Madam X

HOOK: 5263, sizes 6-10 THREAD: Yellow TAIL: Deer hair BODY: Yellow thread WING/HEAD: Deer tied bullet style, with ends pulled back to form wing LEGS: Round black rubber tied alonside

Uses

Imitates the adult form of the golden stonefly. It's a passable grasshopper pattern, too.

Variations

With orange thread for the body, this pattern imitates the larger salmonfly.

How to Fish

Stoneflies emerge on land, so adults are not available to trout when the hatch. But they spend several weeks crawling aroun in bankside vegetation looking for a mate. As the day warms up, the adults become active, and in their search for love they are often blown or fall out of overhanging vegetation. Once on the water, they either drown or are eaten by trout (let this be a lesson to you). So the best places to cast a salmonfly imitation are near the bank just downstream or downwind from overhanging vegetation. The river should be 2-4 feet deep, and if it has a rocky, bouldery bottom, so much the better. Use standard dry fly presentations

 
Near dusk, females salmonflies often gather in hoards, then drop to the river to lay their eggs. This is another fishing opportunity that should not be missed.

 
Because the salmonfly hatch is so popular with anglers, trout get pounded and soon become wary. A downstream presentation often works best in these circumstances.