John's Woolly Worm - Fly Tying Appalachian/Great Smoky Mountain Trout Patterns

John Turner of Lenoir, NC came up with this fly and is credited with being the first fly tier in the Great Smoky Mountains to use rubber legs on any fly. This is considered a semi-dry fly and can be fished either on the surface or as a sunken fly similar to a girdle bug.


Hook: #8-10 3x long
Thread: Black
Tail: White rubber tubing
Hackle: Grizzly and brown dry fly
Body: Black dubbing
Front legs/antenna: White rubber tubing


** Great Smoky Mountain Fly Tying Books **

Hatches and Fly Patterns of the Great Smoky Mountains, by Don Kirk, https://amzn.to/2HLZuVT
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Angler's Companion, by Ian Rutter, https://amzn.to/2HQwDQr
Southeastern Flies, by L.J. DeCuir, https://amzn.to/3l0McTG


Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. I've been uploading at least three new videos a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).

Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know in the comments if you have any tying tips you would like to share or if you have any patterns you would like to see tied here.