Since all of my warm water haunts are not so warm this time of year, most of the blog posts over the next few months will be focused on fly tying. One of my favorite fly patterns for panfish are damsel fly nymphs. Damsel fly nymphs are probably some of the most productive nymph patterns I use on a regular basis. They can be tied ornate or extremely simple. For bluegill and other panfish I lean towards simple versions. The adult insects pictured above are an important food source but fish are in contact with nymphs in various stages year round. As an added benefit, they are the perfect pattern to present to fish when fishing from the shore. Damsel flies spend the majority of there lives under water. When they are ready to molt the nymphs will actively swim towards shore where they will crawl onto lakeside vegetation. This shore bound migration is easily imitated when retrieving a cast fly back to shore.
Once on dry land they split their exoskeleton, climb out of the shuck and emerge as an adult damsel fly. After a short waiting period, as their wings dry, they take to the air. They will live for several weeks before returning to the water to mate and deposit their eggs on the stems of aquatic plants. They are voracious predators in both the nymphal and adult forms.
Damsel fly emerging from nymphal stage (image from dkfindout.com)
Spent shucks on lake side vegetation.
The pattern I am highlighting in this post is a simple one, only three materials if you don't count the hook its tied on. Marabou in a color matching the nymph, a piece of wire for segmentation and a bead to provide weight and a proper silhouette in the water. There are no wing buds, legs or mono eyes. Very simple, very quick to tie and very effective.
Mount bead on hook
Attach thread
Wrap back to a point over the hook eye
Tie in gold wire
Tie in the marabou feather for a tail leaving the waste end attched
Wrap the waste end of the feather up the hook shank and tie off behind the bead
Counter wrap gold wire, tie off and whip finish