Doug Ouellette, a fly-fishing guide out of Reno, Nevada, was an early adopter of the extralong rods and monofilament lines that American fly fishers have come to associate with Euro nymphing. A presentation of his at a fly-fishing festival back in 2011 was chock full of pictures showing Doug cradling a succession of huge trout that he had hooked and landed with what at the time seemed a novel rig.
Given Doug’s interest in this form of angling, I wasn’t surprised that when I dropped by a fly shop recently to ask about productive Euro-style nymphs, the first pattern the salesman showed me was Doug’s Peaches and Cream. It has the common elements of a Euro nymph — a “tactical” barbless jig-style hook (also known as a “competition” hook), a slotted tungsten bead for weight, and a slender profile to help sink the fly fast. What it did not have was a “hot spot” of some wild, contrasting color that devotees of these nymphs believe is necessary to quickly draw the attention of a fish. Other than the physical components just noted, Doug’s Peaches and Cream looks pretty much like a standard, if very simple nymph, instead of like the psychedelic tadpoles one often finds in the fly boxes of Euro nymphers. It was extraordinarily ordinary.
A quick Google search shows the Peaches and Cream is a well-regarded fish producer. It is also an extremely easy pattern to tie, and you likely already have most or all of the materials on hand. Here’s what Doug had to say when I asked him about the fly’s design:
The Peaches and Cream dates back to the 1970s and is a soft, subtle pattern with just a little bit of pop. Its body and thread colors are just right for a PMD or a Yellow Stone. Many anglers ask why the tail is tied upward. I started doing this back when I used regular nymph hooks for the pattern. The tail is tied up to imitate the resting swimming nymph — when the nymphs rest from swimming, they tend to arch like a horseshoe. I believe this helps trigger a grab by the fish. Now, however, I use a weighted jig hook, which orients the tail downward. I’ve come to believe this doesn’t matter much, because when the nymphs are in the current, they often tumble around a bit at different angles. The important thing is that the tail angle gives the fly a great profile regardless of the position of the fly in the water.
The body of the Peaches and Cream should be very sparse. The use of a dubbing loop makes for a sparse, yet tight body — just a tiny little bit of fuzz. I’ve also tied this pattern with different colors of thread — red, olive, brown, pink, chartreuse, and blaze orange.
Some of the commercially tied Peaches and Creams have straight tails that parallel the hook shank, which is a common characteristic of Euro nymphs. The Peaches and Cream flies wholesaled by Umpqua, however, incorporate Doug’s canted tail. YouTube and Vimeo both have a short video of the Fly Shop’s Dave Gallenberger tying this fly. He makes it with an uncanted mallard flank tail, a dubbing noodle instead of a loop, and his thread is burnt orange, rather than the pale orange Doug uses (although, frankly, there’s probably not much difference in thread color from the trout’s perspective). A Peaches and Cream variant online has a pink thread tag and collar, plus a close-to-white body, and another uses a multifaceted bead, rather than one that’s smooth. Clearly, fly fishers are tweaking this pattern to make it their own.
If you have questions about the Peaches and Cream pattern, Doug can be reached through his guide website, https://www.calvadaflyfishing.com.
Materials List
Hook: Jig hook, barbless, size 12 through 16
Bead: Gold slotted tungsten
Thread: Pale orange Danville 6/0 or 70 denier
Tail: Lemon wood duck flank feather, 5 to 7 fibers, three-quarters of the length of the hook shank
Rib: Gold wire, small diameter
Body: Light Cahill Mercer’s Buggy Nymph Dubbing, sparse, in a dubbing loop
