The Red Headed Damsel Nymph

Red Headed Damsel Nymph

With summer here and the summer stillwater bugs getting going in many places, I thought I would share with you a pattern that is a local favorite.  The Red Headed Damsel nymph is one of the best sellers at Ghillies Fly Shop.  While I don't know who should receive credit for the original pattern, I now lay claim for this variation of the pattern.  I guess I claimed it since I tie it for everyone else to use and have never seen it in anyone else's fly box or heard claim of them coming up with the pattern.  These are available at Ghillies and if you want, they can be orderes and mailed to you.  That is of course, there are any left!  Once the word is out that the callibaetis and damsels are out on the South Park lakes, all those patterns suddenly disappear from the bins.  

This is a really easy pattern to tie and that makes it a good fly to have on the water.  Below, is a little write up I did for the local T.U. newsletter a few years back on how to fish and tie the pattern.  

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How many times have you opened up your fly box to look for that one fly that is just a bit different and might give you the edge during a hatch?  Many times, I have stared into my box at the usual flies that every fly shop carries and almost every angler on the water has in their boxes.  One day as I was fishing damsels, I was facing the same dilemma.  I needed just one fly that might be a bit different from all the others.  The Red Headed Damsel was just the fly.  It had the damsel nymph characteristics; the long marabou tail, segmentation and a thicker thorax.  What made it different was the bright red glass bead on the head.   It made a difference that day, as well as many other days.   

I often fish this fly on a floating leader, making short twitches, always retrieving towards the shore.  Natural damsels migrate towards the shore, looking for anything that might be used as a hatching platform.  Often times, they end up on your waders if you are float tubing.  Others who make the journey towards shore are intercepted by cruising trout.  Those damsels who make it to shore, climb up rocks or other dry land to emerge into the adult tenerals, often tan or olive colored, before turning into the brilliant blue we often see as they fly around.  
One other popular method to fish these is to hang them under an indicator and slowly retrieve them towards you.  A damsel nymph followed by a callibaetis nymph offers the fish a choice of their meal of the day.   

The Red Headed Damsel is a very easy fly to tie and only takes a few minutes to tie up a few.  So grab some materials and get tying and fishing.

Hook:  Dia Riki 270 #10.

Bead:  Medium Silver Lined Red Glass Bead.

Thread:  UTC 70 Denier, Olive.

Body:  Marabou, olive or brown.

Rib:  Small Red wire.

Wing:  Leftover Marabou from body.

1. Begin by placing a bead on the hook.  Tie in a 6” piece of red wire.
2. Wrap wire to opposite of tip of hook point.  Using two wraps of thread, tie in marabou.   Make sure it is not too thick of a feather.  Lift up marabou and wrap thread to behind bead.  
3. Lay marabou down and make three wraps of thread over marabou.  Your thread should be behind the bead.  The marabou should be tied down at the rear of the fly, and now behind the bead.  
4. Make a wrap of wire over exposed thread wraps at the rear of fly.  Continue making wraps forward to behind bead.  When wrapping the wire, your marabou should “cup” over the hook shank, forming the body.   
5. Tie off marabou, making sure you leave a bit of space right behind the bead.  Don’t crowd this area.
6. Cut marabou close and cover butts.  You should have a little space behind the bead for the next step, placing the wing. 
7. Lay the marabou wing on the hook shank.  I use the remaining piece from the body.   Make sure the feather is tied in the same direction as you did to tie in the tail.
8. Make several wrap directly behind the bead to secure the wing.  Cut the wing length about 50% of the fly.    
9. Grab 2-3 individual marabou fibers to use as a dubbing to cover up the thread and make a finished tie off.  

Successful Winter Tying Demos.

All good things have to come to an end and the fly tying demos at Ghillies are finished for the year.  When I set out to have a few guys come down to tie, little did I know that we would have a line up like we did.  What started with 4 or 5 guys, ended up with 16 guys and some of the West's best tiers.   All of those people brought to the table many, many different techniques and ideas on flies and fishing.  From midges to streamers and back again, here are just a few images.

Larry Kingrey and Curtis Andrews

While many images were not captured by me, I have other photos saved on a different computer, but I am not able to access those files.  I wished I had taken more photos, but was to busy watching many of these tiers.  All the flies tied are on display at Ghillies if you would like to see them.  

I want to thank all the guys who made the trip down to Colorado Springs and spent their day tying flies for all of us.  Please know that you all did an excellent job and everyone enjoyed it and were extremely pleased.  To all those that attended these demos,thank you for showing up week after week and for supporting those that came down.  There were many of you that attended consistently and helped make these a success.  Thanks for bring snacks, brownies and other goodies that got us through till lunch time! 

Again, THANK YOU to all participants and to all those that attended.  

Tying the Gypsy Caddis

Chad Gauerke Tying Demo 12/19/09 from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
Chad spins up one of his Gypsy Caddis in this video from a tying demo at Ghillies Fly shop on 12/19/09. Chad uses a lot of European materials to make some of the buggiest flies out there. They are a real treat to look at as well.

Videos of Carl Pennington's Flies on 11/07/09

D-Rib Golden Stone Fly by Carl Pennington, 11/07/09 from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
Carl Pennington Fly Tying Demo at Ghillies Fly Shop on Nov. 07, 2009, Colorado Springs, CO. The D-Rib Golden Stone is one of the coolest flies I have seen. It is a perfect match to our local stones and is a very durable fly. Try this in any of the stretchs of the South Platte River. Carl is from Denver, CO and is a fly designer for Montana Fly Company.



HMD (Home Made Device) Fly by Carl Pennington, 11/07/09 from Juan Ramirez on Vimeo.
Carl Pennington Fly Tying Demo at Ghillies Fly Shop on Nov. 07, 2009, Colorado Springs, CO. The HMD is a great imitation of a caddis..or a scud..or a buggy bug. It will just produce for you and catch fish. Give it a try. Carl is from Denver, CO and is a fly designer for Montana Fly Company.