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KevCompton

B. Wyatt's Snowshoe Hare Emerger

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Wyatt's Snowshoe Hare Emerger

 

Hook: Dohiku G #12-18.

Thread: Fly D&K 80, Brown.

Rib: DMC Embroidery Floss, Brown-Olive.

Body: Blend of Olive Hare's Ear Fur and

Medium-Olive Seal's Fur.

Indicator: Snowshoe Hare, Hot Orange.

Wing/Post: Snowshoe Hare, Blue Dun.

Thorax: Hare's Ear Mask Fur, Natural.

 

*Wyatt also ties this pattern with a deer hair wing.

 

 

sshemgWyatt.jpg

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I really like the combination of colors and textures on this pattern and it still retains a great profile.

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very nice fly! I especially like the body color. That's a beautiful blend and I'll be stealing the idea for my own patterns. :devil:

 

 

Well done!

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I agree with troutnijna. The abdomen and thorax look awesome. I prefer CDC to snowshoe hare; the pattern looks so nice I will try to substitute CDC for showshoe hare.

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Kev- Bob Wyatt is underappreciated in the States. His emerger is a simple trout magnet. As usual, you've put your own twist on a fly. One question, though, as I usually fish these guys upstream: since the indicator material is behind the wing, I'm not sure I would see it. Do you fish dries and emergers downstream, or can you pick up the color either way?

 

Chuck

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Thanks for all the comments, guys.

 

**********

 

Chuck,

 

Thanks for the great question. And I agree -- Wyatt's patterns are less familiar/appreciated by tiers in N. America. For anyone interested, here is a link to some of his patterns:

 

http://www.danica.com/flytier/rwyatt/rwyatt.htm

 

The "Indicator". I should have called it something like, "The Attractor". So the pattern recipe is misleading, in a sense. Although the hot orange SSH might help to sight the fly, it's really there as an 'attractor' for the fish. How so? When I was looking thru Leeson & Schollmeyer's book, Tying Emergers, I noticed that only a couple patterns, with some exceptions, incorporated an indicator-like feature -- a bright hot spot/heart, a fluorescent post, a fluorescent CDC loop-wing, or whatever. The color white, though, was occasionally used. So many of the emergers looked like 'semi-dries' -- abdomens submerged, thoraxes in the film, and wing/post/hackle/CDC on the surface & above. The Klinkhammer is a great example. So are the 'loop-wing' emergers. But then I came across Gary LaFontaine's Halo Mayfly Emerger (which has a hot orange deer hair wing) in that book and the fly led me back to his discussion of the pattern in his own book, Trout Flies: Proven Patterns. In talking about the Halo, he said:

 

The triggering characteristic on the Halo Emerger is the spike of fluorescent orange deer hair canting upwards. Never mind that it is a wild, improbable exaggeration of the budding wings on the emerging nymph. The spike is a great attention grabber...the spike of orange deer hair looms into the trout's window of vision, an exaggeration of unfolding wings, but it also pokes out of the water, presenting a clear silhouette against any glare.

 

It was after reading this that I decided to put a 'twist' on Wyatt's pattern. I reached for the hot orange SSH -- both for the reasons LaFontaine explains and in hopes that it would also help to buoy the fly. But if it helps to see the pattern on the water in the latter half of the drift, that's great, too...A hot-orange SSH wing would also be an interesting twist.

 

I hope this helps, Chuck.

 

By the way, LaFontaine also designed a dry fly which is hackled, in part, with orange-dyed rooster hackle, called the Flame-Thrower.

 

I've also heard (???) that hot orange works well on some dries on the Gunnison River in Colorado.

 

Who knows...?

 

Here is a photo of the Halo Mayfly Emerger:

 

HaloMayflyEmergerBrn.jpg

 

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Of course! I completely forgot about Gary's halo emrger. Thanks for your detailed response. BTW- ever fish the halo and, if so, how did it work?

 

Chuck

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Hi Kev,

I really like this fly. You've done a super job and it would make Bob very happy, indeed.

 

Bob's book, Trout Hunting is in my library and I definitely appreciate his work. I've read through the book three times already. He's got some super patterns inside, and the photos by Hans are exquisite as always. I recommend it to everyone.

 

Mark

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