Overview

The Tim's Stone is a stonefly nymph from Umpqua signature tyer Tim Drummond, first designed for the North Platte near North Park, Colorado. Tim has since fished it on the Roaring Fork and Yampa, and it has become a go-to in clear, rocky rivers full of stoneflies.

Stonefly nymphs live for one to several years among the rocks, so trout see them all season, and they are big meals. A tungsten bead gets this fly down quickly in the fast water where fish feed on stones. Splayed, mottled rubber legs make it look like a nymph that has lost its grip and is tumbling free, ostrich herl adds movement, and an iridescent back sits under the wing case to give a hint of flash without overdoing it.

Euro Specs

• Bead: Tungsten.
• Role: Anchor (point) or top fly in a two-fly rig, carrying a smaller nymph below.

How to Fish It

• Two-fly indicator rig: fish it as the heavy top fly with a smaller nymph 14 to 18 inches below, set about one and a half times the water depth.
• Euro rig: use it as the anchor fly in fast pocket water to pull a lighter dropper into the strike zone.
• Lift at the end: let it rise at the end of the drift to mimic a nymph swimming toward shore to hatch.
• Where and when: fast riffles and pocket water on freestone rivers, year-round, and especially in the weeks before stonefly hatches.

Choosing Color and Size

Dark matches salmonfly and darker golden stone nymphs, while Light covers golden stones and lighter species.

Fish 8 where the big salmonflies live, 10 as an all-around stonefly size, and 12 for smaller stones or when fish are wary.