Steve Schalla @ (Fly Fishing the Sierra) offered an interesting piece on the impressionistic All Purpose (AP) Nymph (by Andre Puyans). The basic design is seen slender (swimmer) and heavier (crawler), yet basically the same.  This is indeed a perfect all purpose pattern that can be tied in the range of colors and sizes to cover mayfly nymphs. The ubiquitous bead head is an option. Perfect beginner’s fly pattern that is very functional.

All Purpose Nymph (Westfly)

“He based the nymph design upon three main criteria: size, shape and color. The size and shape of the pattern was inspired by Frank Sawyer’s PT Nymph that Andre also made contributions to variations. The design of the nymph was based upon the knowledge that only certain nymphs were available to the the trout, the mobile types that swim and crawl within the trout’s environment.”