Has anyone tied or used an articulated nymph? In my quest to find "THE" fly, the fly that no big fish can resist, I discovered a magazine article that pictured an articulated nymph. Articulated nymphs are tied in two sections. The tail section is tied on a Wiggle Tail shank (a tiny wire shank with a tiny loop at one end) and a front section (the head and thorax) tied on a short-shank scud hook (see photo). The two sections are connected with a small mono loop. The obvious advantage of this fly is that the tail segment moves which mimics the movement of the natural. The disadvantage of the fly is the unavoidable gap between the two segments which obviously doesn’t occur in the natural. The hope is that the movement of the tail will trigger the trout's feeding response. I have tried an articulated PT nymph at only one lake and it was more effective than the standard nymph. However, I didn’t catch that many fish during the trip so the difference between the two styles was not that significant.

If anyone has tried an articulate nymph (or even an articulated streamer), I would appreciate your feedback on the effectiveness of the fly. One tier said the articulated version of his fly was three times more effective than the standard tie so I’m eager to hear any responses.