Fly of the Month

October 2000

by Rich Johnson

H& L Variant

Notes: Well, winter is descending down upon us and I was thinking of which flies to offer at this site through the next eight months of being bench-side instead of stream-side. As luck would have it I received an Email on 9/25 from a fishing companion that determined the pattern for this month. An excerpt follows, with deletions, to protect the both the innocent and the negligent. "… I did hook and lose by far the biggest rainbow I have seen on … last Saturday. I was fishing a dry fly, an H & L Variant, because the light was so low and it was hard to see anything else. I landed three (fish) in the boulder patch …, ranging in size from about 14 to 18 inches, and was casting to a fourth that appeared to be about 16 inches, when out of nowhere a _much_ larger fish rose and swallowed my fly. It was at least twice as long as the fish I was casting to, and several times heavier. It was no more than ten feet out in front of me when it jumped after I set the hook, so I have no doubt it was a rainbow. The red ball on the cheek was the size of a baseball and the stripe was about four inches wide. I was using 8.8 lb tippet. The fish ran downstream so fast that I lost control of my reel and allowed a loop to form, which immediately wrapped itself around the rod butt and that was all she wrote. The fish came off and my #10 dry fly came back with the hook point bent out." The two obvious lessons of this tale is never discount a large dry fly's effectiveness, and always keep your line under control, because you just never can tell… This pattern is listed in our book "Fly Patterns of Alaska".

Previous Flies

September 2000 Steelhead Caddis
August 2000 Stealth
July 2000 Sockeye Orange
June 2000 Fred the Red
May 2000 Prince Nymph
April 2000: Dahlberg Diver
March 2000: Super Prawn!
Febuary 2000: Midge Larva/Pupa
January 2000: Scud
December 1999: Sockeye Fry
November 1999: Not available
October 1999: Pin Head Muddler
September 1999: Signal Light
August 1999: Pink Pollywog
July 1999 : Leonard Shrimp
June 1999 : Delong Lake Special (parachute)
May 1999 : Beady-eye Nymph

April 1999 : General Practitioner
March 1999 : Sculpin (woolhead bunny)
February 1999 : Popsicle
January 1999 : Nuclic Bunny
December 1998: Alaska Mary Ann
November 1998: Niukluk Smolt
October 1998: Sea Flea
September 1998: Frank's Fly
August 1998: Sparkle Shrimp
July 1998: Flashfly
June 1998: Comet
May 1998: Everglow
April 1998: Battle Creek Special
March 1998: Pearl Marabou Smolt
February 1998: Crystal Egg Wooly Bugger
January 1998 : Tangle Lakes Teaser
December 1997: Bead-Head Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle


October 2000 by Rich Johnson H& L Variant Notes: Well, winter is descending down upon us and I was thinking of which flies to offer at this site through the next eight months of being bench-side instead of stream-side. As luck would have it I received an Email on 9/25 from a fishing companion that determined the pattern for this month. An excerpt follows, with deletions, to protect the both the innocent and the negligent. "… I did hook and lose by far the biggest rainbow I have seen on … last Saturday. I was fishing a dry fly, an H & L Variant, because the light was so low and it was hard to see anything else. I landed three (fish) in the boulder patch …, ranging in size from about 14 to 18 inches, and was casting to a fourth that appeared to be about 16 inches, when out of nowhere a _much_ larger fish rose and swallowed my fly. It was at least twice as long as the fish I was casting to, and several times heavier. It was no more than ten feet out in front of me when it jumped after I set the hook, so I have no doubt it was a rainbow. The red ball on the cheek was the size of a baseball and the stripe was about four inches wide. I was using 8.8 lb tippet. The fish ran downstream so fast that I lost control of my reel and allowed a loop to form, which immediately wrapped itself around the rod butt and that was all she wrote. The fish came off and my #10 dry fly came back with the hook point bent out." The two obvious lessons of this tale is never discount a large dry fly's effectiveness, and always keep your line under control, because you just never can tell… This pattern is listed in our book "Fly Patterns of Alaska".
	Hook: Dry, standard Thread: Black, 6/0 or 8/0 Wing: Calf Tail, white Tail: Calf Tail, white Body: rear half, stripped peacock herl; front half, peacock herl Hackle: Brown
	1) For this demonstration I am using a #12 hook. As with most dry flies start your thread an eye width behind the eye, covering the shank to the mid point and then bring your thread forward to the midpoint of the wraps. This provides a base for the wings.
	2) Select hair from the tail that is fairly straight, this is usually on the lower half of the tail. Cut slightly more than what you think you'll need. You can always thin it later.
	3) Pinching the hair at midpoint groom all the short hairs out of the base. Out of habit my tips are usually to the left, reverse the position so that the tips are to the right, over the front of the fly.
	4) Holding the hair in a light pinch, pull the longest fibers from the bunch and realign them into the bunch, evening up the tips. This takes several times to even the tips as much as possible. The bases of the hair are now uneven as shown in the photo. (Calf tail is difficult to even in a hair stacker, I find this method faster and easier.)
	5) Measure the wing to be a shank length and tie down on top of the hook wrapping to the rear. Remember to lay the hair at an angle across the shank on the first wrap to compensate for thread torque.
	6) Cut the base at an angle and spiral the thread to the shank. Do solid wraps to the rear to provide a base for the tail.
	7) Repeat the cleaning and evening procedure for the tail. Once secure, trim the base into an angle that will blend with the wing base and cover with thread. Bring the thread to the rear.
	8) Peacock herl come in two sources. Cut and bundled as shown at the lower left, and as an eye. I prefer using herl from the eye for stripped herl bodies.
	9) Because the stripped portion of the body is not very long I use a fiber from up in the eye. This herl is wide for a short distance and tapers quickly. This herl also has a very distinct dark edge which you can use to show segmentation if you desire.
	10) There are several methods to strip herl (remove the colored fibers from the main herl stem), some require chemicals that can leave the herl brittle. I prefer the paper and eraser method when tying a few flies. Simply place the herl down on a piece of paper and "erase" the fibers with strokes of an eraser from the tip down to the base. Turn the herl over and stroke the other side. Pink erasers work well enough, but can be a little rough on the stem. White vinyl erasers are not nearly as coarse.
	11) Tie in the herl by its tip and bring the thread forward to 1/4 -1/3 the shank. Wrap the herl forward (like tinsel) tie off and trim the excess. (Herl stem is very fragile and a coating of head cement or nail polish will extend the life of your fly)
	12) Tie in a couple of peacock herls by their tips and lay down three or four wraps. Tie off and trim excess.
	13) Pull the calf tail wings up and to the rear while placing tight wraps under the base of the wings.
	14) The wing is now split into two even sides (use your bodkin from the front of the fly). Thread is used to divide and separate the wing bundles. The wings should be approximately 45° apart, centered on top of the shank. (This a front view of the wings)
	15) Post each wing bundle as we did on the parachute pattern (June '99). A drop of cement between the wing posts is appropriate if you feel the need. Bring the thread to just in front of the peacock body.
	16) Prepare and tie in two brown neck hackles (or one quality saddle). I tie my hackles in behind the wing and on the near side. Then I roll the stems under the wing and tie off under the shank in front of the wing. This leaves my thread in front, just behind the eye.
	17) Wrap the top hackle; three wraps behind the wing, with the third being tight against the wing. Place the fourth wrap tight against the front edge of the wing and wrap forward to the eye. Tie off using three (3) tight wraps on top of each other - do not cut the tip! (We're going to build a small head)
	18) Wrap the second hackle through the first, placing the third & fourth wraps against the wings. Wrap through the front part of the hackle with a slight see-saw motion so as not to trap fibers from the first hackle. When you get to the eye and are ready to tie off, unwrap two (2) of the three wraps holding the first hackle and tie in the second hackle at the same spot using three tight wraps. Trim the tips and any stray fibers.
	19) Using your thumb and first two fingers create a hackle guard and place four tight wraps to the rear. Use one half hitch to hold the wraps and then do a three wrap whip finish, followed by a four wrap whip finish.
	20) The finished fly. Much like the famous Wulff patterns the H&L is a high riding attractor dry that has been around long enough to warrant a home in any Alaskan's fly box.