Well, here’s the fly i came up with a few weeks ago after reading the Renegade post from earlier.
It’s a size 4 streamer hook, an Eagle Claw LO58S-4 to be exact.
Strong black thread.
Bright orange sparkle yarn for the tag.
Brown wet hackle back aft then the dark brown ice chenille in the large size.
White wet hackle forward then a few dozen turns of thread to form the head.
I double whip finish and then several coats of head cement.
So far i’ve caught lmb, steelhead ‘half pounders’, raised a steelhead about 5lbs but no joy
plus bluegill like it but need to grow to get their lips around it.
The tye in the picture is designedf to sink fairly quick, what with the wet hackle and the
size and type hook. I’ve also tied some with good quality dry hackle but i like the wets
more, though i’ll carry a dry or two in case i want a slow sinker or one that’s nuetral bouyancy.
On the swing for steel i’m thinking this Renegade is going to be a good fly and i can’t wait to
show it to the smallies. Thinking i’ll go over the 4 lb. mark with this one when i use the fast sinker.
Thanks folks, well i’ve already caught lmb with it and it does look guaranteeable i think. It’s one of those 5 minute tyes so while i was dreaming it up i kept that in mind and made sure i din’t go overboard with matls. Try some !
Thanks NJTroutbum, yeah i started my tying ‘career’ with the Renegade in 10’ and even went to 8’s and of course used peacock herl and for a while i was even adding the gold tinsel tag. I got some ice chenille at the Albany OR tying event and instantly remembered the ‘Renegade’ post a while back so the rest is history. Talk about highly visible with the huge glob of white hackle and the occasional sparkle from the ice chenille…this big #4 Ice Renegade was born to sight fish !
John, no kidding…a Renegade on steroids it is. I’ve tied them in #'s 6, 8, 10 and 12’s but the #4’s just loom large and i’ve even gotten some laughs showing the 4’s. Not to worry, you’ll be using them on ‘yet unamed’ water as that was one place i swung the size 8’s years ago. Did i mention the sewing monofilament story and the number 8 traditional Renegade? Heh, heh…
Oh, btw i tried to respond to your last but error msg says you were full.
The Renegade was a Fly of the Week pattern in March of 2003 From Successful Fly Tying by Brad Befus and John Berryman, published by Pruett Publishing. Below is the url to the article. It was originated by Taylor Williams back in the 1930’s. It is similar to another fly pattern, the Bivisible.
Scroll down to about the middle of this artice and take a look at the “Super Renegade” that was the meatgetter on the South Fork/Snake for years. It’s been disposessed by the Chernobyl Ant recently, but I’ll bet it will still move fish. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/greatrivers/snake/
Thanks Steven, that made for a good read and that’s pretty much how i’ve tyed my Renegades these nearly 30 years. I notice the author agrees this pattern can be fished dry or wet. Greasing just the upper hackle fibres would baely float it very low in the surface film i bet…something i may have to try though the Renegades i tyed with dry fly quality hackle had to be pulled under to make them quit floating.
Great read there too Lew, thanks. I see i don’t know as much about the Renegade pattern as i thought i did. I could try two colors of ice chenille with yet another hackle color between the ‘ice’. I’ve got green and yellow ice chenille and a bunch of colors of hackle to play with. Could call it Super Ice Renegade i suppose.
there’s another super renegade offshoot that’s in snake river country named the super-x. has rubber legs in the center by yours truly. very popular for a number of years. http://www.flypatternbook.net/super.htm
Now that’s a good looking bug Wes and sized for the ‘big fish, big fly’ theory. I like the orange up front…guessing the whole thing is to represent a ‘drifting stone’ ?
George, well done. I have a love affair with the Renegade. It was the first fly I used when I learned to fly fish, and the only fly I used on high mountain backpack lakes trailed behind a clear bubble on a spinning outfit. The first day we ever fished my favorite spring creek, before understanding what lay below, we fished for hours with a variety of dry flies to the numerous feeding fish, and I finally caught one on a size #14 Renegade. Your pattern will go in my box as a probable hit for the South Fork Cutties. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you kindly Kelly and you’re welcome. Though it wasn’t the first fly i ever used, the Renegade was one of the first, if not the first that i tied when wifey got me my Cabela’s kit for Christmas lo those many moons ago. Same way i got my Jack Dennis book where i first found the recipe. Yep, did the fly and bubble thing too… over on the East Slope Sierra in Boy Scout camp as a 10/11 year old so i remember that thrill.
They say you can’t go home but talking about and tying Renegades again after so many years has me there. Glad you could make room in the box for my ‘Ice Renegade’…hoping you’ll try #4’s !
You’re right TyroneFly…the brown/rear hackle is a bit stiffer but that’s only because i don’t have a ‘softer’ brown hackle and the white/front hackle is very soft…to the extreme almost. My other white or cream hackle is a good dry fly quality and it causes the big #4 ‘Ice Renegade’ to float when i don’t want it to (on the river) but works great for the lake for lmb since it allows a slow descent once i sink it. As a result, i have to tye the fly with the good wet hackle for the river and the dry fly hackle (both in front and white) for the lake so it will float. I still like seeing big bass come up and grab a fly off the surface.
I’ve got my eyes peeled for a ‘wetter’ and darker brown hackle and since this is still prototype, i guess i’ll keep working on it but if you look to tye some for swinging in rivers for example, i’d use the hook or equivalent mentioned and the ‘wettest’ brown and white hackle you have. Hope this helps.
yah moose it’s caught some big ole honkers and some tiny ones. that version is weighted and used in riffles and deeper runs. the other version has white hackle, is fished next to the bank from a drift boat or similar water craft. from a boat it’s all site fishing and that’s where the white hackle comes into play. you see the take wait til the fish turns back to the bank then set. marvelous fishing.
Wes, that’s the way i like to flyfish, hence the size hook and the exaggerated white hackle. I found another bag of wet white hackle today that looks better and some darker brown that hopefully is wetter so the fly won’t look so ‘spikey’ on the brown hackle end.
I’ve only fished the #4’s so far but tied some smaller sizes with the same matls. and since this one works so well i can’t imagine smaller sizes not working and tied with dry hackle on both ends too.
Drift boat casting to the bank for big trout, steel or smb would be fun. I do similar on the lake by casting ahead of me a good ways up the shoreline, like the pic below. I can see the takes easily and i’m casting about 50 ft in the pic and in fact got a bass on that cast. Wifey was the cinematographer that day.
Really nice looking fly, George. Can’t wait to see it in person.