Damselfly Nymph - The Carp Catcher

I first started tying the fly after finding it in this article. While my version is pretty similar, there are some adjustments with materials and method.

The need for this pattern was born out of frustration when first getting into carp fishing. I tried so many different patterns, imitating lots of potential food sources, but nothing seemed to yield good results for me on the water. Finally, I discovered this beauty and everything changed.

Lets get into the basics:

Hook: Size 4 trailer style
Thread: 6/0 olive color
Tail: Olive marabou, Orvis Centipede Legs (Speckled Grey - Mini)
Body: Olive dubbing, Orvis Thin Skin (Olive Oak), copper wire, more Centipede Legs, olive hackle feather
Extras: 4.1mm black nickle bead chain eyes, 0.025 weighted round wire

Step 1:
Set down a thread base, then tie on the bead chain eyes and about 6 wraps of the round wire. The bead chain should be near the hook eye, but with a little room to tie things off at the end. The wire wraps should be towards the hook bend, acting to stabilise the fly while it syncs, so the eyes don't drag it head first or flip it over.

Step 2:
Tie in a small tuft of olive marabou on the hook bend, far enough back so that it's pointing about 45 degrees away from the hook shank. With the marabou secure, now cut two pieces of the rubber Centipede Legs and tie them onto each side of the hook shank.

Step 3:
Cut a thin (roughly 4mm) strip of plastic Thin Skin, and a 2 inch length of copper wire. Tie the copper wire in at the same spot you tied the rubber legs on, with the wire facing away from the hook eye. Tie the Thin Skin in at the same location, facing the hook eye, but make sure you orient it so that its on the bottom of the hook shank (see images below for clarity).

Step 4:
Starting at the location where you lied in the copper wire and plastic, apply olive dubbing to the thread and wrap up until you've covered the round wire section.

Step 5:
Cut three strands of rubber legs, each about 1.5 inches, and tie them onto the top of the shank. To get them to point the right direction and spread outwards nicely, I like to fold them into a V shape, and tie down just the tip of the V. You can then pull each end perpendicular to the shank to get a nice even spread.

Step 6:
Now that all the legs are tied on, weave your thread back to the dubbing you wrapped earlier. Starting again from that position, tie on more dubbing and weave it up the rest of the hook to complete the body. You should wrap around the bead chain eyes a bit, as well as in front of them, so that the entire hook shank is covered in dubbing. Finish this step by moving your thread position to just behind the eyes, next to the legs again.

Step 7:
Select one olive hackle feather, tie it in, and wrap it just behind the eyes for the collar.

Step 8:
Split the hackle strands on the bottom of the shank and push each to the side they are naturally closer to (like parting hair). Now pull the plastic Thin Skin tight over the top, and tie it off just behind the bead chain eyes, where your thread should be resting. Make sure you don't cut the excess plastic off yet. When the plastic is secure, start wrapping the copper wire up to the same point. You should be able to make about 4 wraps around the body. When wrapping the wire forward, take care to weave it between the legs so that you don't accidentally pin down any of them. Tie off the copper wire at the same point you tied down the Thin Skin.

Step 9:
Move your thread in front of the beach chain eyes, just behind the hook eye. Pull the remaining Thin Skin over the eyes, and tie it down. To make a clean finish, pull the excess plastic back towards the hook bend and make a few wraps in front of it.

Step 10:
Still holding the Thin Skin tightly facing backwards, snip off all the excess. Trim off any protruding pieces, and whip finish to lock everything down. If you want to make sure things never unravel, use a few drops of super glue on the thread wraps behind and in front of the beach chain eyes.

Step 11:
With a dubbing brush or any hard bristled brush, scrape the dubbing on the bottom of the fly so that the fibers point outward and look a little more natural.

And there we have it! Your fly is complete!

Fishing this fly is fairly simple, and the best method to do so simply depends on what species you are after or how they behave in your home water.

The carp around me are very skittish, so I like cast this ahead of them and let it sink naturally with no stripping. The best result is when it sinks past their face about 1 foot away.

If you are targeting bass or bream, I'd recommend slowly retrieving the fly with short strips.

You can certainly use this for trout and other species as well, with either of the two methods mentioned above.

Much thanks to the original creator of this fly for such a wonderful pattern, and for sharing it in their blog.