by: Sheldon Seale
About five of these patterns were tied by Sheldon on our January 27, 2004 meeting. As Sheldon pointed out, don't get carried away with trying to make the patterns overly neat but do tie them up in large numbers to get good at them and to compensate for losses to hungry trees and fish.
1 ss-Caddis, black
Hook any dry fly, size 16-20
Thread black, 6/0
Body black dubbing
Wing black dyed Snowshoe Rabbit foot, from the heel.
2 ss-Spider, black
Hook any dry fly, sizes 10-14
Thread black, 6/0
Abdomen black dyed Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair
Legs black Uni-Flexx
Thorax black dubbing (seal’s fur or substitute)
To form the Abdomen, tie a clump of Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair on the back half of the hook shank with the tips pointing over the bend. Fold the hair forward, loosely, and tie down by the tips over the back half of the hook shank. This should form a large, circular abdomen.
To form the legs, tie the Uni-Flexx in loops, 2 forward and 2 backward in parallel with the hook shank. Just cut the loops in the middle and cut to length.
Dub a thorax and tie off.
3 ss-Ant, black
Hook any dry fly, sizes 12-18
Thread black, 6/0
Abdomen black dyed Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair
Thorax Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied to form a bump
Legs Snowshoe hair pulled back and secured with thread
Head black thread
To form the Abdomen, tie a clump of Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair on the back third of the hook shank with the tips pointing over the bend. Fold the hair forward, tightly, and tie down by the tips over the back third of the hook shank. This should form a long, narrow clump of hair. There must be enough hair length left to form the Thorax and Legs.
To form the Thorax, use the tips of the hair from the Abdomen. Advance the thread slightly and tie the tips in a hump. Push down on the hump with your fingertip to broaden it a little.
To form the legs, pull a few hairs back on each side of the fly and secure with a couple of turns of thread.
Form the head in a small bump before tying off. You may use the rest of the hair to enhance the size of the head by trimming the hair close over the head. If tied correctly, there should be 3 distinctive “bumps” forming the fly. The Abdomen should be about 1/3 of the overall size and the largest bump. The Thorax is smaller and the head smaller still.
4 ss-Beetle, black
Hook any dry fly, sizes 10-16
Thread black 6/0
Back black dyed Snowshoe Rabbit, pulled forward over Body
Body yellow dyed dubbing
Legs a few fibres of Snowshoe pulled back and secured with thread
Head tips of Snowshoe trimmed short
5 ss-Wright’s Royal
Hook any dry fly, sizes 8-16
Thread scarlet 6/0
Body 3 sections, Peacock herl, scarlet thread, Peacock herl
Wing natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied down wing
Hackle ginger, palmered through front section, optional
This is a variation on the Leonard Wright Fluttering Caddis.
6 ss-Midge, cream
Hook any dry fly, sizes 18-22
Thread black 8/0
Body cream dubbing
Wing bleached Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair (from the heel), tied down wing
Hackle grizzly, sparse (may be trimmed flat on the bottom)
7 ss-Shipman’s Buzzer, claret
Hook Any dry fly, sizes 10-16
Thread black 6/0
Tail & Wing dun dyed Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, wing points forward over hook eye
Rib pearlescent mylar ribbing, narrow
Body claret dyed seal’s fur or substitute, picked out slightly
This is a variation of David Shipman’s original pattern.
8. ss-Shuttlecock, black
Hook Fine wire scud or shrimp hook, down eye, sizes 10-16
Thread black 6/0
Abdomen black floss
Wingcase/
Wing dun dyed Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied back and pulled forward after the Thorax is formed to stick up at 45° over hook eye
Thorax black seal’s fur or Peacock herl
9. ss-Stimulator, yellow
Hook Tiemco 200R or similar, sizes 8-16
Thread black 6/0
Tail natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair tied short
Rib yellow 6-8 pound test monofilament
Abdomen yellow dyed seal’s fur or similar
Hackle ginger palmered over the abdomen
Wing natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied back at 45°
Collar grizzly hackle, palmered through thorax
Thorax orange seal’s fur
This is the Snowshoe version of this great western pattern.
10 ss-Parachute, grey
Hook any dry fly, sizes 8-16
Thread black 6/0
Post natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair
Tail grizzly hackle fibres
Body grey dubbing
Hackle grizzly, parachute style
11. ss-Emerger, olive
Hook any fine wire dry fly, sizes 10-18
Thread any neutral colour or to match Thorax 6/0
Tail a few strands of Root Beer coloured Krystal Flash
Abdomen olive dubbing
Wing natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied back and short
Thorax olive dubbing
This is the first style of Snowshoe emerger I tried. There are now several variations.
12. ss-Curved Emerger, olive
Hook any fine wire scud or shrimp hook, down eye, sizes 10-18
Thread neutral colour or to match Thorax 6/0
Tail a few strands of Root Beer coloured Krystal Flash
Wing natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair tied Haystack style
Body dubbing
13 ss Forward Emerger, olive
Hook any fine wire dry fly, sizes 10-18
Thread neutral colour or to match Thorax 6/0
Tail a few strands of Root Beer coloured Krystal Flash
Abdomen dubbing
Wingcase/
Wing natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied back and pulled forward after the Thorax is formed and angled up over the hook eye
Thorax dubbing
14 ss-Backward Emerger
Hook any fine wire dry fly, sizes 10-18
Thread neutral colour or to match Thorax 6/0
Tail a few strands of Root Beer coloured Krystal Flash
Abdomen dubbing
Wingcase/
Wing natural Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied forward and pulled back after the Thorax is formed and angled up over the Abdomen
Thorax reverse dub to allow tying down the Wingcase and Wing
Tie off this pattern behind the thorax.
15 ss-Spinner, reddish-brown
Hook any fine wire dry fly, sizes 10-18
Thread black 6/0 or 8/0
Tail dun hackle fibres
Wing dun dyed Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, tied spent
Body reddish-brown dubbing
Email: the Hamilton Area Fly Fishers and Tyers
Go Back to the Hamilton Area Fly Fishers and Tyers Homepage
Updated: