Stoneflies and Fan Mail

It's definitely been stonefly party time at the vise this week. I listened to a pretty bad podcast today while stuck in traffic on the turnpike and they had a guy (can't remember his name) talking about how prince nymphs are killer steelhead patterns and how they like the peacock herl. That motivated me to sit down and knock out a green and black stonefly pattern with a peacock thorax. I tried one with biots and one with rubber legs. I weighted the hell out of these with wire and added a tungsten bead to get them down to the chrome with a quickness. Thoughts?

Peacock Stone
3xl Orvis curved nymph hook
black tungsten bead
black goose biots or medium rubber round legs
6/0 black unithread (also used for the body
.015 lead wire.
UTC ultra wire, olive (sm)
Strung Peacock Herl
Black craft store raffia (wingcase) coated with Zap-A-Gap







In other news, I received a kind message the other day from a prominent member of one of my favorite fishing websites. I found it to be awesome that someone actually looks forward to reading this thing and doesn't spend all of their spare internet time at work watching THE WEBSITE IS DOWN over and over again.

Mike,

First...Love reading your Blog. Never read a blog before and yours is great...!
Just looked at yor McFly Foam entry. I have been using that for a while and it really is great.
I don't throw eggs much at all, but let me tell you what I found. At the Salmon River the BLUE Mcfly Foam tied as sucker spawn works extremely well for Steel Head. So, tried it on Trout and it works well on them also.
I don't do well with the strike indicator/bobber and egg...I end up with a tangled mess more often than not. That is just my poor casting skills I'm sure. That is why I don't throw them much.
Next, really like the look of your red head pheasant tails. I never would have thought of them and will tie some up after I send this PM.
Lastly, Thanks for the blog. I have learned a lot from it since I don't get out much. I check it two or three times a day to see what is new. I am on the PC all day while working.

Wishing you and yours a great, healthy and prosperous New Year.

**name witheld**

Thank you for the kind words sir. I greatly appreciate it. Also, I'm going to take your advice and place some of it in my flybox.