Tenkara Angler Winter Fly Tying Feature
The Jiggy Little Black Stone
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Stephen Myers
The little black stone is a fly I have grown to love in the cold, lower flows that are common throughout the winter here in Colorado. Once ice starts to form on the river every night, activity slows down quite a bit in the streams across the front range. Fish go into "winter lies" behind rocks, in eddies, and deep pools. Wherever there is adequate oxygen and slow current as to not expend too much energy, an opportunistic trout awaits. Many times, I have sight fished in winter and watched my fly pass the same fish over and over, only when I had got the fly within a hair of the fish’s mouth did it strike. You may not catch as many fish in the winter as you do in summer, but the fishing is very technical, and you can improve your casting and fly presentation skills much faster when you're desperate to hook up
with a rewarding winter beauty. Enter the little black stonefly. Often overlooked, it's the first real insect productivity that happens on most streams. This pattern works extremely well when plummeted into deeper pools or bounced along through rolling riffles. The undersized tungsten bead provides weight to the fly without being cumbersome to cast with a tenkara rod. Anyone who has fished with me over the past few years knows I love to tie and fish tungsten jigs for use with my tenkara rods, for no other reason than they will produce fish in a wide variety of conditions and keep me out of the rocks and other snags. Try this fly on your next winter fishing trip. If it works, let us know on our Instagram or Facebook page - @303Flyworks
Materials
Size 14 Jig Hook
Black Goose Biots
2.8mm Black Tungsten Bead
Black Peacock Ice Dub
Black Thread - 8/0
34
Golden Pheasant Neck Feathers