The Shade is an impressionistic dry fly pattern, which is equally at home on moving and still water. Controlled Chaos at its most expressive
Shade
Hook: Grip 147323BL #14
Thread: Benecchi 12/0, tobacco
Tail: Snowshoe hare, dyed dark brown
Body/head: Dubbing brush, olive - mix of natural, synthetic and small quantity of deer hair (or dubbing of your choice)
Wing: Snowshoe hare, dyed dark brown - two or three bunches, depending on shank length
Note: A snowshoe take on the Hedgehog design. Neigh unsinkable.
WOW! Now I like that! I do not usually fish any dry flies, but, there is something about this pattern that I really like. I think I will get out my dubbing brush block and make up a dubbing brush and then locate my snowshoe hare and tie a couple of those up and take them fishing!
thatās a great little snowshoe hair pattern. I do have to ask what your trick is creating dubbing brushes with deer hair. Tired many times to use scrap deer hairs into a dub brush but can never get the hairs to stay put when twisting the wire brush. Any suggestions would be helpful. Always like the look of a dub brush with the deer hairs mixed in.
I have not had a chance to try this yet, but, I am thinking one would have to incorporate the cut up deer hair into the dubbing with your fingers first and then apply the dubbing to the dubbing block.
thanks Warren I will give it a try. I think the trick is to keep the hairs somewhat perpendicular, or as much as possible to the wire so when you twist the wire in the brush the hairs stay in place without falling out while twisting the wire. But itās always fun to experiment.
I donāt make dubbing brushes as such but I do use deer hair in dubbing loops and split thread. The secret is to incorporate some dubbing with it. Usually I use a fine synthetic. Prepare two really fine mats of dubbing and place one to either side of the deer hair. You can lightly twist the dubbing to the thread top and bottom of the loop to hold it in place. You can see the dubbing around the base of the deer hair wings on these. The deer hair is in a dubbing loop.
Here is the āassemblyā stage.
Hope that helps,
Cheers,
A.
If you have a chance, get to a deer butcher during the hunting season and get some ears. May not even cost you anything. The hair from these are fantastic for dubbing and can certainly be used to place in dubbing brushes. Hint: Great for a Gold Ribbed Deerās Ear.
Alan, Yep the deerās ears I found out about them a while back from a friend of mine he gave me about a dozen of them he had left over. Stuff is fantastic for dubbing.
AlanB, thatās a great technique for creating hair hackles thanks!
Here is a fly I tied many years ago. I used deer hair and CDC in a dubbing loop to form āhackleā.
As long as you use a generous amount of dubbing wax in your dubbing loop, it works pretty easily.
The photograph is by Hans Weilenmannā¦
