The Gypsy King is a terrestrial pattern designed by Rance Rathie, owner of Patagonia River Guides in Argentina. Although originally tied to imitate an insect called a Cantaria Beetle it has become a popular stonefly imitation in this country, even though the two insects look nothing like one another.

The Gypsy King is a stonefly/cranefly/terrestrial imitation that sees a lot of use on trout streams throughout the world. Although it is often fished during stonefly hatches I consider the fly a general attractor pattern imitating a large variety of insects including craneflies, grass hoppers and large winged terrestrial insects. The Gyspy King is yet another example of a trout fly that has found a permanent home in my warm water fly boxes.

I believe the original pattern was tied with a peacock herl underbody and a brown or tan foam extended body. The fly has an under wing of a few strands of crystal flash to provide a little bling and a wing of deer or elk hair. Add to that some hackle and some rubber legs and you have all the ingredients to make a killer topwater bug.

Any pattern that includes foam and rubber legs has a good start at becoming a killer panfish fly. For the warm water variant of this pattern I swapped out the underbody for something more durable and will increase the float-ability of the fly. Although peacock herl is a fish magnet it is a delicate material and since any fly tied specifically for panfish must be durable enough to stand up to dozens of fish I felt a swap out was needed.

For ease of tying and extra floatation Semperfli’s Floating Poly Yarn was a perfect choice. Of course when tying the fly for yourself feel free to stick with the original peacock herl or even dubbing. The Semperfli Floating Poly Yarn reduced tying time and effort added additional durability and flotation and many available colors allows me to change color schemes easily.

I like tying this fly in both natural (black, brown olive) and hi-viz (yellow, chartreuse, green) colors. I swap out colors for underbodies, thread, hackle and rubber leg to compliment the color of the foam body.

Pattern Recipe: Gypsy King - Warm Water Variant

• Hook: Allen S402 in sizes 6 - 12 (if you want barbless use the S402BL)

• Thread: Semperfli Classic Waxed 6/0 in color to match body

• Underbody: Semperfli Floating Poly Yarn in color of choice

• Body: 2mm foam

  • I often use laminated foam for a bi-color effect

• Underwing: Three strands of Semperflash doubled

• Wing: Deer or Elk hair in light or dark colors

• Legs: Round Rubber or Silicon

• Hackle: Grizzly rooster feathers in color of choice