Sit down with a cup of coffee or a cold one as this video is not an abbreviated version. Greg ties a pattern that was inspired by the Norm Woods Special fly pattern.
“My friend James sent me a picture of the Norm Wood Special years ago before I was leaving for a trip to the Deschutes River. I remember thinking it looked just like a Stimulator or a Sofa Pillow fly without a tail and that’s exactly what it is!
I had no idea the fleshy color of the wing was the big deal about the Norm Woods Special differentiating it from other stonefly patterns. Kind of a fleshy pink color.
Classic Norm Woods Special
That night as I looked for something that would work for the wing I decided to use rabbit fur plunked off the rabbit mask. The texture seemed to be somewhat like calftail (like the original and I had none) and the wing looked really good. I tied a few different colors of gold, brown, light brown and tan. All classic colors for stonefly patterns.
My Original Rabbit Fur Wing with Brown Body
When the fish began to hit the surface salmonflies were everywhere around me in trees, shrubs, bushes and I got excited to tie on a size 6 dry fly. I matched the hatch identically and to my surprise the trout weren’t interested or as Marty, one of my original mentors would say, “Rejected.”
Matching the Hatch but Rejected
I then began to notice smaller golden stone flies popping off the tall grass.
Golden Stone
Change fly to my Norm Woods Special variation in gold and BAMM.”
Gold, Black, Brown, Tan….
Tie Some Up:
Hook: TMC 200R or Daiichi 1270
Thread: 8/0 Color To Match
Wire Rib: Ultra Wire Small Gold
Dubbing: SLF Kaufmann’s or Dub of Choice
Hackle: Neck or Saddle Dry Fly Hackle Brown
Stonefly Patterns for the Deschutes River Stonefly & Salmonfly Hatch
#FlyShopStrong
