The Prince Nymph

I have often thought that the stonefly nymph could be represented by our standard brown nymph pattern, because in fast moving water old speckles has to make up its mind pretty quickly as a bit of tucker drifts by, or it misses out. In reality the size and colouring of both these nymphs are somewhat similar, which adds to my argument. Just the same, to the untrained eye, the easiest way to tell the difference between the two nymphs is that the mayfly nymphs are a lot less robust looking than the stonefly. The stonefly nymph has pronounced wing buds and broad, strong looking legs and long feelers, which, as we know, are not evident on mayflies.

Enter The Prince Nymph

One stonefly nymph pattern that is not on what you could call the favourites list here in Australia, is a fly pattern known as the Prince Nymph. Why I don’t know, it could be because the Aussie flyflicker does not appreciate the old stonefly as a food form for old speckles, as it does the mayfly. Wake up guys, you really do not know what you are missing out on.

It would appear a man with a number of names developed the Prince Nymph and it depends on who you read as to whom you believe actually developed this pattern. The names in the hat are Doug Prince, Charlie Prince, whilst others will say it was developed by Don and Dick Olson of Bemidji in Minnesota and was made popular by “Doug” Prince of Monterey California. Either way I don’t care, as those guys gave us a great fly.

In doing a bit of research on this pattern I punched the Prince Nymph into Google and it came up with over 33,000 links to look at. In America the Prince Nymph is rated as one of the top ten nymphs one should carry in their fly box. It is right up there with the pheasant tail nymphs and the old gold ribbed hare’s ear.

The Prince Nymph is not difficult to tie and the pattern is as follows:

Hook: Mustad Signature Series R72
Size: 16-12
Thread: Black 8/0
Bead: Optional, gold or colour of your choice
Tail: Two brown goose biots tied splayed
Body: Peacock herl tied evenly along body
Ribbing: Gold oval tinsel
Hackle: Brown hen or cock hackle fibres tied full or as a throat hackle
Over Wings: A pair of white goose biots

NOTES: The original version of the Prince Nymph used ostrich herl as the body. I can see that working, as the colouration to the real thing is a lot closer but as that old Mortein advert used to say, 'when you're on a good thing, stick to it'. The original did not have a gold bead on the head of the fly, however I feel for fishing in our mountain streams the addition of a bead head, be it brass or tungsten, is in our favour.

FISHING TIPS
Fishing with the Prince Nymph is just the same as you would with the standard gold bead head nymph, preferably under some sort of indicator and take note of the colour of the water. In fact in flowing streams the water is generally not deep but there are pockets of deeper water which show up as being a lot darker in colour and that is where your fish will be holding. Cast short and strike quickly, in this game you have to give at least 110% concentration or you are out.