When I moved to Oregon to work as a biologist in 2015, many of the local anglers were fishing stonefly nymphs for steelhead. I wasn’t happy with the design or color profiles of many of the popular patterns.
The combination of blue or purple and black with a pink hotspot had always been successful for me when fishing for steelhead in the past. I searched for suitable materials to combine these colors into a stonefly nymph and found that Semperfli Straggle String and Hareline Micro-UV Polar Chenille made great body materials for the fly.
The Straggle Stone became deadly during the winter and spring when the steelhead Spey fishing got tough and the nymphing was more reliable.
I also caught plenty of trout and whitefish on the pattern so I added the brown variation as a more natural but still eye catching pattern for trout during the rest of the year. The Straggle Stone is now one of my favorite stonefly nymphs especially early in the year when some flash helps set it apart in stained water.
