Good Morning Sir Matt, The Darren Stokely looks amazing. I'll be home for a week due to a injury. I'll be able to tie this fly and many others you have taught us through this channel. Thank you Matt.
@@edwardthornton2156 thank you I was told I pulled something in my groin I heard it snap like a rubber band they said I probably pulled a muscle from the bone they did a cat-scan last night supposed to see a specialist today with an MRI for better detail to see if I may need surgery just keep me in your prayers thanks for your concern nothing like this has ever happened to me before
Edward, I hope you get to feeling better soon! A pulled muscle, especially in your groin is no joke. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't need surgery. Good luck my friend!
Wow Thomas, that's cool to hear. I have yet to meet a famous fly tier but I'm planning on going to the international show this November so maybe I'll get to meet some of the legends there. Thanks for the note!
Appreciate it Dave! And yeah, I don't imagine you have any big stoneflies down in Alabama, but I'll bet the New Englanders would be jealous of the huge grasshoppers you have down there. :-)
I'd love to try tying with real seal fur someday. I've looked at coats on Ebay, but don't think I want to spend a couple hundred dollars to cut a coat into patches for tying. :-)
@@SavageFlies hi Matt sorry I didn’t mean your fly looked bad I just noticed that you seemed to be getting a little flustered with the jungle cock twisting that’s all 👍😜 We all love the content you put together for us. Thanks Matt
Beautifully tied, Matt. Yours looks just like the one in McClane's Encyclopedia that Elsie Darbee tied. Can't do better than that! I remember staring at the one in McClane's and trying to copy it when I first started out. I didn't have JC for the wing cases, so I used light mottled turkey segments like you said, and I used gold-dyed turkey wing feather barbs for the tails. In #8 and 10, it was my best high-water spring nymph for a very long time
Wow Pete, I'm taking that as high praise indeed! And funny you mention McClane's Encyclopedia. I was just looking at some of his older books. So many other books reference them I probably need to pick one up. Is this the one you are talking about? amzn.to/2W981tl
@@SavageFlies Yep, thats the book (encyclopedia). Flies in all but one or two of the plates are by Harry or Elsie Darbee, as indicated at the bottom of each plate. Dry, wet, streamer, nymph, salmon. I think the muddler and variants plate was by Whitlock. Besides the flies, still one of the most amazing fishing compendiums ever assembled! And often less than 25$ at the used book store Speaking of Catskill tiers work, McClane's The Practical Fly Fisherman has four plates of flies by Walter Dette. Its occasionally at used book stores, but not as reliably as the Encyclopedia. www.amazon.com/practical-fly-fisherman-McClane/dp/0136893988/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+practical+fly+fisherman&qid=1626950191&sr=8-1
@@peteyarrington582 Excellent! I found decent used copies of both these so will give them a look. The encyclopedia looks like a seminal work (and is referenced often enough) by other authors. I can't wait to check it out!
That fly would be functional with lively legs or other type of artificial legs. I would probably use two wiggle legs for small antennae. I have tied multiple types of golden nymphs. They all work. I have added lead and bead heads too. This nymph is one for the collection. However I might add the legs and antennae to a couple. I know traditionalists frown on plastics and synthetics. But then again this pattern uses d rib. Now I need to get over using foam on dry flies because those patterns work and always float. So I need to rest the traditionalist mindset too. If it works, tie it! Thanks for exhibiting this pattern. As always, tight lines!
Thanks Ed. Sometimes I'm a little torn with synthetics. I'm certainly not a purist, and don't mind big rubber legged, foam hoppers with crystal flash in the wing... but sometimes when I'm paying homage to a tier and his 100 year old pattern, I wouldn't fee right messing with it too much. (Or else when I do, we have to call it something else!) I didn't feel too bad substituting the vinyl D-rib for monofilament in this case, since I kept most other materials close to original. Now... if you put Lively Legz on this thing, you would *have* to call it something other than Darbee's Stone! Honestly though, I've never used them. I always thought they looked too stiff. Are they really "lively?" As short as they are, do they have any wiggle to them? I might have to pick some up just to give them a try. :-)
@@SavageFlies you absolutely right about the flexibility. In some patterns they are a pain to tie into a fly. But it’s the look and the effect. I tied some of the lively leg patterns. I had success with 3- patterns. I actually had a killer day on your big gunpowder with a hairs ear pattern with the legs. The pheasant tail and the double trouble nymph work real good too.
Looks like a very functional pattern. Nice tying job, Matt. Being thrifty (cheap actually), I would probably not use jungle cock for the wing pads. On stoneflies, I like to use a wing burner on parts of a mottled feather like turkey or pheasant with yellow added by coloring it with a yellow marker, then coating it with rubber cement to make it more durable.
Great point Bob. Do they make wing burners (by that I mean the brass clampy things) that would be as small as these JC nails? I have three sets for burning- caddis, stonefly and mayfly shaped, three sizes each, but they all look bigger than these nails. But this is really a great idea. I'm going to play around with it, maybe cut (or burn) a dozen or more at a time, then do some resin or cement on them all, let them dry, and then touch it with some yellow Tester's model paint. You just gave me a great idea for a new video. "DIY Jungle Cock Feathers for Fly Tying." And... I just searched and no one has done this before. Or at least posted how to do it. This will be fun. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)
@@SavageFlies The wing burners I have aren’t as small as a jungle cock feather, but they are pretty small. They come in a shape like the upper half of a heart shape like the real wing pads. You actually can make your own by buying small brass rectangles about 10-12” long, folding them over into a “U” shape then cutting to shape with a small hacksaw. Mine weren’t that great though, so I stick with the purchased one. Most stonefly nymphs I tied were size 4-10. Smaller ones, I just stiffened a hackle tip & cut a “V” with scissors.
I think guinea would look great Rollin. Two fibers for the tail, and a few short ones for the throat would probably have a similar action as the pheasant and partridge.
I think you're 100% right on that Bob. If I was tying a dozen of these to fish, I would weight at least half of them. Some with wraps, and then try a couple with a tungsten bead. Maybe both wraps and a bead if I wanted something to punch through fast water and get deep quickly.
Nice one Matt, that fuzzy body must glow with diffused light, the rib too. Kinda high end with JC nail wing cases though. Feather-Craft promoted using starling as a jungle cock sub (similar to what James Vatter said but not painted) They're probably small but for $10 compared to a JC neck... the price of a neck, no matter the grade, always put me off, but they do look classy and supposedly have "magical" qualities. I'll bet some black lace hen dyed yellow would look and work good. Matt I usually use a thread bump or a small dubbing ball to split the tail fibers. Thanks for the video!
Ahhh... two great points here Joe. 1) How did I forget to make the thread bump before the tail?? I know that trick! And 2) starling is a great idea for making something akin to JC nails. I just responded to Bob down below about using a wing burner, then some cement to harden them, and then some model paint. For a $10 starling skin, and two dollars worth of cement and paint, we could probably make a hundred JC nails. And I don't think anyone has ever done a DIY video on this. (Maybe because it's a bad idea and it will look terrible, but I'm going to try it anyway!) Thanks for the inspiration. :-)
Great looking fly, Matt. Jungle cock eyes have always eluded me. I saw an imitation once made with painted starling feathers that worked okay...I guess. The full synthetic ones just don't work for me.
Yeah Jim, they are hard to justify if you don't use them a lot. Like Edward says, you can find them on Ebay sometimes for around $50 for a grade C, but other than that, Whitewater Flies has the best price I've found at around $70. www.whitewaterflies.com/JUNGLE-COCK-CAPES-Grade-AA-A-B-and-C_p_3802.html
Another nice one Matt. Just a comment on tying in general. Predators in nature search for weakness so misshapen/crippled prey should pique their interest. So why do fly tiers try to make perfect imitations? It seem to me a little imperfection may be attractive to predators. I might be over thinking this, I don't know. Keep the good stuff coming.
That's a good point, and one we would be smart to remember. But I do think for streamers, we can tie a clean imitation, and then mimic an injured or weak baitfish by how we retrieve it. And I imagine when we stop a retrieve and let our streamer dead drift or sink, that might look a lot like a dead or dying baitfish. But then again, I probably over think it too. :-)
Good Morning Sir Matt, The Darren Stokely looks amazing. I'll be home for a week due to a injury. I'll be able to tie this fly and many others you have taught us through this channel. Thank you Matt.
I hope you are okay and your injury isn't serious. Wish you the best.
@@edwardthornton2156 thank you I was told I pulled something in my groin I heard it snap like a rubber band they said I probably pulled a muscle from the bone they did a cat-scan last night supposed to see a specialist today with an MRI for better detail to see if I may need surgery just keep me in your prayers thanks for your concern nothing like this has ever happened to me before
Edward, I hope you get to feeling better soon! A pulled muscle, especially in your groin is no joke. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't need surgery. Good luck my friend!
Sorry Matt it's the wrong Edward. Edward Chavez is the one with the injury. I ask him if he was ok that's how the mix up happened. SORRY@@SavageFlies
How are doing. I was just checking to see how you are. I haven't seen any comments on Matt's site@@edwardchavez5627
Love tying nymphs. Cool flies. Like this stonefly !! Thx Matt.
Appreciate it Clyde!
Harry and Elsie Darbee!. I met them both before Elsie passed. Their Fly Shop was in The Living Room other House. They lived on Old Route 17
Wow Thomas, that's cool to hear. I have yet to meet a famous fly tier but I'm planning on going to the international show this November so maybe I'll get to meet some of the legends there. Thanks for the note!
Nice looking bug. Thank for sharing Matt.
Appreciate it Butch!
That’s what I love about you Matt. You’re “crazy that way”. 😂😂
Ha! Thanks Mike. :-)
Absolutely beautiful pattern.well done matt.great nymph.well done.thanks for sharing Matt
Appreciate it Mike!
awesome matt rally like this one...thanks ... and as always i will be watching.... see ya joe..
Nice pattern, will have to put a few of these in my box. Thanks Matt for sharing
You bet Layton; appreciate it my friend!
This pattern looks effective!
Thank you my friend! If the Darbees and Dettes liked the pattern, you know it's a pretty good one. :-)
Awesome looking fly you tied.
I wish we had stone flies in our area here in Alabama. Thanks for the video, I enjoyed watching it.
Appreciate it Dave! And yeah, I don't imagine you have any big stoneflies down in Alabama, but I'll bet the New Englanders would be jealous of the huge grasshoppers you have down there. :-)
I like this one Matt. Definitely going to try it.
Appreciate it Chad! (I've never used this one, but hopefully it'll do well for us. :-) )
Good morning Matt, I love the stone flyer really incredible pic I’m gonna have some coffee and study this fly. Lol, I do have some seal for fur😳🤣🤣🤣
I'd love to try tying with real seal fur someday. I've looked at coats on Ebay, but don't think I want to spend a couple hundred dollars to cut a coat into patches for tying. :-)
@@SavageFlies I am sending you an email.
@@jimholland1592 Jim- I just got it. And just ordered a bunch of stuff from him. Now I can be a seal-fur-tying maniac. :-)
Like that stonefly
Appreciate it Mark!
This is a good one Matt. Will definitely be trying this one.
Appreciate it Karl!
Great fly Matt awesome stoney 👍 (just remember you can always go back )
Thanks Colin! And yeah, I know... sometimes I go back and edit out my screw ups, but usually I just roll with them. :-)
@@SavageFlies hi Matt sorry I didn’t mean your fly looked bad I just noticed that you seemed to be getting a little flustered with the jungle cock twisting that’s all 👍😜
We all love the content you put together for us.
Thanks Matt
Matt, well done!
Appreciate it George!
Beautifully tied, Matt. Yours looks just like the one in McClane's Encyclopedia that Elsie Darbee tied. Can't do better than that!
I remember staring at the one in McClane's and trying to copy it when I first started out. I didn't have JC for the wing cases, so I used light mottled turkey segments like you said, and I used gold-dyed turkey wing feather barbs for the tails. In #8 and 10, it was my best high-water spring nymph for a very long time
Wow Pete, I'm taking that as high praise indeed! And funny you mention McClane's Encyclopedia. I was just looking at some of his older books. So many other books reference them I probably need to pick one up. Is this the one you are talking about? amzn.to/2W981tl
@@SavageFlies Yep, thats the book (encyclopedia). Flies in all but one or two of the plates are by Harry or Elsie Darbee, as indicated at the bottom of each plate. Dry, wet, streamer, nymph, salmon. I think the muddler and variants plate was by Whitlock. Besides the flies, still one of the most amazing fishing compendiums ever assembled! And often less than 25$ at the used book store
Speaking of Catskill tiers work, McClane's The Practical Fly Fisherman has four plates of flies by Walter Dette. Its occasionally at used book stores, but not as reliably as the Encyclopedia. www.amazon.com/practical-fly-fisherman-McClane/dp/0136893988/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+practical+fly+fisherman&qid=1626950191&sr=8-1
@@peteyarrington582 Excellent! I found decent used copies of both these so will give them a look. The encyclopedia looks like a seminal work (and is referenced often enough) by other authors. I can't wait to check it out!
That fly would be functional with lively legs or other type of artificial legs. I would probably use two wiggle legs for small antennae. I have tied multiple types of golden nymphs. They all work. I have added lead and bead heads too. This nymph is one for the collection. However I might add the legs and antennae to a couple. I know traditionalists frown on plastics and synthetics. But then again this pattern uses d rib. Now I need to get over using foam on dry flies because those patterns work and always float. So I need to rest the traditionalist mindset too. If it works, tie it! Thanks for exhibiting this pattern. As always, tight lines!
Thanks Ed. Sometimes I'm a little torn with synthetics. I'm certainly not a purist, and don't mind big rubber legged, foam hoppers with crystal flash in the wing... but sometimes when I'm paying homage to a tier and his 100 year old pattern, I wouldn't fee right messing with it too much. (Or else when I do, we have to call it something else!) I didn't feel too bad substituting the vinyl D-rib for monofilament in this case, since I kept most other materials close to original.
Now... if you put Lively Legz on this thing, you would *have* to call it something other than Darbee's Stone! Honestly though, I've never used them. I always thought they looked too stiff. Are they really "lively?" As short as they are, do they have any wiggle to them? I might have to pick some up just to give them a try. :-)
@@SavageFlies you absolutely right about the flexibility. In some patterns they are a pain to tie into a fly. But it’s the look and the effect. I tied some of the lively leg patterns. I had success with 3- patterns. I actually had a killer day on your big gunpowder with a hairs ear pattern with the legs. The pheasant tail and the double trouble nymph work real good too.
Good looking fly Matt, I do enjoy your videos.
Thank you Donald; I appreciate you watching! (And leaving comments always helps promote a video too. :-) )
Nicely done 👏👏👏
Nice fly! This fly works great on the Canadian west coast! 12 to 16 sizes, so on the smaller side. P.S. we have seal fur in Canada still!
Great pattern. Got to love stonefly nymphs. Jungle cock for the carapace looks cool. Thanks, Mr O'Neal.
You bet Todd! Appreciate the note. :-)
Looks like a very functional pattern. Nice tying job, Matt.
Being thrifty (cheap actually), I would probably not use jungle cock for the wing pads. On stoneflies, I like to use a wing burner on parts of a mottled feather like turkey or pheasant with yellow added by coloring it with a yellow marker, then coating it with rubber cement to make it more durable.
Great point Bob. Do they make wing burners (by that I mean the brass clampy things) that would be as small as these JC nails? I have three sets for burning- caddis, stonefly and mayfly shaped, three sizes each, but they all look bigger than these nails. But this is really a great idea. I'm going to play around with it, maybe cut (or burn) a dozen or more at a time, then do some resin or cement on them all, let them dry, and then touch it with some yellow Tester's model paint. You just gave me a great idea for a new video. "DIY Jungle Cock Feathers for Fly Tying." And... I just searched and no one has done this before. Or at least posted how to do it. This will be fun. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)
@@SavageFlies The wing burners I have aren’t as small as a jungle cock feather, but they are pretty small. They come in a shape like the upper half of a heart shape like the real wing pads. You actually can make your own by buying small brass rectangles about 10-12” long, folding them over into a “U” shape then cutting to shape with a small hacksaw. Mine weren’t that great though, so I stick with the purchased one. Most stonefly nymphs I tied were size 4-10. Smaller ones, I just stiffened a hackle tip & cut a “V” with scissors.
Good morning
Good morning Marty!
I think I’ll try some guinea feathers.
I think guinea would look great Rollin. Two fibers for the tail, and a few short ones for the throat would probably have a similar action as the pheasant and partridge.
If you bring the threat up between the tails, they'll stay apart
Yep, great idea. Or also, put a little thread bump before tying them in. I always forget to do that too. :-)
How could a fish resist this fly? Good one to tie and try!! I'm going to add some weight though, get the fly near the bottom, tumbling along.
I think you're 100% right on that Bob. If I was tying a dozen of these to fish, I would weight at least half of them. Some with wraps, and then try a couple with a tungsten bead. Maybe both wraps and a bead if I wanted something to punch through fast water and get deep quickly.
Buzzy...hahaha. I may have to use that. 😂
Yeah, sometimes I have a hard times with words and talking and stuff. :-)
Nice one Matt, that fuzzy body must glow with diffused light, the rib too. Kinda high end with JC nail wing cases though. Feather-Craft promoted using starling as a jungle cock sub (similar to what James Vatter said but not painted) They're probably small but for $10 compared to a JC neck... the price of a neck, no matter the grade, always put me off, but they do look classy and supposedly have "magical" qualities. I'll bet some black lace hen dyed yellow would look and work good.
Matt I usually use a thread bump or a small dubbing ball to split the tail fibers. Thanks for the video!
Ahhh... two great points here Joe. 1) How did I forget to make the thread bump before the tail?? I know that trick! And 2) starling is a great idea for making something akin to JC nails. I just responded to Bob down below about using a wing burner, then some cement to harden them, and then some model paint. For a $10 starling skin, and two dollars worth of cement and paint, we could probably make a hundred JC nails. And I don't think anyone has ever done a DIY video on this. (Maybe because it's a bad idea and it will look terrible, but I'm going to try it anyway!) Thanks for the inspiration. :-)
Great looking fly, Matt. Jungle cock eyes have always eluded me. I saw an imitation once made with painted starling feathers that worked okay...I guess. The full synthetic ones just don't work for me.
I got mines on eBay pretty reasonable
Yeah Jim, they are hard to justify if you don't use them a lot. Like Edward says, you can find them on Ebay sometimes for around $50 for a grade C, but other than that, Whitewater Flies has the best price I've found at around $70. www.whitewaterflies.com/JUNGLE-COCK-CAPES-Grade-AA-A-B-and-C_p_3802.html
Hi Matt. I like the looks of that fly and how those jungle cock eyes form the back piece. Good work on that one.
Looks good looks buggy
Another nice one Matt. Just a comment on tying in general. Predators in nature search for weakness so misshapen/crippled prey should pique their interest. So why do fly tiers try to make perfect imitations? It seem to me a little imperfection may be attractive to predators. I might be over thinking this, I don't know. Keep the good stuff coming.
That's a good point, and one we would be smart to remember. But I do think for streamers, we can tie a clean imitation, and then mimic an injured or weak baitfish by how we retrieve it. And I imagine when we stop a retrieve and let our streamer dead drift or sink, that might look a lot like a dead or dying baitfish. But then again, I probably over think it too. :-)
Was this real JC feather or imitation? Do you recall what size of the feather (s, md, lg)?
It was real jungle cock and a medium to small size nail.
Nicely done👏👏👏