After posting the picture of the nice Brown Trout I caught here, several have asked what fly it was caught on and it was caught on a fly that I purchased from Gate’s Lodge Fly Shop this past June while attending the Mich. Fish-In and they labled it as a “Bunny Duster” which I cannot find any info on it and others have not had any luck either, so, I have taken a picture of it and here it is. I think the whole fly is rabbit and probably the tail and wing is from a snowshoe rabbit’s foot. Just my opinions and I do not tie dry flies.
In search of accuracy in reproduction, I called the Gates Lodge fly shop, you have the recipe pretty much pegged, size 12 for larger bugs snowshoe wing and tail, rabbit dubbing, yellow thread; smaller sizes (BWO) down to 18 use CDC and green thread.
The guy I talked with referred to it as a emerger pattern to be fished dry or wet. He also said there was a Youtube video on tying the dust bunny, but I could not find it.
While I can see the likeness to the Usual, and will not disagree with that as the basis of this pattern, it does bear a remarkable resemblance to the original Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear. The profile is very similar. Contrary to what most people think, the GRHE was originally intended as a dry fly. Tail of hare fibres and a wing of feather fibre (sometimes woodcock) bunched upright. Flotation was a problem, as the magical snowshoe bunny had not crossed the pond in those days. It was overcome by tying in a larger thorax and picking out the fibres to form a hackle. It was considered a very effective imitation of a medium olive (member of the Baetis family). GEM Skues considered that it was taken as an emerging nymph in, or just sub, surface.
Okay, I will attempt to learn a little today, and hopefully tomorrow as well: From hence does the magical snowshoe bunny come. I had assumed (yes I know that little word trick) it was a creature from the frozen regions of Canada and Alaska and maybe of the frozen tundra of the northern USA.
I have Fran’s signed book which has the Usual in it and the Bunny Duster and the Usual do share a lot in common. I did do a search of tying instructions for the Usual to see how others were tying it and noticed that one gentleman split the wing on his version. Split or not split, I feel the Usual will serve well and I do intend to tie up a few to keep in my fly box.
Josh calls the fly a “Dust Bunny” and claims that it is the ugliest fly that he sells. That may be true, but it does catch the fish. I have a few packed for the trip to Wyoming.
