A friend just suggested doing a test this next summer on The Ranch of the Henry’s Fork between a standard No Hackle and a WonderWing fly.
I believe the No Hackle is one of the most elegant looking patterns ever tied. I have some tied by Mike Lawson and Rene Harrop.
However, I have never had much luck fishing them. Seems very strange as I know they must be very effective mayfly patterns - especially for PMD’s and Olives.
I always have better luck fishing the same size Sparkle Duns.
Wondering if you had to fish one pattern on such a Spring Creek with such picky fish, would a No Hackle be your choice, or some other pattern? This assumes you have a box full of no hackles as I know they are difficult to tie…
Mark,
I was never a guide. I did some commercial tying. Not good at the no hackles though. What made you think I was a guide?
Not sure how being a guide would relate to tying no hackles?? I know quite a few guides who guide for Lawson’s and Trout Hunter, and they don’t even tie.
Rene Harrop’s no hackles are probably the best I’ve seen. He and his wife and daughter share tying duties for their flies at “House of Harrop”. ALL the no hackles are tied by him only as the others are not adept at them. Yet, his wife and daughter are a couple of the best tiers I’ve seen.
Frame 5,6,7, 10,11 are the key ones. Note the position of the bobbin holder tip and the direction of the thread as loops get cinched down. The wraps are virtually horizontal - key in getting wide profile wing sections yet have narrow tie-in points.
Mark,
Nice tie. Thanks for showing. Do you use them a lot, and which is your best producer for picky fish on spring creeks: no hackle or other pattern?
Thank’s for the compliment. I don’t use them very often at all. The fly that I posted is probably about three years old now. I tied a huge bunch of them at once in a variety of sizes since the wings are such a pain to get right. For dry’s, the first thing that I tie on is a parachute pattern. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try a Comparadun. If they’re onto emergers, I’ll use ones with snowshoe in different colors. Usually though, parachutes work very well. I don’t fish spring creeks, since there’s not many near where I live. The few streams that I do fish have mostly, or only Brown trout in them.
I’ve had the opportunity to sit across the table from Mike Lawson several times while he tied his no hackle. Probably watched him tie a half dozen or so. He was gracious enough to do a couple slow enough for me to closely observe how he ties them, even letting me lean over his shoulder on one occassion and look closely at his technique.
Then I would go home, give it a go, and fail miserably.
But the real point is that each time Mike demo’d one he commented that a lot of people don’t want to use them because the wings come apart so easily. He related hearing people in his shop making that point to their friends as they considered flies to use on Henry’s Fork and passed on the no hackle for that reason.
Then Mike would point out that the no hackle is much more effective after the wings have gone to tatters or shreds or whatever you want to call it.
Never did learn to tie Mike Lawson’s no hackle ( see earlier post ) and I don’t buy flies so that one is out.
Never did much care for comparaduns and sparkle duns even though I can tie them reasonably well. So I wouldn’t be inclined to fish either of them.
I would be very curious how one of my furled extended body flies with incorporated tails or shuck and tied with the 9DH hackling method would do on The Ranch or some other such Spring Creek, so that would be my choice.
Haven’t fished a hackled dry fly in many many years. CDC wings on mayflies (and midges, and caddis, and stoneflies…) work very well for me, and once I discovered that, I never looked back. The only hackle I use any more is for woolly buggers.
DG,
I hear you. My favorites are the Sparkle Duns. But I was asking folks who fish the specific “No Hackle” fly - popularized by Mike Lawson and Rene Harrop vs. other Spring Creek favorites…
In other words, if you were on a Spring Creek, fishing to spooky fish, and you could only fish one fly, would it be the No Hackle or some other style dry fly…
Please! I really don’t understand the questions that start out, 'If you had only 1 ______(fill in the blank) what would you choose? Ex: "In other words, if you were on a Spring Creek, fishing to spooky fish, and you could only fish one fly, would it be the No Hackle or some other style dry fly… "
Makes absolutely no sense.
Byron, I would use my CDC flies, just like I do on freestones, and tailwaters, and ponds, and lakes, and… I tie my own flies, simple and effective, not other people’s, and don’t own a single pattern book.
Here are a couple photos I just took of a Rene Harrop PMD No Hackle I got last summer.
Perhaps if I could tie these as he does they would be my no. 1 Spring Creek fly. However, I must say, I feel more confident fishing a small Sparkle Dun.
DG: Are your CDC flies tied like Davie McPhail ties his CDC Dun?
I’m actually a fan of the no-hackles and have fished them for pert-near 20 years. I think the fact they get smashed up and buggered up is a good thing. I know you’re the sparkle dun guy, Byron, but my money is on a no-hackle if you’re going head-to-head. I have other patterns I’d throw in there, depending on the situation, but this is just comparing the two.
I was in the shop in Last Chance in 1980. Mike Lawson was at his desk tying up some of the Sidewinders and carrying on conversation with a couple of us customers and he made what I thought was a memorable statement…" yeah when winter sets in and we get serious about tying these flies we get prepared. We will literally cut quills and fill a shoe-box with right quills and a shoe-box with left quills to get a start." Want to get to were you can tie these like a pro I would suggest you start by filling up some shoe-boxes!
I did notice that Mike started using a lot of duck shoulder for his patterns later on. Which is ok for the larger no-hackles but doesn’t work on the #24’s.
My opinion is that the Sidewinder is a great pattern and I have total confidence in the fly to take a fussy fish when it sticks it’s nose up at another pattern. The quill wings do get frazzled so I wouldn’t call the fly a work horse. My work horse first choice is an olive, grey poly-wing paradun. The fly will take a beating and will take a lot of fish. I also fish the olive comparadun but occasionally get a slap refusal at the fly which I don’t totally understand so I reserve the comparadun for when the fish are more in the mood.
…and of course I don’t care what the pattern is, without a good drift you’re gonna get refused. So along with a couple of shoe-boxes worth of quills you might as well get in some slack line presentation practice…and you better take up Duck hunting to fill up the shoe boxes with the quills, they did. …and quickly pan fried thinly sliced duck breast in butter and garlic splashed with Worcestershire is good eating if you want to know what to do with the duck after you have plucked the feathers.
PS…I do notice the glue lines in the wings in post # 16 tsk…tsk…tssk.
