Weight: (Optional)
Non-lead wire. You want to use
wire at a small enough gauge so as not to impact the profile of the fly.
Eyes: (Optional) Small black beadchain.
Bead: (Optional)
Color & size of choice.
Tail/shell
back: Squirrel tail in color of
choice. (I also substitute it with
peacock herl.)
Body: Yellow Chenille, antron yarn, dubbing. (You can make this fly any color you desire.)
Hackle: Brown saddle hackle.
This
is an extremely versatile fly. It can
represent a number of different insects, such as stone flies, hellgrammites,
and other large nymphs. The fly just
looks buggy! It was originally developed
as a Steelhead fly in Michigan by a man named Ron Spring. Also known as the ‘Pan Fish Wiggler’ and 'Michigan Wiggler’, this fly can be used to catch a variety of fish, including
steelhead, trout, small mouth bass, and pan fish. It can imitate whatever you want it to be and
is a fairly easy tie. Tie it from very
big sizes to size #10. My preferred
material for the body is yellow chenille, but I have used antron yarn and
dubbing.
To
tie this fly begin your thread behind the eye of the hook and wrap down to the
bend. Your going to tie in your squirrel
tail hairs for a tail. They should
extend about a hook gap length beyond the bend of the hook. (I also use peacock herl especially when
tying stonefly or smaller flies.) Do not cut off the tag end of the
squirrel. This will become your shell
back later. Next, tie in your
hackle. Now tie in your chenille or yarn
for the body. (You can also dub a body
of your preferred material.) End the
body behind the eye and tie/cut off your material. Next, wrap/palmer your hackle forwards and
tie it off behind the eye. Cut off the
tag end. Now bring your squirrel tail
forward to create your shell back. Make
sure you hold your shell back down firmly and tie it off. It has a tendency to loosen up and pull away
from the fly body. It’s important to
firmly hold it down as you tie it off.
Cut off the tag end of your squirrel shell back. Whip finish it off and apply head cement to
your wraps. I also apply some UV resin
on the shell back for extra durability.
No
matter what size wiggler you tied, or materials you used, you have a very buggy
and productive nymph. Last year the
small mouth fishing on the Housatonic was killer. Big nymphs seemed to be the most productive
way to catch them. This was a fly that
was very productive for me.
There is a nice video by ‘Panfish on
the Fly’ on how to tie one of the variations of this pattern below:
If
you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of the
Month I can be reached at 203 305-3850 or at pdinice@frontier.com .
