How to Tie: The Picky Eater

In this week’s “How to Tie” video feature, Charlie Craven with Charlie’s Fly Box ties a nymph every angler should carry in their box this spring, the Picky Eater.

Learn About This Fly:

Difficulty: Intermediate

Our trout friends are entering their happy place with temperatures consistently increasing as we inch closer to summer. Until larger hatches begin to emerge, the nymph game will likely continue to be the ticket for success. A variety of naturals and attractor patterns will cover all subsurface bases this time of year, especially when hatches are not visibly active. One nymph pattern to get you through the spring months is the Pick Eater, a fly that combines naturals with an attractor style to catch the eye of any hungry trout.

This pattern won’t give tyers with experience trouble and will provide novice tyers some important building blocks for common nymphs. Creating a CDC dubbing brush can be tedious, but the results are second to none. As Charlie mentioned, sharp scissors are essential to this step and patience will also go a long way. For jig style flies like the Picky Eater, this body style is massively productive and the backbone for several popular nymph patterns.

Whether fished in a European nymphing rig or under an indicator, this is a perfect point fly that will get down to the feeding zone. Make sure to tie a batch in several different sizes and test out hot spot colors to see what works best in your water. Using CDC for the collar will create subsurface movement to give this pattern life and add to its attracting capabilities. There may be nothing more satisfying than catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself and the Picky Eater is just the pattern to reaffirm that feeling.

Ingredients:

• Hook: #16-20 Hanak 450BL
• Bead: 2mm or 2.5mm Silver Tungsten Bead
• Thread: Olive Dun 72d Magpie Thread
• Tail: Coq De Leon
• Body: Olive Stripped Peacock
• Thorax: Squirrel Dubbing
• Hot Spot: #5 Glo-Brite Floss
• Collar: Natural CDC