Overview

The Rubberlegs is a simple, buggy stonefly nymph that Umpqua calls a deadly high-water fly. It is tied on a stout Tiemco 5262 hook with a mottled chenille body over a weighted underbody and plenty of rubber legs.

When rivers run high and fish hunker down near the bottom, it takes a big meal to get them to move, and this fly is exactly that. The legs kick and pulse in the current, suggesting a stonefly nymph tumbling downstream, and the mottled body looks right in almost any river. It is a workhorse from spring runoff through fall.

Euro Specs

• Bead: None on Coffee-Black and Dark Brown Brown (weighted underbody instead); the Jig Coffee/Black option is Umpqua's tungsten-bead jig version.
• Hook: Tiemco 5262 on the standard version; jig hook on the jig version.
• Role: Anchor or top fly of a two-nymph rig.

How to Fish It

• Two-nymph rig: fish it as the heavy top fly with a smaller nymph 14 to 18 inches below, under an indicator.
• High water: during runoff or after rain, drift it tight to the bottom along soft edges where fish hold.
• Euro rig: use the jig version on the point in fast pocket water.
• Twitch it: small lifts make the legs pulse and can trigger a strike.

Choosing Color and Size

Coffee-Black is a mottled, all-around stonefly color, and Dark Brown Brown matches darker stones and salmonfly nymphs. Jig Coffee/Black is the tungsten jig version for Euro rigs and snaggy bottoms.

Use 6 or 8 for big stoneflies and high water, and 12 or 14 for smaller stones and lower, clearer flows.