Mopey from mayflies? Crazy from caddis? Dried out on dry flies? Look no further – in today’s Fly Tying Video Feature we’re looking at some of the more creative end of the spectrum.

Don’t be misled by the “Carp Flies” title of the post – each of these flies works well on other species, trout included. Most of these have been developed for carp, hence the title. These are some fun nymphs to tie, and most fall into the “generally imitative” category. Have at it!

Barry’s Carp Bitter (In the Riffle)

A few things I do slightly different when I tie this: I tie in the rubber legs all the way to just behind the eye of the hook, and add 2 shank-length strips of .025 lead-free wire on top, then tie in the medium bead chain eyes. This helps the fly ride hook point up. (That tip is from Zimmerman’s The Best Carp Flies: How to Tie and Fish Them.)

Carp Crawler (Fly Fish Food)

This one just looks buggy, and it’s got a little bit of everything for movement.

Befus’ Rubber-Legged Swimming Nymph (Netknots Fly Tying)

Brad Befus ties his variation on the Clouser Swimming Nymph. Both patterns are great for imitation generic-looking larger nymphs in stillwater and river environments. As he mentions in the video, he ties in in sizes ranging from 16-4 depending on the water conditions. Very buggy-looking!

Cohen’s Shaggin’ Dragon (Pat Cohen)

Pat Cohen shows how to tie one of his dragonfly nymph imitations, the Shaggin’ Dragon.