One-Fly Guy
For the last fifteen years, the Jackson Hole One-Fly contest has been an important testing ground and catalyst for some of my fly designs. The premise of this fun catch-and-release contest allows one individual fly per person, per day. If it falls apart or the fish don’t like it, tough luck. Fishing, guiding, and tying many of the event’s flies has led to the creation and popularity of some of my favorite patterns.
Effectiveness, versatility, and durability are overriding principles governing a pattern’s success in this contest and are key concepts in my everyday fly-design philosophy. While most anglers aren’t interested in competitive fishing, these contest-proven flies can add to the enjoyment and success of a typical day on the water.
The fish’s approval is the most important factor for any fly’s design. We should look at our stream-acquired knowledge and proven patterns as a starting point when creating new flies.
A reliable fly that works well in different situations and for different species is an asset to the angler. Good fly designs can be tied in different sizes and colors to increase their versatility.
Although bombproof flies may be essential for the One Fly, don’t spend excessive time making standard fishing flies indestructible. They only need to be as strong as their weakest link. Adhesives and heavy-duty materials save time and simplify durability.
Not much is truly new in fly tying, and these flies have evolved as combinations or variations of existing patterns or ideas. In my fly tying, I like to add a new twist to proven concepts and find ways to speed up and simplify tying techniques. I also try to have a little fun.
Convertible
Versatility can save time at the vise and on the stream and make both experiences more productive. The Convertible was born from the One Fly. It was a way to fish multiple conditions and multiple hatches, and prevent the hysteria of making the choice of a single fly.
During this September contest, cutthroat have available to them a variety of prey. In the morning, the fish feed on fish or brownstones. Later in the day, terrestrials and aquatic insects come into play. Hoppers, a few caddis, Pale Morning Duns, and especially large Hecuba mayflies (a fall “drake”) may be on sections of the river. This conglomeration is a tough bill for a fly to fill, so for One Fly ’91, I had to design a new “super fly.”
It made sense to base the fly on existing proven patterns and being able to trim it down was a given. I put together a Woolly Bugger/Tarantula/Trude/Wulff. The new fly fished well above and below the surface and was dubbed the Convertible.
During the ’91 and ’92 contest, various anglers fished the fly with success and were very happy with its versatility. In ’93 Bob Slamal of Riverside, California, had the highest point score ever for one day. He fished the fly intact for the entire day, and the fish were doing back flips to get it.
Since then the Convertible has become one of my favorite attractors, and it has evolved into a set of patterns. The original had a marabou overtail, which I have eliminated on most flies. The double-wing profile is reminiscent of fluttering caddis, stoneflies, damsels, and craneflies. It can be fished and tied with or without the rubber legs, and it is a visible, permanent floating strike indicator.
Different types of rubber can be used. Fish it in its entirety, or if needed, trim to a Wulff or trude. Some of my favorite variations are royal, peacock, blue damsel, salmonfly, yellow sally, and olive. Substitute synthetics for the calftail wings.
Double Bunny
The idea for the Double Bunny came to me while on a fishing trip to Belize 14 years ago. John Hanlon and I were trying to catch some uncooperative barracuda and the two flies that ended up working the best were a Kiwi Muddler and a Fishair ’cuda fly. What would happen if you put together the pulsating action of rabbit fur and the undulating motion of a ’cuda fly? I didn’t have the necessary materials to tie the Double Bunny on that trip, so it had to wait until I was home.
While fishing my home waters of Jackson, I had large trout trying to eat smaller fish on the end of my line. The idea of the “super barracuda” fly came back to me, and the first Double Bunny popped out of the vise. The first time I fished it, the lake trout and cutthroats on the Snake River below Jackson Lake chased it harder than a politician looking for Florida votes. I’ve used it successfully ever since. It’s a great fly for finding and catching large fish. So far it’s caught over 30 species ranging from cutthroats to tarpon to even a catch-and-release fly-rod-record channel catfish. The 1992, 1993, and 1994 Jackson Hole One Fly contests were won on a couple of Double Bunny variations.
The Hassenpfeffer Emerger (as a friend calls it) isn’t a fly for the timid, but the rewards are great. Most of my flies are three to four inches long. Because fast rods don’t generally throw heavy flies very well, for trout I usually use a medium-action, 7-weight rod with a sinking-tip, Teeny, or full-sinking line. The rabbit hide and fibers will move subtly as it drifts or falls, and one of my favorite retrieves is to strip it and let it drift like a dying baitfish. I’ve found that the eyes on it don’t necessarily elicit more strikes, but they do help prevent short strikes.
For trout I prefer to tie the Double Bunny on a long-shank streamer hook, but I tie it on the front half of the hook shank. This allows the fly to undulate, while preventing short strikes from side-swiping cutts and ’bows. For warm water, I use a standard stainless hook (Dai-Riki 930 or Mustad 34007) or a heavy-wire bass hook (Dai-Riki 810) and tie in a mono weedguard. For salt water, I use stainless hooks.
Originally, I used Zonker Strips in the pattern, but wide rabbit strips, such as Hareline’s Magnum Strips, make it easier to cover the lead underbody. If you do use Zonker Strips, cover the lead with mylar dubbing or tubing. Because I tie so many of these, I glue entire rabbit hides together and strip them out with a disposable box cutter knife. I prefer Val-A brand latex contact cement to glue the rabbit hide (the Coast to Coast chain of hardware stores stocks this or leather and canvas repair shops may have it). Barge-type contact cement will also work well, but the fumes can get to you.
My Australian friend, Mick Hall, ties some Mini-Bunnies out of squirrel strips, and Wapsi now sells squirrel and mink strips that would work on smaller flies. Rob McLean’s new Bar Dyed Zonker Strips can give the fly parr marks or a mottled look.
The Heart Pony Beads can be purchased through Dan Bailey dealers or craft stores. I’ve used adhesive-tape eyes covered with epoxy or substitutes and solid doll eyes glued on with Goop. Orvis sells a cone-head version, and other tiers use metal dumbbell eyes.
The One Fly rules changed after the ’94 contest to allow a maximum hook size of #8 3XL and to prevent the use of sinking lines. Consequently, a “standard” size Double Bunny hasn’t had a chance to regain its title.
Foam-wing Hopper
Adaptation and modification can be the best innovation. The Foam-wing Hopper came about as a way to make a longer floating version of the Henry’s Fork Hopper. The Henry’s Fork Hopper is a great pattern for difficult fish. It sits low in the water like a natural. The only drawback to it is that because of its low-floating nature, when you catch a fish you typically need to tie on a new unsaturated fly. While this is no big deal when spring-creek fishing, drift-boat fishing doesn’t allow this luxury. That could cause you to miss the rest of a good hopper bank. I have played around with foam-bodied hoppers, and my experience is that they float well and will catch the easy fish. However, when the fish are tough they received lots of refusals.
During the 1991 One Fly, Denny Anderson asked me to tie him a bombproof and permanently floating Henry’s Fork Hopper. I modified the original pattern by replacing the hen wing with a foam wing. I was pleased with the results and the fish liked it too. I originally tied this fly with polyethylene packing foam laminated to a synthetic wing sheet. I’ve since switched to 2mm craft foam. I’ve also added legs and an indicator to it. The legs have evolved from baling twine, Ultrahair, and single rubber legs to knotted rubber. When fishing, I dress the collar and head of the fly with floatant and leave the body undressed. This will suspend the body below the wing like a half-drowned hopper. The great thing about this fly is that increasing floatation didn’t hurt its flat-water performance.
You can tie this pattern in other colors to match your local insects. I like a golden brown (Copper Hopper), cream, tan, light olive, black, and just about any color except bright yellow.
These “One Flies” are productive patterns to add to your arsenal, and the ideas from them may help you create some winners for your own box.
Scott Sanchez is featured in the book Tying Flies with Jack Dennis and Friends and the video Understanding Fly Tying Materials. Author, photographer, and tier, Scott and his flies are popular fixtures at the One Fly. He works for Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston, MT.
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