Fishing Golden Stoneflies

I'd be willing to bet that Golden Stoneflies inhabit every cold-water stream in Colorado, as well as the vast majority of all Rocky Mountain stream! In other words, when fishing for trout in our mountain streams there's a good chance Golden Stones are there. The nymphs are indicator species, which means they need the cleanest water with the highest concentrations of oxygen. When water quality diminishes so do golden stonefly nymphs; kind of like the canary in the mineshaft.

Here is basic information that will help us understand more about Golden Stonefly nymphs. We'll talk about the adults later in the season.

Identification: Golden Stonefly nymphs look prehistoric. They have two tails, full armored backs with all sorts of lovely designs, two antenna and large eyes. Their three sets of legs are thick and look strong, and their backs are darker than their undersides. Golden Stonefly gills are apparent on the front half of the bug, which is the thorax.

Location: these large, strong insects live near fast water. The fast, broken water of riffles and runs produces lots of oxygen. Golden Stonefly's strong legs allow them to hold on and prowl near fast water where they feed on smaller insects such as midge, caddis and mayfly larva.

Life Cycle: The majority of the Golden Stonefly species in Colorado streams have a three year life cycle from egg through adult. This means the nymphs are always around and available to trout. In fact, there are at least two generations in the water all of the time.

Sizes: Since we have a minimum of two generations in the water we can choose what size to fish. The bugs start small but grow fast. Before they emerge, the nymphs will be anywhere from a #14 to a #6 ! That's quite a size range.

Fakes: Golden Stonefly nymph imitations are numerous! They vary from suggestive, which means they are about the right size and basic shape, to exact imitations, with eyeballs, complex armor, gills and so on. Buy or tie the fly that looks good to you; the fish will take it when it is in the right spot!

Fishing: the key to fishing Golden Stonefly nymph imitations is getting the fly on or near the bottom of the stream bed. If the fly does not get hung up on the bottom every three or four drifts add one more piece of weight. After all, the difference between a nymph angler who hooks fish and one who does not is usually one more split shot.