I love fishing classic fly patterns for trout. As is often the case, many of these patterns find their way into my panfish fly boxes. It is no secret that you can catch panfish on just about every trout fly pattern there is, but some seem to perform better than others, especially if you are fishing in a still water environment. For still water fishing in lakes and ponds, I prefer flies tied with materials that offer a lot of movement in the water. When it comes to materials that come alive in the water, you can't beat marabou! Combine that peacock herl, a material that is irresistible to any fish, and you are destined to have a winner.
The Pea-Ca-Bou Nymph tied with Grizzy Chickabou instead of the traditional marabou
Dick Talleur's Pea-Ca-Bou nymph is a fly that combines those two materials into a fish catching machine! I tie this fly variety of sizes from size eight down to a fourteen. I prefer the standard brown and peacock colors, but this is the type of pattern that opens itself up to a wide range of modifications. Feel free to experiment with different color marabou or even swapping out the peacock herl body for a dubbed one.
Generic nymph patterns like the Pea-Ca-Bou nymph are irresistible to big bluegills!
This nymph pattern always has a place in my warm water nymph/wet fly boxes. I often use it as a searching pattern as it is a generic nymph pattern that can imitate a wide variety of aquatic insects. That being said, I mostly fish it as a damselfly or dragonfly nymph pattern.
Recently my good friend Lou Digena created a video on how he ties Dick Talleur's Classic Pea-Ca-Bou Nymph. Lou tied the fly on my favorite warm water nymph hook, the TMC 2302. These days I use my Panfish Nymph Hook with has the same profile as the TMC 2302.
The vital thing to take away from Lou's video is how he creates the soft hackle collar on this fly. This technique allows you to use feathers of any size to create a soft hackle collar on any size fly. I am often asked how I find the feathers used on some of my smaller soft hackle patterns. The technique demonstrated in the video is the method I use, which allows me to use whatever feathers I have available.
One modification that I recommend if you adopt this pattern for panfish is adding a counter-wrapped wire rib. Though not part of the original design, the wire rib will give your fly a little more durability, a characteristic that is very important in panfish flies.
Pattern Recipe: For the fly pictured above. The recipe for the fly tied by Lou is in his video.
Hook: Natural Bend Nymph Hook size 8
Thread: Olive Brown 8/0 Semperfli Classic Waxed
Underbody: .015 lead wire
Tail: Brown Grizzly Chickabou or Brown Marabou
Body: Peacock Herl
Collar: Brown Grizzly Chickabou or Brown Marabou