Czech Nymph

Pattern Description:

My friend, Vince Ordonez, brought the Czech Nymph to my attention. The Czech Nymph gets its name from the Czechoslovakian National Fly-Fishing Team who used this fly in the world championships. Apparently, the fly worked very well.
This pattern really reminds me a lot of the Barr Net Builder Caddis.
I have used the Net Builder with great success on the Colorado River, near Parshall, Colorado, where it imitates the numerous free-living, net building caddis larvae. These bugs can get quite large. A pattern tied on a size six hook is not too big, but I more commonly fish it in size ten through fourteen.
Fish the Czech nymph with split shot on the bottom of the river with a dead drift. The Net Builders are present year round and the fish will really key in on them in the early spring and summer. I really like the look of this fly and look forward to adding it to my arsenal. Spring is here and it wont be long before a few trout get cross-Czeched!

Materials Needed:
Hook: TMC 2499SP-BL or 2488H #6-16
Thread: White 70 Denier UTC
Weight: Lead Wire
Shellback: Tan 1/8th Inch Scud Back
Over Rib: 5X Mono
Under Rib: Copper Wire
Abdomen: Olive Dubbing (SLF Master Class used here, Wapsi Sow-Scud dubbing works well as would any coarse type synthetic dubbing. Colors can be altered to match local insects.)
Head: Black Peacock Ice Dub, again, substitute as necessary.

Step 1
Begin by wrapping about fifteen turns of lead wire around the hook at its center.


Step 2
Start the thread at the front end of the lead wraps and proceed to cover the lead with a layer of thread, tapering it down to the bare hook shank on either end.


Step 3
Bring the thread up to bout three eye lengths back from the hook eye and tie in a four-inch long piece of tan scudback. Be sure to keep the scudback flat across the top of the shank when you tie it in. You do not want it to curl up on the near side of the hook, as it is prone to do.


Step 4
Stretch the scudback as you wrap over it all the way back to about one-third of the way down the hook bend.


Step 5
Tie in a six-inch length of 5X monofilament on the far side of the hook shank. Wrap back over the mono to the base of the scudback.


Step 6
Return the thread to the starting point and tie in a six-inch length of copper wire. Wrap the thread back over the copper wire to the base of the scudback as well.


Step 7
Dub the abdomen from the bend to the starting point forming a slightly tapered body.


Step 8
Apply the black Ice Dub to the thread and build a short head that starts slightly overlapped onto the abdomen and continues forward to the back of the index point.


Step 9
Wrap the copper wire rib forward with six or seven turns, over the abdomen and the head and tie it off at the rear edge of the index point. Clip the wire off.


Step 10
Pull the scudback forward over the top of the fly, stretching it just slightly, and tie it down at the index point. Do not clip the scudback just yet.


Step 11
Rib the monofilament forward over the top of the scudback with five or six evenly spaced turns over the abdomen, and two tightly spaced turns through the thorax. Tie off the mono and clip both it and the scudback flush against the hook shank. We didn’t trim the scudback earlier because sometimes when you wrap the rib, the tension of the rib shortens the scudback, and if you had cut the scudback first it could have pulled out, wreaking havoc for all.


Step 12
Color about four inches of tying thread with a black marker.


Step 13
Build a smooth thread head with the colored thread and whip finish. There should be no white thread showing at the front of the fly. We used white thread to preserve the light color of the abdomen once the fly is wet.


Step 14
Pick out the dubbing along the bottom and front of the fly with a wire dubbing brush.


Step 15
Rotate the fly in the vise so the back of the fly is facing you. Mottle the shellback with a fine tipped black or brown marker. Color the front two segments on top of the thorax with the marker, highlighting the thoracic region.


Step 16
Finished Fly, Top View. Notice the mono rib is staggered between the wire under ribbing and the division of the thorax by the rib.