This is more of a class of flies rather than just a fly. Perhaps the best known Para Dun Emerger is the Parachute Adams. It was derived form the Adams Irresistible and whilst the Irresistible sits high on the surface film the parachute version sits comfortably in the film making it a very useful emerger pattern.
This is the lightest of my bead heads and has its place in both river and still water environments. In rivers they can be fished in the current with as little line drag as possible, can be retrieved at various speeds or can be fished on the drop or through the lift in slower water and pools. In still water that can be fished as an anchor fly in a team or alone. I tie this fly in a couple of sizes in black and olive versions.
Most caddis grubs make a retreat of silk with sand or detritus matter stuck to the outside. Similar in form this fly represents a caddis grub that has been dislodged from it retreat. Colors include cream, lime, fawn, and light browns and olives through to dark browns and olives.
Whilst it has been tweaked at the edges a little this Mallard & Claret pattern remains remarkably similar to the original fly pattern that has its origins in England some 500 odd years ago except for the introduction of a fuzzeled body rather than a hackled body and a soft wing instead of feather slip wings. I carry both the mallard and claret and an olive version of this fly in my lake fly box.
I tie a few hair winged duns but don’t tie them as representations of any particular Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect. The Hair Winged Royal Coachman is an excellent example of a hair winged dun. It evolved from origins in England of the 1800’s.
This fly hangs from the surface with the bend of the hook down much in the same way as the natural hangs just as it is breaking the water surface – anyway that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. In any case it is a suggestive fly that has taken many fish during evening midge hatches.
My bullet nosed foam hopper has a general hopper type form and function and works well in smaller sizes as a representation of a Trouser-Brace hopper or Wingless hopper and in larger sizes with a yellow foam body as a representation of a Yellow Winged hopper. The incorporation of foam and deer make this a particularly good fast water fly or a fly that will support a wet fly quite comfortably in a dry / wet two fly team.
When a caddis fly hatches it rises to the surface of the water, shedding its nest and shuck as it breaks through the surface tension of the water so as to reveal its wings. Caddis flies often use surface movement caused by wind and currents to assist in this process.
Whilst I don’t think either the Original or any of the variants represents any of the naturals that I’ve seen it is a good buggy general purpose hopper pattern. If you experiment with bodies of different colored chenille, yarns and tinsel matched with different colored deer hair you can come up with combinations to suit most small hoppers.
If your only going to carry one nymph pattern this is the one. Whilst this nymph is not tied to represent the nymphal (sub imago or pupa) stage of any specific insect it is a good ‘buggy’ looking fly and readily accepted by trout. Tie it in black, brown, dark olive as well as “Red Tag” and “Adams” or “Hare & Copper” colours and carry a larger (size #10) and smaller (size #14) version of each.
A.K.A. Polaroiding nymph
