly for the simple reason I
think it "looks better" and I always want to be on the bottom.

Again: I suk at nymphing and should probably be ignored.

"mdk77" wrote in message
...
The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

Since I'm asking the above question, I might as well ask about adding
a bead head to these patterns too. Does the bead make them any more
effective?

Personally on nymphs I don't like rubber legs, however add them to a
Stonefly imitation and I think it makes the pattern much better. For
whatever reason, I think the rubber legs add the gravy to the fly that push
the fish to strike over a fly without.

YMMV,
JT

rw wrote:

As an exception, rubber legs on a stonefly or salmonfly nymph look
pretty good to my eye.

Some good patterns have rubber legs. Bitch Creeks, rubber-legged stones.
I think they are woirth it if you fish water that has lots of stoneflies.

I don't like bead heads, either. They're only good, IMO, for adding
weight. I'd rather add my own weight in the amount I want. Also, I want
the nymph to float *above* the weight. That's why I like to use Frog's
Fanny or the much cheaper hydrophobic Cabosil in the dubbing.

I like bead heads. I use them a lot, especially as a dropper attached to
dry fly.


I tie my nymphs in a minimalist style. YMMV.


I like to as well, but I don;t think that the bead heads or rubber legs
overly complicate a pattern.

Tim Lysyk

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:19:51 -0800 (PST), mdk77
wrote:

The other night I read about tying fine rubber legs to standard nymph
patterns,(like Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear, Fox Squirrel, etc). It would
be easy to add legs to some of my nymph patterns, but do they really
fish any better than the standard nymph patterns?

I don't think they add anything to the fly except more expense and
another step in the tying recipe. Rubber legs tend to bend back,
unlike the natural.

Since I'm asking the above question, I might as well ask about adding
a bead head to these patterns too. Does the bead make them any more
effective?

I do not use metal beads. I like to add my own weight to the
leader/tippet and tune it for the conditions. I do, however, use
very, very small glass beads to add sparkle and color to a couple of
my ties. I'm not after weight, and they add very little. They do,
however, enhance a couple of home ties that I use in Maine. But, I do
have a couple of beadhead flies in my box simply because they have
worked for me.

Dave