The "A. P." in this fly's name could stand for either "All Purpose" or the inventor, André Puyans. A generic nymph, it looks like a lot of things that live underwater and get eaten by trout. You can weight the fly with lead under the body or with a beadhead.
The following step-by-step tying process will assist you in tying the A.P. series nymphs.
The unique manner in which they are tied can be incorporated into many other patterns.
A.P. Nymph
Additional Recipes
A.P. Beaver Nymph
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Black
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Dark Moose Hair
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed Beaver Fur
Head: Dubbed Beaver Fur
A.P. Black Beaver Nymph
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Black
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Dark Moose Hair
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed Black Beaver Fur
Head: Dubbed Black Beaver Fur
A.P. Claret & Beaver Nymph
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Black
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Dark Moose Hair
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed blend of 40% medium color beaver,
20% claret synthetic for, 20% seal brown synthetic fur & 20% hares ear
Head: Dubbed with body blend
A.P. Hendrickson Nymph
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Brown
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Bronze mallard
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed dyed reddish brown beaver or synthetic fur
Head: Dubbed with body blend
A.P. Muskrat #1
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Gray
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Blue Dun Hackle Fibers
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed dark muskrat fur taken from the back of the muskrat
Head: Dubbed with body blend
A.P. Muskrat #2
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Gray
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Moose Body Hair
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed dark muskrat fur taken from the back of the muskrat
Head: Dubbed with body blend
A.P. Olive Nymph
Hook: Mustad 3906B or equivalent
Thread: Brown
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Dyed olive barred mallard
Ribbing: Gold Wire (copper can also be used)
Body & Thorax: Dubbed dyed olive beaver or synthetic fur
Head: Dubbed with body blend
A.P. Peacock & Pheasant Nymph
Hook: Mustad 9671 or equivalent
Thread: Black
Tail , Wingcase & Legs: Ringneck Pheasant center tail fibers. Select so that dark center portion covers wingcase area.
Ribbing: Copper Wire
Body & Thorax: Peacock herl
Head: Black tying thread
Tying Notes/Suggestions
Add a bead to make it a beadhead style fly
Add flash to make it a flashback style nymph
Try different colors & sizes to match the hatch
Try natural as well as synthetic dubbing
Tie the wing case similar to the Copper John
Use tinsel only as the wing case
Use your favorite hook
Try tying this pattern on a curved hook
Tie a light colored abdomen/dark colored thorax
Tie it with an all wire abdomen
Tie it weighted or unweighted
Use your favorite weighting material (lead or non lead)
You can weight the entire shank or just the thorax area
Dubbing the tiny heads on these patterns is optional
Length of tails should equal 1 to 1 1/2 times the hook gap
Tying techniques associated with this pattern
Wrapping thread on hook
Wrapping lead wire on hook
Tailing
Ribbing
Dubbing on thread and wrapping dubbed body, thorax & head areas
Wingcases
Creating legs
Disclaimer
The fly and recipes on this page is simply a demonstrated method of tying a fly.
Every fly tyer has his or her very own tying style which allows them the freedom to tie how and what they want and not stick to predetermined rules but to be creative..
5 comments:
As good as any other nymphs you'll need...thanks Normand.
I've tied lots of APs since learning the pattern from Andy Puyans in his fly tying class at Creative Sports in the 1990s. The black AP is my go-to generic nymph on freestone streams like the Upper Sacramento River in northern California.
I notice a tendency by many tiers to deviate from the original design by making the tail too long. Puyans specified a tail length of 1.5x the hook gap (shorter than the tails on most mayfly nymphs). This was documented in the May-June 1975 issue of 'Angler' magazine.
I don't know if the tail length matters to the trout, but it is a distinctive feature of this pattern so I like to keep my AP tails short.
I used Terry Helleksons book Popular Fly Patterns for the recipes and there is no mention of the tail length but the 1 1/2 hook gap is usually the standard proportion.
I didn't mean to imply your tails are too long, but I have seen APs (on other websites and in fly shops) with tails at least 2x the hook gap.
The recipes from your book are almost exactly the same as those published in the magazine I referenced. One difference is that Puyans specified the heads may be varnished thread or dubbing.
Anyway, thanks for writing this piece on the AP series. Good work on the blog, I look forward to future postings.
I do not have the luxury of having the May-June 1975 issue of 'Angler' magazine (never heard of it and cant find it on Google) as you do so I have to rely on other published books for information on recipes and how to tie these patterns.
The book I originally used for the pattern was Popular Fly Patterns by Terry Hellekson. I later discovered in his other book Fish Flies Volume 1 the following statement
"Dubbing the tiny head on these patterns is optional" and have added it to the blog article as well as the tail being 1 1/2 times the hook gap.
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