Arizona Prince

Another change to the royal family


The Royal Family


Like most experimental flies that I tie, I'll whip up one or two and have them sit on the bench until either I remember where I put them in my box, or I run into a situation on the stream that calls for them.  The Arizona Prince was kind of both...  I was Czech nymphing a section  of stream this spring and broke off my last Masked Marauder when I decided to just experiment.  Like always, the trusty Masked Marauder had caught plenty of fish that day, and I was OK with ending the day experimenting with a new pattern.  Even though the Arizona Prince really isn't all that innovative, there is always some question when you replace peacock herl (arguably the most fishy material on the planet) with dubbing.  On it went, and I saw multiple fish move out of their way to eat it that afternoon.  After a few fish I made sure to get a good mental picture of the fly because I only had one of them...  Yep. I broke it off.  Luckily the pattern is really simple and I was able to get more samples tied.  I have fished it in many color combos since the initial test, and it is one fishy bug that has earned a spot in the starting lineup.

~ Cheech

This is the bug I was fishing that day.




Material List

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Hook: Daiichi 1120 - Heavy Wire Scud Hook - 10     
Thread: Danville Flat Waxed Nylon Thread - 70 Denier - Black     
Bead: Plummeting Tungsten Beads - Gold - 1/8" (3.3mm)     
Tails: Nature's Spirit Stripped Goose Biots - Brown     
Under Body: Lead Free Round Wire - .020     
Ribbing: Ice Stretch Lace - Tan - Small     
Body: Arizona Synthetic Dubbing - Peacock     
Wing: Nature's Spirit Stripped Goose Biots - White     
Legs: Daddy Long Legs - Brown     


Other tools from the tutorial:




Tan dubbing and a dark wing

Original angled view

Olive with pale yellow wing 

Chartreuse for bluegill

Who doesn't like blue?

Hot wing olive

Fire orange.