CDC Golden Stone - Fly Tying Instructions by Charlie Craven

This little CDC Stone pattern has was an offshoot of the CDC Pheasant Tail that I have grown so fond of. The use of CDC on nymphs has gained a much stronger presence in my tying than I ever thought it would. The CDC is so lively when wet, and creates so much life-like movement, that it is getting really hard to argue with. This fly is really pretty simple to tie and if you can tie a Hare’s Ear, you will probably have no problems with this one. I use this fly as the “Copper” in the Hopper/Copper/Dropper rig quite often as it’s larger size and weight make it a great candidate for this use. The fact that Golden Stones are so common in Colorado waters doesn’t hurt a bit either. I like this fly on the Arkansas, Colorado and Eagle Rivers particularly, but I know that it will work anywhere there are golden stones. Tie a few up in a variety of sizes, and don’t be afraid of the big ones. I most often fish this in a size 10 and an 8 is none too big.

Fly Tying Recipe:

Hook: TMC 5262 #8-16
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Bead: Gold Tungsten, sized to hook
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Weight: Lead Wire, sized to hook.
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Thread: Yellow 6/0 or 70 Denier.
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Tail: Dyed Yellow Pheasant Tail Barbs
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Rib: 4X Mono

Flashback: Mirage Saltwater Flash
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Abdomen: Golden Colored Nymph Dubbing…in this example I used Golden Brown Harrop Nymph Dubbing, but nearly any reasonably coarse dubbing will be fine
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Thorax: Same Dubbing as abdomen
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Legs: Natural Brown CDC, wrapped as a collar.
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Collar: Grizzly Hen Saddle dyed Gold.
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Head: Same dubbing as abdomen and thorax