Damsel Nymphs

I have been tying and filling up the fly boxes for spring. I am going to be tying some Damsel Nymphs and have seen tons of variants out there. Seem slike a lot out there and some are overcomplicated. Just looking for something solid, simple and productive. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

I'm big fan of this all marabou olive damsel nymph

http://stevenojai.tripod.com/instmaradamsel.htm

If you're not familiar with Rickards' stillwater nymph, it's a good one. It's more of an all-purpose stillwater attractor but I'm sure it gets taken for a damsel at times.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/071805fotw.php

Another vote for Kaufmann's damsel; real effective pattern on the Blackfeet Reservation lakes. About as simple to tie as they come.

Regards,
Scott

Thanks for the help. I will tie em' both. Can't go wrong.

Norm,

That's an awesome vid; thanks for the link.

Regards,
Scott

http://flyfoundry.com/featured-fly-juicebug-damsel-nymph/

Here's my version of Dale Dennis' Damsel Nymph pattern. Perhaps a bit more complicated than need be but I like it a lot and it has proven to be pretty effective.

Great tie and thank you Preston, it has been the go too for some time I’ve considered doing a tying video of the pattern. I plan to demo it at the FFF fly tying fair this spring as well as the North Idaho fly tying expo in Lewiston in March.

I do one similar to the marabou that Gary posted. I use a small scud hook and don't clip the second batch of marabou.
note: Ostrich works too, but will fade in the sun

when wet the whole thing wiggles like the nymph does"

Dale I would much like to see an SBS for that pattern. Soon enough damsels will be killin it out there.

Boy, Preston's looks like a winner. I just looked and I have 9 different damsal nymph patterns in my lake box, and I am still looking for "the one." I was fishing a lake last year and looked down and could see a dozen of the little suckers swimming by my tube. That taught me that most of my patterns were too dense or complicated. I had a lot better luck with I simplified and cut down on material.

I too have many different styles of damselfly nymph patterns but this simple guy works best for me:

This is a great thread with cool patterns. I just complete one of Hans damsels and then find Dale's damsel posted! I will do that one tomorrow. i missed that class dale...

Then GAT puts up a nice quick tie damsel. I will be on this for a while!

What sizes do most use? I find my ties are generally larger than the naturals I see, so I remind myself to keep them small and slender.

I use 12-14 hooks but have seen naturals closer to 10 or even 8. They really are long suckers.

What is the body material on Dale Dennis' Damsel Nymph pattern? Is the bottom of the body darker than the top?

Thanks
TC

Sweet ties everyone. It made me hit the vice and keeping it simple in mind and adding a tiny bit of color... this is what I came up with. I think they will be effective.

They look good to me. Of course I don't count.... it's really up to the fish

SBS!