This fly put together by Ernie Borcher of Michigan in the 1940's or very early 1950's is called Boucher's Special. I've also seen it referred to Borcher's Drake. It can imitate a number of the darker mayflies. The body was originally tied with Condor Quill but today Turkey is used. Tied in sizes 14-18 for the early season mayflies like the Hendrickson and sizes 10-12 for the big later season mayflies.
This fly originated in the early 1950s by Bud Wilcox who was a Maine Game Warden and guide in the Rangeley lakes area. Originally the wing was tied with black saddle hackle feathers, but this variation uses black marabou. This is a very popular fly for landlocked Salmon in the early spring when the smelt are starting to run and is usually tied in sizes 2-8.
An easy to tie hopper pattern designed by Charlie Craven and named after his son. Charlie came up with this fly about 20 years ago and it is one of my favorite hopper patterns. Floats extremely well and a great fly to run a dropper fly. With all the colors of foam available you can let your imagination run wild. Today I have chosen black to imitate the many crickets seen in the summer.
The recipe for this fly comes from Ray Bergman's book Trout. It was created by Peter Cowen in the mid-1800s. Cowen had immigrated from Scotland to Canada in the 1830s. It's said to have been a very popular wet fly and was tied commercially by the mid-1850s in both Canada and the United States. This is a fantastic old-school wet fly. It can be tied in sizes as big as a 6 down to a size 14.
The Grannom Caddis are one of the early caddis hatches here in the East. It's simple to tie and a lot of fun to fish during the hatch. This is the female version. If you wish to tie the male version just omit the green tag which represents the egg sack.
This fly was created by a fellow named Jim Bonnett from Montana I believe during the 1980’s. It’s a great general caddis dry fly pattern. It fishes really well and it's easy and quick to tie. It’s typically tied in sizes 12 -18.
This nymph pattern is meant to imitate a cased caddis. The colors used should be matched to the cased caddis you see in your home waters but brown, olive, or green are common. Their segmented abdomen is usually protected by a portable house they build from debris found along the stream bed allowing just their head and 3 pairs of legs exposed. These are a major fish food source and are always on the menu.
The original Madam X was designed and popularized by Doug Swisher in the early 1980's in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. A fantastic attracter dry fly that floats high and is easy to see. A perfect fly to use with a dropper fly. This is a parachute adaptation of his original fly often called the PMX and typically tied in sizes 6 - 12.
There are a number of different ways to tie a fly representing this big Hexagenia Mayfly. This one by Kelly Gallop is my favorite. It's big, easy to see and floats high in the water. During the month of July there are always a few of these in my dry fly box. It's pretty much a nocturnal hatch but I've fooled fish with this in the middle of the day. These are big bugs and can be tied on a size 4 - 10.
I'm not sure about the history of this fly. I do know the Pheasant Tail Nymph came out of England about 100 years ago and the parachute style hackle showed up in the 1930's and has been in and out of favor since then. Today the parachute style flies are hot.
