Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2021 - 13

Tying the
Hot Head Nymph
by Carl Haensel

photos by the author

When I find myself on the water in
the depths of the coldest time of the
year, it is for both fishing and to spend
time outside. I want to take the time
to connect with nature at its most
intense and relish the austere beauty
of the season. For fly anglers out in the
cold looking to make the most of their
time on the water as they search for
trout and steelhead, a good fly to try is
the Hot Head Nymph. Named for the
bright bead located just behind the
hook, it is a strong contender every
time I open my fly box in the winter.
When tying the Hot Head Nymph,
whip up a few variants of the key bead
colors. I use orange most often, but
pink can also motivate fish. If there
are still a few colorful fall leaves in the
water, a chartreuse bead may quickly
attract a fish to the fly. While the
standard pattern uses pheasant tail
fibers, it is possible to effectively use
a similarly colored dubbing. When
choosing your materials, use tungsten
beads. The significant weight will get
your fly down quickly, which is often
needed when trout and steelhead are
hunkered in the bottom of a deep
run or pool in the winter. If you are
snagging and losing flies regularly, try
using jigged fly fishing hooks. Hooks
with a 60-degree offset in the angle
of the eye of the hook allow it to ride
" point up " and avoid hooking the
stream bottom.
Fishing the Hot Head Nymph
is similar to other winter nymph
patterns. Use an indicator rig along
with one or two nymphs and add
enough weight to sink your fly to
near the bottom. I try to keep any
splitshot I use at least 10 inches
from the fly. In deep pools, it is
often effective to suspend the fly
just above the bottom, and work
the water with a long, slow dead
drift. When steelhead fishing in the
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winter, I often use this type of fly as
the bottom fly of a tandem rig. The
hook angle makes for easy hook
sets in deep water. Wintertime trout
hold similarly, though on warmer
days you may fish swifter water
and find active fish willing to move
to take the fly. Slowly swing it out
and lift at the end of your cast. An
aggressive fish may rush over and
attack the Hot Head Nymph.

Tying the Hot Head
Nymph Materials

Hook: Size 8 or 10 Firehole 516
jig hook or similar
Thread: Olive flat waxed
Bead: 5/32-inch orange tungsten bead
Tail: Natural pheasant tail
Wire: Fine small French tinsel
Thorax: Olive brown or peacock
E' Ice Dubbing
Abdomen: Natural pheasant tail

1 Begin your fly by placing the bead

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on the hook. Place the hook and
bead in the vise and attach your
thread. Form a thread mound
behind the bead to keep it in place.
Wrap the thread down the shank
of the hook to cover it. Tie in the
tail fibers, followed by the wire.
Wrap the pheasant fibers forward
to form the abdomen of the nymph
and tie off. Follow by wrapping
the wire forward and tying it off
behind the bead.
Add dubbing to the thread and
wrap behind the bead to form
the thorax of the fly. The thorax
dubbing should slightly exceed
the size of the bead.
Whip finish the fly just behind
the bead, and add a drop of
cyanoacrylate glue to secure the
wraps.
Your fly is finished and ready to fish.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * January/February 2021

13
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2021

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