The Black and Red Bitch Creek flyfishing nymph is a big fly. Be ready to take the strain as it will not be a small trout that takes this large morsel.

BITCH CREEK FLY PATTERNS. Hook size 10 - $US each

The larger trout lurking in holding waters will break cover when they see this black and red Bitch Creek nymph float by with its rubber legs and hackle waving about. The legs are the secret to its success as a fishing fly. It suggests that the fly is alive and therefore food for hungry fish. It is very similar to the Montana Stonefly nymph pattern. Does it look like a stonefly nymph? Not really. I use this as an attractor pattern. To Trout it looks good enough to eat. If there are no hatches when I arrive at a stretch of water and I do not know what the fish are eating I will try a Bitch Creek. Drift a Black and Red Bitch Creek Fly into a pool. Use it as a searching pattern.

I first used a Bitch Creek nymphs during a fishing trip to Yellowstone National Park. I had picked one up at a fishing tackle store In Jackson Hole. I liked the way the rubber legs moved and how buggy the fly looked. My fishing buddies were using small olive streamers to match the young bait fish found on that stretch of water. There were no hatches of mayfly or caddis. They had some success but I out fished them. I cast my fly upstream and let it dead drift below the riffles. The water was clear so the fish had time to inspect the fly. They found it attractive because I managed to land a number of large rainbow and brown trout. I always keep a few Bitch Creeks in my fly box. I use them as a general searching pattern. Whilst fishing rivers and lakes in the warmer parts of Eastern America I have hooked up smallmouth bass with this fly. The most successful tactic I have found is to fish the nymph across the water flow with a six inch stripping movement every 10 seconds.

So why is this Black and Red Bitch Creek fly called a Bitch Creek? Is it named after a successful moment when the designer finally managed to catch some fish in a particularly problematic stretch of water? No. My guess is that it is named after a small stretch of water in Idaho called Bitch Creek. It is one of the less well known creeks but it contains beautiful native trout waiting to be fished. If you are travelling to West Yellowstone on Highway 20 you will pass over a small stream called the Bitch Creek.

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