The Sparrow Nymph

I just tied another Sparrow Nymph for the fly box.  This has become a nice fly in size 6 for a number of species here in the Midwest:  stillwater rainbow trout during the summer hex hatch, Great Lakes steelhead, and river carp to name a few.  For stillwater trout, I like to fish the traditional tie on a full sinking line to mimic the active hexagenia limbata nymphs swimming around during the June/July hatches.  This has led to some banner days when trout wouldn't go near a Woolly Bugger.  For steelhead, I like to tie it "low water" style--stripped down versions barely resembling the original pattern--on heavy size 6 salmon hooks.  Dead drifts and deep broadsides seem to be the ticket when using it on steelhead.  The key here is to get it to the fish which means use less material (i.e. floss instead of dubbing, sparser hackle, etc.), a heavy hook, and no line drag when fishing.  The soft materials used to make the fly will undulate in the current, adding all the action you'll need.  But, the Sparrow Nymph can't be featured without mentioning it as a valid carp fly.  I caught my first carp on fly using a low-water style Sparrow and will never forget it.  The powerful fight that 28-inch golden ghost gave on my 8-weight had me tying Sparrows for a week!      



If you decide to tie it, one of the great features of this fly is it's simplicity.  Traditionally, it's only tied from two materials:  dubbing and pheasant. However, in the tie above I've strayed from the original tie by doing a few things differently.  Obviously, you'll see I've added a gold bead head to get the fly to sink better--it also seems to improve the fly's profile in the water. Secondly, I added gold ribbing, which gives a component of flash and increased visibility for fishing our large rivers where water clarity isn't as good.  I could see this adding to its effectiveness as a smallmouth bass fly, too.  Thirdly, I've substituted Spruce Grouse for the traditional pheasant.  Early in my fly-tying career I received sage advice, "Flies tied from materials indigenous to where you are fishing them always seem to out-fish flies tied from other materials."  I've tested this philosophy over the years and it seems accurate... not sure why but it works.  And, it makes the fly more meaningful and fun to fish.  So each fall grouse season, I'll check my grouse feather reserves at the fly tying bench before heading to the uplands and restock if needed.  Hen spruce grouse seems to work best and better than ruffed grouse for some reason.