Wing buds on a mayfly nymph??

[mayflyjunky]

Last year I sat in a wee bay watching big lumps of trout feeding in maybe 8 inches to a foot of water right on the shore line. I threw everything including the kitchen sink at them and they still steadfastly refused every single offering. I parked the boat and walked down the shoreline to get a better look and finally realised they were taking the near emerging nymph in the top 0.5-2 inches. The nymphs I was throwing at them were sinking too deep and they didn't want emerging mays like klinks and such.

Would a mayfly nymph have a flash of colour to the wing buds like duckfly and buzzers before they commit to emerging??

This is a first attempt with pink jungle cock


Any thoughts??

Does the pink look too much??

Many thanks to 1973dereks for the fine wire hooks.

MK 2 after the replies to the thread

[emerger1981]

it would probably be flash of green/silver with maybe a glint of orange or red.
it is a bit much as its a good little pattern on its own, possibly try a pattern with a little bit of foam, just enough to counter balance the weight of the hook so when you give it a twitch it rises and wafts about rather than emerge

[maharg]

As said a wee bit of foam might do the trick. Nice pattern for the rest of it and I like the JC to.
ATB
Graham

[falsecast]

Not sure about the red buds working, but it sure is a nice looking nymph

[Wee Jimmy]

Originally Posted by mayflyjunky

Would a mayfly nymph have a flash of colour to the wing buds like duckfly and buzzers before they commit to emerging??

As far as I know, the wings of the emerging mayfly duns dont have the blush of orange that the duckfly have when they are emerging.I would put money on the lack of life in the pattern coupled with falling through the water unnaturally,as being the two most likely causes for rejection.

Having said that,I think yer new nymph looks superb....gotta be worth a try,especially if you can figure a way to get it to sit half in and half out of the film.

[midlander]

Originally Posted by Wee Jimmy

As far as I know, the wings of the emerging mayfly duns dont have the blush of orange that the duckfly have when they are emerging.I would put money on the lack of life in the pattern coupled with falling through the water unnaturally,as being the two most likely causes for rejection.

Having said that,I think yer new nymph looks superb....gotta be worth a try,especially if you can figure a way to get it to sit half in and half out of the film.

Pretty much. I'm fairly sure it's only chironomids that have haemoglobin in the blood, hence their ability to live in low oxygen waters, their red blood and resultant bloom or orange/red/claret at the point of hatching.

I have seen some olives hatch that display a dull fiery brown just as the wing starts to pump up. To be honest though Peter I think you'd be better off with a couple of shortish bunches of pale grey/brown partridge hackle, Egyptian goose or the same wood duck you're using as the tail, maybe even a tuft of suitably coloured marabou. As far as presentation's concerned, I'd give it a go with a copoly leader, maybe a couple of spots of mucilin or a couple of wulfs with the nymph in between. Just a thought.

[oakham orange]

Originally Posted by mayflyjunky

This is a first attempt with pink jungle cock


Any thoughts??

Does the pink look too much??

Many thanks to 1973dereks for the fine wire hooks.

A cracker looking pattern Peter. No doubt. I would say its trial and error with a pattern like this. Sometimes when the trout are on the nymph they are exceptionally difficult to temp. With them taking so high in the water their "window" of vision would have been exceptionally narrow. Like you say they were ignoring your flies as they were sinking too deep. They probaly couldn't see them at all.

Did ya try pulling "ginked up" dabblers, slowly thru them

I have no doubt they would take that patteern if they could see it. I know I would

Try encoporating some foam into a pattern, like a foam back. It will slow the decent down, for perhaps long enough to get a take.

Personally i would put some claret into a nymph pattern or even a much lighter pink

Was this on the Erne you saw all the fish mate

[oakham orange]

Originally Posted by midlander

As far as presentation's concerned, I'd give it a go with a copoly leader, maybe a couple of spots of mucilin or a couple of wulfs with the nymph in between. Just a thought.

Yep thats another thing to try. Alex you need to get over to Ireland more often. I reckon you wouldn't be long in sorting out our trout. With your way of thinking outside the box.

Peter, Dont be afraid to try a couple of booby mayfly nymphs (white eyes), with a smaller nymph in the middle, with a figure of eight retrieve.

The boys have been doing well on Melvin with an Octopus tied with booby eyes

[mayflyjunky]

Originally Posted by oakham orange

Peter, Dont be afraid to try a couple of booby mayfly nymphs (white eyes), with a smaller nymph in the middle, with a figure of eight retrieve.

Now theres an idea!!!

Thanks for the fantastic replies guys, it's really helped me out.

As Jimmy said it's prob down to lack of movement so I went back to the drawing board and combining movement with, as Alex said, co-poly leader and maybe as Greg pointed out a booby nymph on the point I recon with this mk2 and the washing line technique I am one step closer. I substituted the seals fur for picric cdc and took the garish pink jc out replacing it with the natural.



Thanks again for the help.

[Wee Jimmy]

Jeezo....that looks like the business to me Peter.