The little Black Stonefly emerges in late winter, often when there’s still snow on the ground. They typically range in size from 14 to 18 and are an ideal dry fly for targeting trout during late winter and early spring months when stonefly hatches are abundant and trout are rising to the surface to feed.
- Type: Nymph and Dry Fly
- Imitates: Black Stonefly (Giant Salmon Fly)
- Size: 14-18
- When to use: Cold water streams from late winter through spring
On days when trout aren’t rising to the surface, your black stonefly dry fly pattern may go completely unnoticed. This could be because it’s just too cold for trout to rise, or more likey they’re feeding subsurface on nymphs. When this is the case I’ll usually bench my dry fly patterns and opt for a black stonefly nymph, black Hare’s Ear Nymph, beadhead stonefly nymph, or match the hatch with another nymph pattern.
One of the best times to fish a black stonefly dry fly is when see trout rising near the bank during or just after a hatch. As little black stoneflies emerge they often dry their wings and launch from the bank only to plop back into the water and be gobbled up by waiting trout.
When dry fly fishing the tendency is to cast upstream and allow your fly to drift with the current. But when you’re fishing up against the bank in slack water, don’t bother with a drift. Get your fly right up on the bank where the trout are holding. As soon as your fly settles on the water’s surface, mend the line a little to keep your fly in place a couple valuable seconds—long enough to elicit a strike.
You can never bank on when or where a black stonefly hatch will occur, but it’s still useful to have this pattern onhand. Because when you do stumble upon a black stoneflies this dry fly will often outperform non-hatch patterns.
How to tie a black stonefly nymph pattern
The following video provides handson instructions for tying a simple—yet effective—black stonefly nymph pattern. There are a few different versions of the black stonefly nymph. The following is the traditional pattern I prefer.
Materials you’ll need…
- 10 size streamer hook
- #4 tungsten gold or black bead
- Thread Semprefli 12/0 black
- Two turkey biots
- Round lead
- Black rabbit dubbing
- Two black biots
- Black latex tape
- Spectra dubbing
How to tie a black stonefly dry fly pattern
When trout are feeding at the surface a black stonefly dry fly pattern is perfect to match the hatch. The following video provides handson instructions for tying simple—yet effective—black stonefly dry fly pattern for surface fishing.
Materials you’ll need…
- Std-2xl #10-14 hook
- 8/0 Black thread
- Black dubbing (body)
- Grizzly hackle (wings)
- Black/dark brown hackle
