Fly of the Week: Bitch Creek Nymph

bitch-creek_nymph_pattern

I had a college girlfriend who had a humorous habit of mistakenly calling the Bitch Creek Nymph, the Bear Creek Bitch.

Anytime I see a Bitch Creek Nymph in my fly box or tie one on, it reminds me of that gal. And that’s one reason, but not the only reason, why I like this fly and believe it deserves a place in every western angler’s fly box.

Nobody is quite sure where the Bitch Creek originated. Some say in southwest Montana where it was used on the big stonefly rivers, such as the Madison, Big Hole and Yellowstone. Others say it was tied and first fished in eastern Idaho on the Henry’s Fork and South Fork Snake rivers. No matter where it originated, nobody argues the merit of this fly, especially when fishing it early in the season during the salmonfly hatch.

Salmonflies, which are large two-inch long stoneflies, generally emerge from the bottom rocks and crawl toward shore in May and June, although I’ve even seen some pretty good salmonfly activity in early July on the Madison. Many of the West’s best freestone rivers see significant salmonfly activity, which means this fly works in Washington, Wyoming, and Colorado, too.

This is a pretty easy bug to tie, but it is most effective when fished along the bottom and bounced among the boulders, which means you’ll likely lose a bunch of flies while fishing this pattern. So, whether you are tying these on your own or purchasing through North 40, make sure you have several in your stonefly arsenal at all times.

The mix of orange and black chenille on this fly really draws a trout’s eyes. And the white, rubber legs on this fly stand out, too. You won’t see an actual salmonfly with white legs, but I think those rubber legs draw a trout’s attention, and then it sees the mix of black and orange and says, “Yo, I gotta eat that.”

Salmonflies emerge when freestone rivers are up and down, cloudy or semi-clear depending on the day. That’s spring fishing. When conditions are like that, those white legs serve well; however, when streams are clear, you may want to trim down or completely cut off those white legs.

I’ve done that while fishing steelhead on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, and closer to home on Idaho’s Salmon River, and had great results on the Bitch Creek in clear water.

You’ll want to fish the Bitch Creek in sizes 2, 4 and 6 and you’ll want to run it off of 2X, 3X or 4X tippet. I like to attached split shot above the fly to assist in a fast sink-rate. I lose flies, but I also catch a lot of really large trout on this pattern. That’s the tradeoff, the risk and reward for fishing the Bitch Creek Nymph deep.