It's about that time of year again where spring is in the air and the first mayflies are starting to make their presence known. It can be an exciting month for east coast anglers when the Maccaffertium vicarium is in your favorite stream. Pardon my eloquence in using the Latin nomenclature (which simply highlights the fact that I can use Wikipedia.) I'm talking about the March Brown here. A classic sailboat-looking mayfly that in many waters is the first of the year to hatch.
Are you tired of dry fly fishing with a #18 winter caddis or #20 midge? Well you're in luck if you're fishing waters with a March Brown hatch. These bugs are much bigger and and are commonly found in the #12-14 range.
Now there is no shortage of March Brown patterns out there. Every respectable tying book will have a version of it, and often in all varieties-- nymph, wet and dry. In fact, it first appeared in Dame Juliana Berners' "A Treatise on Fishing with an Angle" published in the 1490s.
I'm going with the wet version for this month's fly, with the recipe from Dave Hughes' "American Fly Tying Manual" published in 1986. His is a simple yet elegant pattern that I think Dame Berners would have been proud of.
Recipe
Hook: #10-16 wet fly
Thread: Tan
Tail: Pheasant tail fibers
Body: Natural hare's ear dubbing
Hackle: Light brown hen
Wing: Natural duck slips
1 comment
David Bracher
Thank you very much for introducing to me something that I see as enjoyful, fun, and creative.