In classic Patagonia rivers such as the Aluminé and Chimehuín one can no longer see in the afternoon so many adult stoneflies like there were a decade ago, but their imitations still produce violent surface strikes, those that make you shout of joy.Today there are many adult stoneflies with a foam View more...In classic Patagonia rivers such as the Aluminé and Chimehuín one can no longer see in the afternoon so many adult stoneflies like there were a decade ago, but their imitations still produce violent surface strikes, those that make you shout of joy.Today there are many adult stoneflies with a foam body, and each one has its moment of glory. Still, I prefer the ones that have a segmented body of the right width, and there are many ways to make this. The one we are going to review today is simple and practical. You will see that I do not use a needle, I just tie the abdomen in the air; something that makes the segment making much easier because it gives us the freedom to move the material and place the thread and the turns. This is a very old technique that was used before foam, with two-color deer hair bodies.I make the thorax with a kind of dubbing I fabricate by mixing fine coastal deer (clearly barred) with a synthetic dubbing material that adds brightness. The dubbing material must have a certain texture so it blends correctly with the deer material, which adds noticeable vibrations on the water surface.The long silicon rubber bits also make this stonefly amazingly effective. We can replace the synthetic material wing with longer lasting hair or feathers, trout do not mind. For example, two starling feathers to make the wings make a deadly combination.
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List of materials
MaterialsHook: Daiichi 1150 or Mustad C49S, sizes 6 or 8.Thread: 3/0, brown.Wing: Swiss Straw, raffia or Medallion Sheeting, ambar or brown color.Abdomen and thorax back: Foam, 2 mm of thickness.Antennae and tails: rooster feather quill, natural brown color.Thorax: Deer hair dubbing.
Steps
Step 1
In the picture we can see a foam strap of 2mm thick and 5mm of width, curved in the middle and with its tips cut to make the tails. In the other curved foam strap, we see the brown quill hackle colors in the right position, with the quill remnant part inside of what will be the abdomen.
Step 2
Carefully, keeping the tying thread inside the foam with the tails, make the first segment with four turns.
Step 3
Open up the foam carefully and take the thread through it. Close the foam and make the second segment, leaving a space between the threads so the segment is wider, and making five thread turns.
Step 4
Repeat Step 3 making no more than seven segments, slightly increasing the width of each one and adding a thread turn so that everything gets bigger in an even and tidy way. When the last segment is finished, make a knot or glue the thread with cianoacrylate.
Step 5
Thread the abdomen and tie the lower section firmly on the hook, cut the remnant without touching the top layer of foam that will be the thorax back.
Step 6
Tie a strap of Medallion Sheeting forward up to the hook eye. Its width should be that of the stonefly wings folded and must cover each side of the abdomen (around 6 or 7mm of width). Once the wing strap is tied, we should do the same with the two antennae (same material as as the tails) and shape a good thorax with enough deer dubbing (keep it fuzzy for now). Keep the thread where the antennae are and leave some space for the head. View more...Tie a strap of Medallion Sheeting forward up to the hook eye. Its width should be that of the stonefly wings folded and must cover each side of the abdomen (around 6 or 7mm of width). Once the wing strap is tied, we should do the same with the two antennae (same material as as the tails) and shape a good thorax with enough deer dubbing (keep it fuzzy for now). Keep the thread where the antennae are and leave some space for the head.
Step 7
Take the foam down and tie it strongly before the antennae to make the back, trim it completely. With a brown permanent marker paint the back of the stonefly, its characteristic spots. Make the head with some dubbing material, take down the Medallion Sheeting and tie to shape the upper layer of the head.
Step 8
Lift the Medallion Sheeting and cross the thread on the back up to the place where the wings will be. Take a look at the picture to see where you will tie back the Medallion Sheeting. We just have to tie the silicon legs now, cut them as the picture shows and trim the wing, it should be a bit longer than the abdomen.With the brown marker paint some spots in each segment at the lower side of the abdomen and the sides. View more...Lift the Medallion Sheeting and cross the thread on the back up to the place where the wings will be. Take a look at the picture to see where you will tie back the Medallion Sheeting. We just have to tie the silicon legs now, cut them as the picture shows and trim the wing, it should be a bit longer than the abdomen.With the brown marker paint some spots in each segment at the lower side of the abdomen and the sides.
Step 9
Our Stone is now ready for going out at dusk.
