This week’s TBT fly is the Prince Nymph. It originally was known as the Brown Forked Tail and created by Doug Prince from Monterey, CA in 1941. It’s a great pattern today anytime you want to put a nymph on your leader. The original pattern used black ostrich herl instead of peacock.
I began tying this fly in the 1970’s after finding it in Randall Kaufmann’s American Nymph Fly Tying Manual. In fact, lots of my first nymphs came from that book.
I use it mostly in a size 14, but learned several years ago from a guided trip in NE Oregon that a size 8 can be deadly. I carry both sizes these days. I only use the bead head style. Originally, it was tied without a bead.
