Overview

Charlie Craven's Juju Baetis has become the baetis nymph that other baetis nymphs get measured against. It grew directly out of his Jujubee Midge, built when he wanted that same tightly segmented, hard-wearing body applied to the small mayfly nymphs that make up so much of a tailwater trout's diet. The result is a fly with a genuinely correct small-mayfly outline rather than a rough approximation of one.

The body is thread and SuperHair rather than dubbing, finished hard and glossy. That construction is why the pattern holds its shape fish after fish instead of going shaggy after the first few, and why the segmentation stays crisp in clear water where trout have time to inspect. The slim, dense build also sinks without needing bulk added to it, so the fly drifts at the speed of the current rather than dragging behind it. Fish it as the trailing nymph on a two-fly rig, on a Euro-nymph leader, or under a dry through a blue-winged olive hatch. Tied here in sizes 18 and 20.Read More +