Symph (hybrid streamer/nymph)

Submitted by Justin Watkins

I made this fly because I’d often want to dead drift something that looked like a nymph, but be able to strip it back streamer-style too.  I’d be looking in my boxes and the nymphs would look too small, and the streamers would look too big….And thus, the symph was born.  It’s probably been invented a hundred times over, but here is my recipe:

Hook: #6-12 (usually #8-10)

Thread: ANY, but in this case 6/0 brown

Tail: mallard flank fibers

Body: good dubbing mixture

Wing/overbody: mallard flank fibers

Head: brass bead

This fly resembles a cross between the “Olive Dream” that I saw in Fly Tier Magazine, and the “Bead Head Soft Hackle” that appears in an Orvis tying manual.  Time-savers include: (1) no rib [get your flash from a good dubbing mix], (2) no wing case.

It’s goofy, and simple….  And not tied all that well, but I can confirm that the pattern catches fish!