Bug of the Month: Chocklett's Tungsten Gummy Black Stonefly

Blane Chocklett tapped the knowledge and ingenuity of his friend and former Virginia Tech professor, Harry Steeves, to create his famous Gummy Minnow. The new partners in fly fishing decided they needed to develop a new non-traditional synthetic material that would make fish go crazy! The gamble worked and Sili Skin was born. Today, the Gummy Minnow is taking both anglers and bass by storm!

Chocklett’s Tungsten Gummy Stonefly - Black Stonefly (Giant Salmonfly) is not a streamer pattern used to catch striped bass, but it incorporates the very same Sili Skin that has made the Gummy Minnow so effective. The Gummy Stonefly also uses the added weight of tungsten to help keep the fly low in the water column – where it should be. This fly pattern is extremely realistic, and the perfect answer to fishing those prolific early season giant salmonfly hatches in fast water!


Quick Hits

- This fly pattern was developed by fly tyer and Virginia-based fly fishing guide Blane Chocklett

- Black stonefly (giant salmonfly) imitation in the mature nymph life stage

- Use as either an impressionistic searching fly or as a realistic imitation when matching the hatch

- Drift the fly through different water types; faster riffles and shallower water near the banks of a river with moderate to slow currents are the most productive water types for this fly

- Black stonefly nymphs are available to trout all year long in trout water throughout North America

- Hatches occur consistently and with long duration throughout the daylight hours

- Strikes on black stoneflies are often far from subtle because trout must often be prepared to rip these strong clingers from their rocky homes

- When approaching a shallow water environment with a stonefly nymph, be extremely careful not to spook happily feeding trout

- Added weight of tungsten will keep the fly low in the water column

- Sili Skin gives a unique, buggy appearance to this fly pattern


To read more about Chocklett's Tungsten Gummy Black Stonefly or to add a row of these badass bugs to your fly box, click here.

If you'd like to browse all of Leland's hand-selected trout flies, click here.