I am surprised how many steelhead patterns (with a little modification) find their way into my panfish fly boxes! One of my most productive warm water nymph patterns is my Panfish Wiggler. This pattern is a spin-off of the Spring Wiggler, a very popular steelhead pattern across the Great Leakes region.
The subject of this blog post is Patrick Robinson's Chicken Little. This fly was also designed as a steelhead pattern. To my eyes, it is a combination of Jack Gartside’s Sparrow and an egg-sucking leech. A brightly colored yarn head followed by a sizable feathered collar, flashy body, and chickabou tail. Unlike the Spring Wiggler, which I first encountered on a trip to steelhead country, I discovered the Chicken Little in an unusual place.
I work for a local Orvis Store, teaching fly fishing and fly tying classes. While teaching a Fly Fishing 201 class, which we conduct on a warm water pond, I was rummaging through a box of flies in the store's Fly Fishing School sling pack, and I came across a few brightly colored, odd-looking flies. While panfish are sometimes attracted to brightly colored flies, the fish wanted nothing to do with them, preferring more natural colored offerings instead. But there was something about the profile of this fly that attracted me. It could pass for a dragonfly nymph or even a small minnow in the right color and size.
A trio of brightly colored Chicken Littles. Could be an effective panfish pattern as is but the work much better in more muted natural tones. (Photo Credit Orvis)
When I returned to the shop that afternoon, I rummaged through the fly bins trying to locate this pattern to learn its name. I finally found it and was formally introduced to the Chicken Little.
A more natural colored version of the Chicken Little has proven itself to be a very effective warm water fly.
Very little was changed on the original pattern to turn this fly into a warm water killer. Besides scaling the fly down in size slightly, the brightly colored Mc Fly Foam head was changed to a more natural olive, brown or black. If you cannot source the egg yarn in these colors, you can color a neutral colored yarn with waterproof, permanent markers. The feather collar on the original was a dyed mallard feather that could work, but I decided to swap it out for a body or rump feather from a pheasant or a nice mottled hen feather. Pheasant rump is one of my favorite warm water fly tying materials, one that is often overlooked by many fly tiers. Another excellent option for the collar is a large hen feather, especially if you have one with beautiful barring or markings. I retained the chickabou tail, another favorite fly tying material, and used the remaining feather to create a buggy looking body, which saved a step of adding a separate body material. Dubbing in either natural or flashy tones could also be substituted for the body. Some gold or copper tinsel adds ribbing, a little flash, and a whole lot of durability to the pattern. Depending on how deep you want to fish the pattern, a lead underbody can be added to the fly to give it some extra weight. I often add a single layer of .015 lead to the hook shank before building the fly.
In the water the pattern comes alive and the Mc Fly Foam Head helps the fly sink slowly which is irresistible to the fish.
This muted version of the Chicken Little looks a little more like Jack Gartside's Sparrow, a fantastic pattern for both warm and cold water fisheries. As expected, this more natural looking fly was an instant success! Many panfish and a few bass were caught on its first outing. It has earned a permanent spot in my panfish fly box ever since. If you're looking for another subsurface pattern to add to your warm water arsenal, give this version of the Chicken Little a try. You will not be disappointed!
Pattern Recipe:
Hook: Firehole 718 sizes 12-8
Thread: 140 denier brown or olive
Weight: .010 or .015 lead wire (optional)
Tail: Brown or Olive Chickabou
Ribbing: Medium copper or gold tinsel
Body: Remaining chickabou feather wrapped around the hook shank to form a cigar-shaped body
Collar: Feather from the rump or body of a hen, pheasant (either sex), or other game bird.
Head: Olive or brown McFly Foam trimmed to a tapered shape (like a muddler minnow)