In Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote, “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” The worm is the great equalizer. Among fly tyers, it often is represented by the deadly pattern known as the San Juan worm. It is as lethal to fish as the knife point that pierces Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, who curses, “They have made worm’s meat of me.” This simple, unassuming fly with an infamous reputation imitates aquatic worms that squirm, not among the dead, but along the river bottom, along with drowning earthworms swept into streams swollen with winter rain.
The micro chenille San Juan worm is somewhat stiff and lifeless, but the latest worm imitation, the Squirmy Worm, has more dance moves than Gene Kelly pirouetting around his umbrella, splashing in the street, and singing in the rain. The Squirmy Worm requires no complex choreography on the part of the tyer, though. Tying it is absurdly simple.
Begin by inserting a size 14 heavy-wire scud hook in the vise — a barbless Masu model S5 works for me. The worm itself will be made from a strong, yet soft and wiggly material from Spirit River called Squirmy Wormies A little behind the eye, attach a coarse thread similar in color the to the color of the worm you’re tying. Then choose a dubbing of similar color and sparsely dub the thread, creating a thin rope. Wrap the dubbing about six turns to the rear of the tie-in point and then back to the starting position and stop. This creates a surface on which to position the unwieldy worm on top of the hook shank. Next, lengthen the dubbing rope if necessary to secure the worm in place and prevent the thread from cutting the rubber. Position the center of a two-to-three-inch piece of Squirmy Wormies over the dubbed portion of the shank and secure it by wrapping the thread six turns back and six turns forward, ending a little behind the eye. Remove any extra dubbing, lift the front portion of the worm up out of the way, and whip finish behind the eye. Cut the front and back portion of the worm to the desired length and burn the ends, if you want them rounded. You are done.
There are many variations of this pattern on the Internet. Tie a few, and try different colors — play around and fish them. You’ll be very pleased. Some might look down on this pattern as an abomination — it’s a worm imitation, after all — and is a worm imitation a fly? However, you cannot deny its effectiveness.
— Andy Guibord
