Guest Blogger: J. Stockard Pro Chris Williamson from Washington state. Follow Chris on Instagram @lessthancivilized .
This Parachute Poly Wing Stonefly is basically a beefed-up PMX...
One day, in the middle of nowhere up the Lewis River in WA, I ran into an older man who was having really good success with a large PMX he had tied with a really big elk wing. He handed me one on his way out, and I continued the success story, which became a very productive evening.
I tied many variations of the PMX since then, and there are a couple of ways I like to tie it. one is similar to this body with a poly wing, and the other is a less buoyant body material that rides really low with a big elk hair wing to keep it afloat.
Parachute Poly Wing Stonefly Recipe:
HOOK- Firehole 718 size 10 or similar.
THREAD - Semperfli nano silk 100D brown.
LEGS/TAILS - Hareline fine round rubber brown.
ABDOMEN - Wapsi 1mm razor foam brown, Semperfli dirty bug yarn caddis brown.
WING - Hareline para post wing dark grey, Hareline midge flash root beer.
THORAX - Dirty bug yarn caddis brown.
POST - Hareline para post wing Fl. Orange.
HACKLE - Whiting grizzly saddle feather.
Poly Wing Stonefly: Step-by-step
Put your hook in the vise — I went with the Firehole 718. Start your thread.
Tie in the polypropylene yarn.
Trim the yarn about 1/8” behind the hook.
Tie in the round rubber to create the tails.
Trim the tails to the desired length.
Tie in the 1mm razor foam.
Tie in the dirty bug yarn.
Make two wraps with the dirty bug yarn and then secure it with one wrap of thread.
Pull the razor foam forward. For the first segment, I like to pull the foam pretty tight to create the smallest segment possible. Secure it down with thread and make three wraps over the foam to define the segments.
Repeat two more wraps of dirty bug yarn.
Pull the razor foam forward and add another three wraps of thread over the foam.
For the next two segments, add three wraps of dirty bug yarn to make larger segments.
Once you have four segments and the shape of the body is to your liking, secure the yarn and foam down.
Trim both pieces of material off and make sure everything is secure.
Add rear legs. These do not have to be knotted legs if you want to save yourself some time.
Tie in midge flash for the underwing.
Now add the polypropylene yarn and fold it over to double the volume of the wing. I chose Hareline Para Post Wing Fiber because I like the rough texture it adds to the wing.
Trim both the wing and the flash to the desired length.
Now add the second set of rear legs, leaving space between both tie-in points to fit the body material later on.
Tie in front legs — make sure to leave room behind the eye of the hook.
Add head cement or super glue to tie-in points and secure with thread wraps.
Split the legs and prepare to trim them.
Trim one piece off each lower leg section.
Add the dirty bug yarn to the thorax and secure tightly in front of the wing.
Tie in the parachute post in the center of the thorax. I like to tie the post on this pattern pretty thick, so I double the Para Post Wing Fiber over before I secure it — this gives you four strands of material to make up the post.
Wrap the dirty bug yarn forward. Use the yarn wraps to create proper spacing between legs, then secure the yarn behind the eye of the hook and whip finish.
Turn the pattern down in the vise so you can get a better angle on that parachute post.
Now tie in your hackle feather — I like to go with a bigger hackle feather for this pattern, maybe a size 10.
Wrap your hackle down however many wraps you would like. Now apply super glue to a small portion of your thread and wrap around the bottom of the post, securing the hackle and post and eliminating the need to whip finish.
Trim your post to the desired length and the pattern is now complete.
