Hendricksons

[jayL]

I ran across some hendricksons recently, and all I had was a handful of flies that I purchased.

For obvious reasons, I'd like to be better prepared with my own ties next time. The fish liked the ones I had just fine, but I'm pretty intent on becoming a better fly tyer in any way possible.

Let's seem 'em. What are your favorites?

What sizes do you recommend?

 

[tocar]

Quill bodied parachutes are my favorites, but they're a p.i.t.a. to tie. A few years ago I bought some dyed stripped quills that make the body nice and slender while giving the segmented effect. If I remember to soak them in water a half hour before tying, they work great. If I forget, they break rather easily. Quill bodies make very pretty flies.
That said, I usually carry a dubbed body with a thread ribbing, as they're a lot easier to tie and I don't mind as much if I lose them to fish or trees. I tie these in both male and female (light and dark). Size 12 and 14 have been all I've ever needed.

An emerger pattern is a must have for me. Dark mahogany body, trailing shuck, dun cdc wing.

Hendricksons are one of my favorite hatches because they are early in the season when I still have plenty of time to fish. Once mid-May rolls around (along with the many hatches), I'm too busy at work to get much fishing in.

peace-tony c.

 

[jerseygeorge]

E-Mer_G-eR! Antron shuck, dubbed body, deer hair wing. I will try and post a photo.

JG

 

[Festus]

I do way better with emergers to. The only difference is I put a glass or diamond bead under a good bit of CDC on the thorax. I also do pretty well on the FFP Wet fly Mohagany Dun pattern that they have listed in their tutorial pages.

 

[jayL]

Good stuff so far.

I caught the majority of my hendrickson fish on a size 14 female para emerger, and when that didn't work, they took a size 12 red quill. I believe they took the red quill for the male, and later in the day, the spinner. No idea if that was the case, but it's fun to make it sound more complicated than it is.

I've been tinkering with cdc loopwing emergers and cdc comparaduns so far. I am going to see what I can do with snowshoe and deer hair tomorrow. I've seen a bit of variation in the shuck colors. What do you prefer?

Keep em coming.

 

[tocar]

Festus wrote:
... The only difference is I put a glass or diamond bead under a good bit of CDC on the thorax.

Thanks for the tip, Festus ;-) I'm surely gonna try that.

peace-tony c.

 

[Festus]

I've seen a bit of variation in the shuck colors. What do you prefer?

Some folks use brown. I prefer tan.

The pattern is called The Krystal Dun. Here's one tied in olive. Just put a reddish brown body on it for the Hendrickson.

 

[osprey]

JayL.................if you can give me an address , even general delivery , i'd be more than happy to fix you up , i'll send a few extras and you can "untie" them for future tying reference. I don't outright brag alot but i guarantee you'll love my Hendricksons , nymphs , and dries (catskill style) i wish i could post pics , maybe you can post them for me for now until i get there. If you "untie" and "retie" these flies , slowly , you should be able to get the idea of what you would need to do to tie them.

 

[Fredrick]

Nice thread Jay I was thinking about starting this thread also .

Were does the pink dubbed body come ? From what I have seen on the naturals niether the male or female had a pink tint on them .


What kind of spinner do you guys use for the spinner Fall ?


Also how common are the light Hendricksons and are they of the same family of the Dark ?

 

[osprey]

Frederick.........the original "pink" dubbing was the urine stained fur from a vixen , which i still use , among other things , if you hold one of the duns upside down you will see the "pink" although it's very subtle it's there , if i had to be more specific i'd call it grey with a pink tint.

 

[jayL]

There's a hue!



For what its worth, I agree that they have a pink tint to them.

I used a red quill for the males and spinners.

 

[tocar]

Here's a pic from Troutnut.com that shows the underside of the E. subvaria. It seems to have the pinkish hue.

http://www.troutnut.com/im_regspec/picture_459_medium.jpg

Whether this matters to the trout I don't know. So I carry both just in case.

 

[Fredrick]

Now the one with the pink Hue to it is it the male or the female ?

 

[tocar]

Female, I think, but have no resource to back it up. I've just always heard the "light" hendrickson referred to as the female.

 

[gfen]

tocar wrote:
Whether this matters to the trout I don't know. So I carry both just in case.

Fish key in on size, shape, and colour right?

Which side does the fish see?

To whit, I don't think the top and sides matter nearly as much as the bottom does, which explains high-vis parachute posts, eh?

 

[jayL]

I targeted a fish this weekend that would not take the female emerger. I saw a few males take to the skies, so I switched to a larger red quill, and the fish immediately took it.

I have no idea if it mattered, and maybe it was just blind luck... but it convinced me enough to try the quill when the emerger failed that day, and I took a few more fish on it.

 

[beadhead2]

tocar
Next time you forget to soak your quills,borrow some of your wifes hair conditioner and rub the quills with it ,softens them up so you can tie with them

 

[Alpabuck]

A few very good fisherman have told me a thorax red quill with the hackle trimmed off the bottom is the best hendrickson pattern one can fish!

 

[jrcll]

jay, that spectrum dubbing has a good color for the hendrickson

 

[jayL]

jrc,

That's what I've been using. I agree. It looks really good. I love the stuff.

It's got good colors for both the light and dark hendrickson.