Zebra Bomb Jig

Cheech - June, 2019

Depth is key in Euro nymphing... Easy enough right? Well, I know that I fall into this category at times, but how many of us kind of stop thinking about what our fly is doing once it breaks through the surface? You know that your fly is sinking, but how fast? What is the overall depth of your rig? How do you decide where to put your heaviest fly on your rig? These are all questions that you should have in the back of your head to make sure you are at the correct depth for feeding fish to eat your fly. One way to make sure you can vary the depth of your rig is to tie the same fly with various bead sizes. This is a huge advantage that a fly tyer has over the angler who only buys flies because factory flies usually only come with one bead size, and chances are that it's way too small for swift western rivers. I learned this from Lance Egan a while back, but it really came to light when he savagely tied on a size 16 Perdigon with a 4mm bead a few weeks ago. little much? Nah. It will still catch fish, and it helps the other flies in your team to achieve maximum depth.
This fly is a very simple pattern that is little more than thread, wire, and a little flash. (Just tie the wing cast before wrapping the wire, and then wrap the wire all the way through the wing case to the head.) Also, if you can find slotted tungsten beads with small holes you will be able to get them to seat nicely on a small hook, but a larger hole in the bead runs the risk of sliding over the eye. Our best bet has been Hanak beads, but even they vary a tiny bit.