This one is by request from one of our Michigan readers.
"A coachman with the usual peacock herl body but with a red tail, hackle
of Barred Rock and Phode Island Red and with Andalusian wings tied spent,
was tied first at "The Cabin" of George Mason, president of Nash Motors,
on the South Branch of the AuSable (Michigan) River. About 1934,
Mason and John Stephan conceived the idea of changing, in some respects,
the Coachman fly which Mason used at that time, an all brown hackle with
a red tip. First they tied a few with a mixed or Adams hackle. This proved
to be successful and so they proceeded to find a name for it. Because of the
place of its origin, it was called the Cabin Coachman. The first flies were tied
by John Stephan.
Since that time another development has taken place, which is called the "Lady
Cabin", and which is, in reality, the Cabin Coachman with the yellow egg sack
similar to that on the Mrs. Adams or the Lady Beaverkill. According to Bill
Lerchen of Detroit, this fly has proved successful and can take the place of
either a Mrs. Adams or Lady Beaverkill.
He states:
"As far as I am concerned, if I were to have only one fly with which to
fish the main stream, particularly in the latter part of the day or the evening, I
would choose a Cabin Coachman. It floats well, is easily followed in the
early evening light and while it resembles no real fly that I know of, it seems
to have something which the big brown boys like."
The extensive property which belonged to the Mason family is now known
as the Mason Tract, a large public access (Catch and Release) upstream
from the Smith Bridge on the South Branch of the AuSable River. On
the main stream, the lower boundry of the "Holy Water" - all catch and
release is Stephan's Bridge. The photo below is the view upstream from
Stephans Bridge.
George Mason was instrumental in founding Trout Unlimited.
~ LadyFisher
Credits: Quotes from Fly Pattern and Their Origins (1950)
by Harold Hinsdill Smedley,
published by Westshore Publications,
Muskegon, Michigan
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