SNOWFLIES
pygmeaea allocapnia
These little guys show up around December 15th. Many anglers confuse them with midges because they have have atrophied tails. They are 5cm long, They have a black abdomen 1cm thick. The thorax is 2cm thick, it’s black.
The light blue dun wing extends from the back of head to tip of abdomen, it lies flat on it’s Back.
The bug has 6 legs and two antennae.
These nymphs crawl out of the water to hatch. You see them as early as December 15th, but they emerge heavily around February 15th.
The trout find them to be a valuable winter food source.
TYING INSTRUCTIONS
Place a #24 Mustad #94840 in the vice. Start 12/0, Giorgio Benecchi, dark dun or black THREAD above the hook point and wind foward to a point 2 1/2 hook eye lengths from the eye. You will never crowd the eye of the hook if you don’t let the body encroach on the bare hook. Wind back to the bend then back up the thread’s starting point. (2 1/2 hook eye lengths from the eye.) Bring the thread to a point 1 1/2 hook eye lengths from the eye as a foundation for the hackle.
Tie in a dun or black sz 24 HACKLE, wind it twice covering the thread foundation you just created.
Cover the next hook eye length in front of the body with thread as a foundation for the WING. Tie in a dun hen hackle wonder wing style.
You should be left with a one half hook eye length of bare hook behind the eye, which you will cover with thread and whip finish for the head.
Sometimes I dispense with the collar hackle and tie in the hackle at the bend of the hook and Palmer it
I suggest you not be without Snowflies during winter fishing on our Pennsylvania spring creeks.
Trout luv em!
