I created this pseudo-realistic pattern about 5 years ago after getting frustrated on New York's Salmon River one early summer day. I had been fishing the river looking for resident trout and I happened on a surprise behavioral drift of pteronarcys nymphs that were being molested by smallmouths and summer-run steelhead. The fish would chase the very visible nymphs as they migrated near shore, gorging on the morsels.

One would think that the basic black stonefly nymphs I had would have been the ticket, they weren't. The fish would approach the flies and then peel away. What was clearly occurring was that the nymphs were so large, and my nymphs were so generic that the imitations did not do a well enough job.

I am not usually a proponent of getting very realistic with my subsurface flies, but when the fish key heavily on naturals, especially large bugs during times of mass-migration, the imitations had better posses the key triggers of the naturals. Often too, it help to be a bit larger than life.

My Revis stone is simply a modification of a fur bodied stonefly pattern I learned from Joe Ackourey of Pennsylvania. The pattern accentuates the enormous legs of the real critters as well as their wide flat profile and mottled coloration. Since it takes some time to tie, this pattern gets reserved for difficult fish.

MATERIALS

Hook: Mustad 90240 or equivalent

Weight: Heavy lead wire

Thread: Flat waxed "A" underbody; Black to finish

Tail: Dark brown or black goose biots

Underbody: Dark brown or black wool yarn

Shellback: Turkey Tail

Rib: heavy monofilament

Abdomen: Blend of black rabbit, and black and red squirrel tail hair

Wingcase: Turkey Tail

Thorax: Same as abdomen

Legs: same as tail (3 pair)

Place debarbed hook in your vise.

Lay a base of flat "A" nylon along the shank.

Select a strip of heavy lead wire and affix it at the front to the nearside of the hook.

Secure it back to the rear, ending at a point just above the point.

Wiggle the lead wire while applying firm pressure with the heavy thread, this will break it forming a tapered end.

Repeat on the other side.

Coat with thread.

With a pair of needle-nosed pliers, press down to even the lead strips.

Notice how thin the underbody is...

...yet how wide.

Coat with head cement and knot and clip the heavy thread.

Attach the tying thread at the rear of the body and obtain a strip of goose biots. Here, I am using dark brown.

Select a pair, flip one over so that the tips oppose and measure to be about 1/2 the length of the hook.

Switch hands, keeping the tips to the rear and slide the pair in from the rear of the hook.

Use 2 good pinch wraps to secure them in place.

Check for placement and evenness.

Secure the butt ends.

Get a well marked turkey tail feather from a mature bird (these will be larger).

From the middle of the tail where the fibers are the longest, clip a slip twice as wide as the width of the finished body.

Fold the slip in half,so that the undersides are together.

Secure the slip to the top of the hook by it's tips.

Get some heavy monofilament.

Clip a piece and secure it to the far side of the hook back to the tail. This will add more width.

Get some dark wool yarn and pare it down to two strands.

Secure the strands to the nearside of the hook to balance the mono, and bind it to the tail.

Wrap a tight underbody forward to a point behind the eye. Secure.

Trim the excess and take your thread back to the middle of the hook.

Wax your thread using a tacky dubbing wax.

Touch your spiky, blended dubbing to the thread.

The result of touch-dubbing.

Spin your bobbin clockwise to lock-in and distribute the dubbing.

Coat the rear half (abdomen) of the fly. This took me 3 applications. Do not try to apply dubbing to more than 4 or 5 inches of thread at a time or you will lose wrap control.

Fold the turkey slip forward and press it down over the abdomen.

Secure it in place with 3 wraps of thread. DO NOT cut the excess.

Counter-rib by wrapping the mono forward in the opposite direction as the dubbing to secure the slip.

Secure the mono in front of the turkey.

Clip the excess mono and fold the turkey back to the rear. Take a series of wrap back onto the turkey to cover the mono tie-off location.

Select a pair of biot and secure them to the sides of the hook immediately in front of the turkey. Be sure the curves point away from the body.

Apply more dubbing, this time using the traditional pinch and roll method.

Cover the thread wraps, making sure you make one turn behind the legs to force them away from the body a bit.

Cover one-third of the thorax.

Crease the turkey slip and fold the remaining forward. DO NOT simply pull the slip forward, it is important to crease the material first to get the proper proportions.

Secure the turkey, then fold it to the rear again.

Mount another pair of legs as before.

Apply dubbing as before to the next 1/3 of the thorax.

Crease and fold the turkey as before to create the second wing pad.

Secure and fold to the rear.

Mount the final set of legs in the same manner.

Dub the rest of the thorax, making sure to get a wrap behind the legs.

Fold (do not crease) the remaining turkey forward to form the pronotum.

Build a neat head, whip finish and clip the thread.

Invert the hook to expose the ventral portion of the fly. Aggressively brush the underbody to roughen the dubbing. This will act to soften the edges, build a wide profile, imitate gills and add life to the fly.

Once brushed, pinch the sides and pull the fur.

I like to coat the shellback for durability and to create a sheen. It does tend to diffuse the mottling and segmentation so this step is entirely optional.

Apply the UV hardener with a toothpick to the turkey slip shellback.

Turn on your UV lamp...

...and blast away for a few moments to harden the substance.

A completed Loren's Revis Stone!