Bead Head Prince Nymph
The Bead Head Prince Nymph is one of fly fishing's most versatile and productive attractor nymphs, combining the proven fish-catching qualities of the classic Prince Nymph with the added weight and flash of a brass or tungsten bead. This pattern doesn't imitate any specific insect, but rather suggests multiple food forms—stonefly nymphs, mayfly nymphs, and even small baitfish—making it effective across diverse water types and conditions. What distinguishes the Bead Head Prince from other nymphs is its bold appearance and multi-element construction. The peacock herl body provides iridescence that catches light underwater, while white biots or goose feathers create a distinctive split tail and wing case that fish seem to find irresistible. The soft hackle legs add lifelike movement in the current, and the bead head ensures the fly sinks quickly into the strike zone while adding an attractor flash point. This pattern excels as an anchor fly in two-nymph rigs, where its weight helps turn over the leader and presents a smaller trailing fly at the proper depth. It's equally effective fished solo in pocket water, riffles, and runs where trout hold near the bottom. The Prince produces year-round, but particularly shines during spring stonefly emergences and throughout summer when trout are actively feeding on a variety of subsurface food forms. Anglers fishing the Bead Head Prince should employ standard nymphing techniques—dead drift with occasional short strips or lifts to imitate a swimming insect. The fly works in rivers from Montana's Madison to Pennsylvania's Yellow Breeches, from small mountain streams to large western freestones. Size selection matters: #12-14 for aggressive prospecting and high water, #14-16 for more selective trout or clearer conditions.
Pattern Details
- Type
- Nymph
- Seasons
- spring, summer, fall
- Hook Sizes
- #10-16
- Hook Type
- 2X long nymph hook
- Tying Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Imitates
- Stonefly and mayfly nymphs
Recipe & Materials
- Hook
- Tiemco 5262 or equivalent 2X long nymph hook, sizes 10-16
- Bead
- Brass or tungsten bead, sized to hook (3/32" for #12-14)
- Thread
- 6/0 or 8/0 black
- Tail
- Brown goose biots (split)
- Body
- Peacock herl
- Rib
- Fine gold wire or tinsel
- Hackle
- Brown hen or soft hackle
- Wings
- White goose biots or white turkey flat
Technique & Presentation
Begin by sliding the bead onto the hook, small hole first, and securing it behind the eye. Build a thread base from behind the bead to the bend, then tie in two brown goose biots for the tail, splayed in a wide V-shape. The biots should be about one shank length long. Next, tie in the ribbing wire at the bend.
For the body, select 4-6 peacock herls and tie them in by the tips at the bend. Twist the herls together with the thread to create a durable rope, then wrap forward to create a full, tapered body, leaving space behind the bead for hackle and wings. Counter-wrap the ribbing wire in 4-5 evenly-spaced turns to reinforce the delicate herl. Tie off and trim the wire.
The hackle requires careful technique: select a brown hen hackle with fibers roughly 1.5x the hook gap, tie it in by the tip, and make 2-3 wraps behind the bead, stroking fibers back as you wrap. The white biot wings are tied in on either side of the body, extending back over the thorax at a 45-degree angle. Form a small thread head, whip finish, and apply head cement. The finished fly should have a buggy profile with distinct white wings visible from above.
History & Origin
The Prince Nymph was created by Doug Prince of California in the 1930s, originally tied as a brown and green wet fly called the Prince. Over decades, the pattern evolved through contributions from various tyers, with the most significant modification coming when Don and Dick Olson of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, added the distinctive white biots for wings in the 1960s, creating the recognizable silhouette we know today.
The addition of the bead head represents the natural evolution of nymph fishing in the 1980s and 1990s, when European nymphing techniques and tungsten beads revolutionized how anglers fished subsurface patterns. The Bead Head Prince Nymph emerged as guides and innovative tyers added brass and tungsten beads to proven patterns, discovering that the extra weight and flash significantly increased their effectiveness.
Today, the Bead Head Prince ranks among the top-selling commercial fly patterns in North America and appears in virtually every fly shop from coast to coast. It has become the archetypal attractor nymph—a pattern that doesn't match the hatch but consistently catches fish through its suggestive profile, lifelike movement, and proven fish appeal. Its success has spawned countless variations in different colors, bead finishes, and materials, but the classic peacock-and-white version remains the standard against which others are measured.
Where to Fish This Fly
Related Nymph Patterns
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Frank Sawyer's classic nymph pattern imitates a wide range of mayfly nymphs. The pheasant tail fibers create a realistic segmented body. Effective year-round in sizes #14-20, this pattern belongs in every Montana fly box. The Pheasant Tail Nymph is the most important subsurface fly in the history of fly fishing. Frank Sawyer's original design used nothing but pheasant tail fibers and copper wire, with no thread, no dubbing, no synthetics. The result was a slim, naturally segmented nymph that sinks quickly and perfectly imitates the profile of a swimming or drifting mayfly nymph. Modern variations have added a bead head for extra weight and flash, making an already deadly pattern even more effective. In Montana, the bead head Pheasant Tail is a year-round producer on every river in the state. It matches Baetis nymphs in fall and spring, PMD nymphs in summer, and various mayfly species throughout the seasons. Whether fished as a trailing nymph behind a dry fly, in a two-nymph Euro-style rig, or under an indicator, the Pheasant Tail consistently catches fish. Its slim profile sinks quickly and looks natural even to the most selective trout on the Missouri and Bighorn tailwaters.
Zebra Midge
A devastatingly simple midge pupa pattern. Thread body with a bead head, and that's it. The Zebra Midge is the most effective winter pattern on Montana tailwaters and produces year-round on the Missouri and Bighorn rivers. The genius of the Zebra Midge lies in its simplicity. A small bead head, a thread body wrapped in even turns to create segmentation, and perhaps a few fibers for a collar, and that is all there is to it. Yet this pattern imitates the midge pupae that comprise an enormous percentage of a trout's diet on tailwater rivers. Midges hatch every day of the year on rivers like the Missouri and Bighorn, and the Zebra Midge matches them with astonishing effectiveness. The pattern's versatility is remarkable. Fished under an indicator in the classic dead-drift presentation, it produces fish consistently. But the Zebra Midge is also deadly when fished in the surface film as a midge cluster or suspended just below the surface on a greased leader. On winter days when other patterns fail, a small Zebra Midge in #18-22 fished deep and slow can save what might otherwise be a fishless outing. It is the great equalizer, the fly that always works when nothing else does.
Prince Nymph
A classic attractor nymph with peacock herl body and white biots. The Prince Nymph doesn't imitate any specific insect but suggests many. It's a reliable searching pattern when drifted through riffles and runs on all Montana rivers. The Prince Nymph occupies a unique space in fly fishing; it is perhaps the most effective attractor nymph ever designed. The combination of a peacock herl body, white goose biot wing, and brown hackle creates a fly that doesn't precisely match any natural insect but somehow suggests dozens of them. Trout see the Prince Nymph and recognize it as food, plain and simple. The iridescent sheen of the peacock herl, the contrasting white wings, and the buggy profile all contribute to its universal appeal. In Montana, the Prince Nymph is a workhorse pattern that produces fish from the first runoff of spring through the cold days of late fall. It excels as a dropper behind large dry flies, as a searching nymph under an indicator, and as a point fly in a two-nymph rig. On the Madison, Gallatin, and Yellowstone rivers, the Prince Nymph consistently produces when conditions are changing, hatches are unclear, or fish seem unwilling to commit to specific imitations. It is the problem-solving nymph that every angler should carry.
Pat's Rubber Legs
A large, heavily weighted stonefly nymph pattern. Pat's Rubber Legs is the go-to point fly for nymph rigs on the Madison, Yellowstone, and Gallatin rivers. The rubber legs pulse with every micro-current, driving trout wild. Pat's Rubber Legs is the definition of a workhorse nymph. This large, heavily weighted stonefly imitation serves as both an effective fish catcher and the anchor fly in a multi-nymph rig. Its weight gets the entire rig down to the bottom quickly, while its rubber legs provide continuous movement that attracts trout from a distance. The variegated chenille body suggests the mottled coloring of natural stonefly nymphs, and the overall profile matches the large Pteronarcys and Hesperoperla nymphs that inhabit Montana's freestone rivers. On the Madison, Yellowstone, and Gallatin rivers, all premier stonefly streams, Pat's Rubber Legs is arguably the most important fly in a guide's box. It produces fish 12 months of the year, not just during the stonefly emergence. Stonefly nymphs are always present in the drift, dislodged by current, wading anglers, and their own movements. A large Pat's Rubber Legs drifted along the bottom is a convincing imitation that trout eat with confidence. Pair it with a smaller trailing nymph like a Pheasant Tail or Lightning Bug for a devastating two-fly rig.
San Juan Worm
Love it or hate it, the San Juan Worm catches fish. This simple chenille or micro-tubing pattern imitates aquatic worms that are a significant food source in tailwater rivers. Particularly effective on the Bighorn and Missouri after rain events. The San Juan Worm divides the fly fishing community like no other pattern. Purists dismiss it as barely qualifying as a fly, while pragmatists point to its undeniable effectiveness and the scientific reality that aquatic worms (Oligochaeta) constitute a meaningful portion of trout diets, particularly in tailwater environments. On the Bighorn River, stomach sampling studies have shown that aquatic worms can represent up to 20 percent of a trout's diet during certain times of year. Regardless of where you fall in the debate, the San Juan Worm deserves a place in your fly box if you fish Montana's tailwaters. After rain events, rising water dislodges worms from the substrate and puts them into the drift, creating a feeding opportunity that trout exploit enthusiastically. Even during stable conditions, a San Juan Worm fished deep and slow on the Bighorn or Missouri can produce fish when more traditional patterns are not producing. The pattern is especially effective for large trout that have learned to target high-calorie food items with minimal effort.
Lightning Bug
A flashy variation of the Pheasant Tail that uses tinsel and flash for added attraction. The Lightning Bug excels in slightly off-color water and as a dropper behind large dry flies. A Montana guide favorite. The Lightning Bug takes the Pheasant Tail Nymph concept, a slim, segmented mayfly imitation, and adds a generous dose of flash. The tinsel body and flashback wingcase catch light in ways that natural materials cannot, creating a beacon that attracts trout from greater distances. This makes the Lightning Bug particularly effective in off-color water, during overcast conditions, and in deeper runs where light penetration is limited. Montana guides keep Lightning Bugs in their boxes for those days when standard patterns are producing but not as well as expected. A switch from a standard Pheasant Tail to a Lightning Bug can turn an average day into a great one. The flash element seems to trigger a competitive or aggressive response in trout, prompting strikes from fish that might otherwise let a natural-colored nymph pass. On the Madison, Gallatin, and Yellowstone rivers, the Lightning Bug is a consistent producer from spring through fall.