Here is the fly pattern sheet for the Good and Plenty.
Option 1 – good for BWO and PMD, size 16 – 20
Materials | |
Hook: | Dai-Riki 060 |
Thread: | 8/0 Rusty or tobacco thread |
Tail: | Brown flouro-fiber or black Krystal flash |
Rib: | Small amber wire or root beer Krystal flash |
Body: | Rusty or tobacco brown thread |
Thorax: | Same as body |
Option 2 – good for PMD, size 16 – 18
Materials | |
Hook: | Dai-Riki 060 |
Thread: | 8/0 Flourescent pink thread |
Tail: | Brown flouro-fiber or black Krystal flash |
Rib: | Small amber wire or root beer Krystal flash |
Body: | Flourescent pink thread |
Thorax: | Same as body |
Option 3 – good for PMD during dun hatch, size 16 – 18
Materials | |
Hook: | Dai-Riki 060 |
Thread: | 8/0 Rusty brown |
Tail: | Tan flouro-fiber or bonefish tan Krystal flash |
Rib: | Small hot orange wire |
Body: | Rusty brown thread |
Thorax: | Yellow thread |
Option 4 – good for BWO, PMD and Callibaetis, size 12 – 20
Materials | |
Hook: | Dai-Riki 060 |
Thread: | 8/0 Tan |
Tail: | Brown flouro-fiber or black Krystal flash |
Rib: | Small gold wire |
Body: | Tan thread |
Thorax: | Dark brown thread |
Directions:
- Debarb hook, start abdomen thread.
- Attach tail, then rib and wind thread back to barb.
- Wrap abdomen the shape of half of a football (see photo). Whip finish and attach thread for thorax.
- Wrap thread rearwards back to the where the abdomen thread stopped. Wrap the rib forward and secure with the thread.
- Finish the thorax to complete the football shape (see photo).
- Whip finish.
- Coat the entire fly with 1 or 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s or UV resin.
Bonus: Add an extra small silver bead to make a “Mercury Good and Plenty. I use a size 20 Mercury Good and Plenty when fish balk at larger
“No, this fly is not made using candy or one that you can get at a candy stores or the movie theater (seniors will know what I mean). Early this year, I purchased a DVD by Steve Parrott entitled “Tying European Nymphs – Patterns for Success”. One of the fly groups he addressed was entitled “Micro Nymphs” – flies to use for shallow water where not much weight is needed to sink the fly. The Good and Plenty was in the group. One look at the fly and I knew it was going to be a winner. Boy, was I right! This pattern is easy to tie, durable, and allows the tier to experiment with different color combinations, rib material, and hook sizes.
I started using this fly during the blue-winged olive (BWO) hatches this spring on the Crooked River. Consistently, it produced a lot of redbands and mountain whitefish during the hatches. This summer, the pattern “saved my bacon” on three Colorado rivers, especially on brown trout. This August, the pattern has accounted for many bows and whitefish during the pale morning dun (PMD) hatches on the Crooked. In the morning before the PMD hatch starts and when the nymphs are active, I use a size 18 or 20 Good and Plenty as my bottom fly and a size 18 midge larva or pupa pattern as my top fly. When the duns start hatching I switch the patterns so the Good and Plenty is higher in the water column. I also think this pattern is a size 12 to 16 will be a good Callibaetis pattern.” – Bill Seitz