Flies / Nymph

Sly Stone Wiggle

Matt Supinski, Muskegon River

A tungsten, articulated early black stonefly nymph from Hallowed Waters for the February through May Allocapnia and Taeniopteryx drift on the Muskegon tailwater and other alkaline groundwater rivers. Fish it on warm sunny afternoons from 1 to 4 pm when the nymphs migrate toward the banks.

#10–14Blackmiddayafternoon

What the pattern looks like

Reference photos of the Sly Stone Wiggle tied by others, shared by their photographers. Not our flies; our own product photos replace these as they are shot.

Sly Stone Wiggle reference photo — Photo © the photographer, used with permission

Season

Months this pattern is in play across Michigan, derived from what it imitates.

Imitates

The naturals

Early Black Stonefly(nymph)
Brighton Lee · CC0 · iNaturalist · Berrien County, MI · 2025

Fish it for

Steelhead Brown trout Rainbow trout (resident)

Setups

Indicator nymphing
Euro / tight-line nymphing

How it's tied

Matt Supinski's articulated early black stonefly nymph for the Muskegon: a tungsten-headed front half and a free-swinging biot-tailed rear half that jackknifes like a drifting Taeniopteryx nymph from February into May. Our own write-up of the standard tie, checked against the sources below. Recipe by Matthew Supinski, Hallowed Waters Journal (2024).

Materials

Rear hook: Daiichi 1260 curved nymph hookThe rear hook shank is broken off in the vise after the rear body is tied, leaving a short shank with an eye.
Thread: Veevus 6/0, blackSame thread on both sections.
Tail: Two black goose biots (Hareline)
Rear body: Black Vinyl Rib (Hareline Nymph size), wrapped in touching turns
Connection: 4X monofilament loopThreaded through the rear eye, laid along the front shank like an Intruder wire and super-glued at both ends.
Front hook: Daiichi X120 jig-style hook, sizes 12-14
Bead: Black tungsten bead sized to the hook
Thorax: Hareline Black Peacock Ice Dub
Legs: Hareline Json Sweden Realistic Nymph Legs, black
Wingcase: Black Gorilla Tape or electrical tape, or Wapsi Thin Skin in black or mottled bustard
Eyes: Hareline small black mono eyes

Steps

1.Put the Daiichi 1260 in the vise, start black thread near the bend and tie one black goose biot on each side so the tails split.
2.Tie in black Vinyl Rib at the tail and wrap it forward in touching turns to build a slim, segmented abdomen over the rear third of the shank. Tie off, whip finish and cement.
3.Grip the rear hook's bend with pliers and snap the shank off just behind the abdomen, so you are left with a short, eyeless body section with a smooth end (or leave the eye if you prefer to thread the loop through it).
4.Slide a black tungsten bead onto the Daiichi X120 and start the thread behind it.
5.Fold a length of 4X mono into a loop, pass it through the rear body, and lay both tag ends along the top of the front shank. Bind them down the full length of the shank the way you would an Intruder wire, and super-glue both ends of the wraps.
6.Tie in a strip of tape or Thin Skin for the wingcase at the rear of the front shank, shiny side down.
7.Figure-eight a pair of small black mono eyes behind the bead.
8.Dub a fat thorax of Black Peacock Ice Dub from the wingcase tie-in to the eyes, then set a pair of realistic nymph legs on each side with figure-eight wraps, dubbing between them so they stand out.
9.Pull the wingcase forward over the thorax and between the eyes, tie it down behind the bead and trim.
10.Dub a pinch around the eyes to hide the wraps, whip finish behind the bead and cement. Check that the rear section swings freely on the loop.

From the tier

Supinski calls the fly 'sinfully deadly' and fishes it either solo, because the tungsten head and hinge copy the jackknifing natural, or as the point fly in a tandem rig with scuds and midge larvae.
He fishes it Euro-style or under an indicator with long drifts and an occasional twitch, timed to the nymphs' daily benthic drift toward the banks before they crawl out.
In a December 2024 column he wondered whether his articulated nymphs had become too fussy and suggested ostrich herl on both shanks would fish just as well; the hinge, not the detail, is the point.

Cold Stoned-Early Blacks Demystified - Hallowed Waters Materials are Supinski's published recipe from Hallowed Waters; he gives no step sequence, so the steps are our reconstruction of a standard mono-loop wiggle stone (as in Orvis's Senyo's Wiggle Stone tutorial) using his materials. Unconfirmed: Supinski's recipe line says the rear shank is broken off after tying, which conflicts a little with a loop threaded through the rear eye; we describe both options. No published tying video or step-by-step for this exact fly was found, and the front-hook sizes 12-14 are the only sizes he lists. Also checked against Matthew Supinski, Hallowed Waters Journal (2024), Over Thinking Fly Design and Other Musings-Let Nature's Simplicity Inspire - Hallowed Waters, Phil Monahan, Orvis News (2014), How to Tie Senyo's Wiggle Stone - Orvis News and Ted Kraimer, Current Works Guide Service, How to Tie Ted's Early Black Stonefly Nymph Pattern - Current Works.

Materials to buy

Everything one Sly Stone Wiggle takes, each item once: 12 items. Quantities are for a single fly. We do not sell components yet; when we do, these will link to them.

Hook and hardware

Curved nymph hook (rear body)1
size 12-14 · Daiichi 1260
Rear hook
Shank is broken off after tying.
1
Jig nymph hook (front)1
size 12-14 · Daiichi X120
Front hook
1
Monofilament tippetabout 3 in
4X
Connection
about 3 in
Mono eyes1 pair
small black · Hareline
Eyes
1 pair

Feathers and fur

Goose biots2 biots
black · Hareline
Tail
2 biots

Synthetics, flash and legs

Vinyl Ribabout 6 in
nymph size, black · Hareline
Rear body
about 6 in
Ice Duba pinch
black peacock · Hareline
Thorax
a pinch
Realistic nymph legs2 pairs
black · Hareline Json Sweden
Legs
2 pairs
Gorilla Tape, electrical tape or Thin Skin1 strip
black or mottled bustard
Wingcase
Thin Skin by Wapsi if you prefer it to tape.
1 strip

Thread and finish

Tying thread1 spool
6/0 black · Veevus
Thread
1 spool
Super glue1
Connection
1

Other

Tungsten bead1
black, sized to hook
Bead
1

Sources