Inverted Hendrickson Dun

[Scott]

Some of you asked me to post the recipie for my Inverted Hendrickson Dun. After some thought I realized a recipie would not be much good, because a materials list alone would probably just frustrate the hell out of a bunch of people.

So I thought I'd put together an instruction manual, of sorts. I spent a "few" hours refining the method, so I figured to save those of you willing to try it some of the headaches I had.

Well OK folks, sorry it took so long to get this done, (my job tends to interfere with everything fun and enjoyable in my life) but here it is:

Inverted Hendrickson Dun

Some of the pics came out a little fuzzy as I tried to photograph them through my magnifying lamp lens. It wasn't that great an idea.

I hope some of you try this pattern out. I think if you do, you will be quite happy you gave it a whirl.

 

[C&R]

None of the photos show up on my monitor. Am I the only one?

 

[Pete]

The photo appears fine to me.

I may try adapting this technique to the light cahill.

I'm glad to see that the database is getting some new entries.

 

[Scott]

The photo appears fine to me.

I may try adapting this technique to the light cahill.

I'm glad to see that the database is getting some new entries.

You can use it with any pattern you normally tie in the Catskill style. Let me know how it works for you!

 

[Andy B]

Scott:

I applaud your try at presenting this fly to the board to tie and use. It looks like a little neat pattern that I feel should be very productive as long as a good presentation is made like on any other fly. I will try tying a few of these up and see how they work. I will add this pattern to my new list of flies to try this year. Good job and I will let you know how this works. I think I will use it for the Little Lehigh up here in Allentown.


Andy B

 

[Hooligan]

Thanks

Scott,

As one of the guys who pestered you for the attern, thanks for the tutorial. I didn't get a chance to tie and try this pattern for the Hendrickson hatch (d'oh! Stupid job!), but I will experiment with the fly for other patterns.

John

 

[Scott]

I'm happy to share it, and I hope that some of the people here give it a whirl.

I first tied this pattern in Hendrickson colors so that's why I call it what I do, but it works well for many others - you just substitue a different color dubbing to match your desired mayfly pattern.

It would have been redundant for me to post dfferent recipies and call it "Inverted Sulphur Dun", or "Inverted March Brown", "Inverted Isonychia" etc. so I refrained from doing so. The style is the same, regardless of the pattern.

I've varied the hackle color with good results, like a Grizzly and Ginger (works good for a Gray Fox pattern), but the dun colored antron is the best I've found for the wing.

Maybe you could use white to improve visibility, I haven't found any white antron when I've been thinking about looking for it, so I haven't used it yet myself.

Good luck with it, and let me know how it works for you!

 

[NJFred]

Scott... a really nice looking fly and I'll bet it's effective! Looks like it rides very low in the water. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

One question, I recall some discussion that inverted patterns have a lower hook up rate due to the upturned hook. Do find any differences with non-inverted patterns regarding hook ups? I have no substantial experience fishing with the sort of tie.

 

[Scott]

Scott... a really nice looking fly and I'll bet it's effective! Looks like it rides very low in the water. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

One question, I recall some discussion that inverted patterns have a lower hook up rate due to the upturned hook. Do find any differences with non-inverted patterns regarding hook ups? I have no substantial experience fishing with the sort of tie.

Thanks Fred. I've had no trouble with hookups. I seem to connect as often as I do using any other dry.

Actually I think maybe I tend to hook up more, because for the most part fish that take this fly take it with conviction, they don't sip & taste. They pretty much hook themselves. Also, unlike the waterwisp flies the bend is fully exposed, so there is no trouble with penetration.

 

[NJFred]

Ah... the Waterwisps were the ones that I had heard of the issue with hooking up. Makes a good deal of sense, to me at least, that if the hook bend is clear, up or down, the hookup rate would not be different.

Thanks again for sharing this design Scott. I'm going to to have to try this pattern. It looks pretty innovative. On a side note, there are many reasons to tie flys but personally, I love playing around with fly design tinkering with the different aspects of a fly to improve the imitation and characteristcs. (typically I find some but so far it's just reinventing the wheel as others have discovered things before me).

I will say that I think this approach to tying makes one a better angler as you learn a great deal about why a fly works (trout eat them) and why they perform well (floating characteristics, casting... eg. don't spin, landing upright verses on their sides etc).

 

[C&R]

This pattern looks so good I'm surprised I've never come across it in fly shops. Does anyone know why this style of pattern isn't as popular as traditional catskill patterns and comparaduns?

For you entomologists, when does a mayfly arc its body upwards? In some photos, they appear flat, in others its curved. Is it to support flight? To mate?

I'm going to tie some of these up as soon as I find some free time. Thanks Scott.

 

[Scott]

This pattern looks so good I'm surprised I've never come across it in fly shops. Does anyone know why this style of pattern isn't as popular as traditional catskill patterns and comparaduns?

For you entomologists, when does a mayfly arc its body upwards? In some photos, they appear flat, in others its curved. Is it to support flight? To mate?

I'm going to tie some of these up as soon as I find some free time. Thanks Scott.

I'm sure other people have thought of it, and I'm sure other people have tied "upside down" flies, but this particular pattern is something I created on my own. This is the only time it has ever been published anywhere, so I would guess that is why you have never seen it before.

Glad you like the pattern & hope you get a chance to try it out.