The Lady McConnell
by Robin Pike
The Lady McConnell was originated by Brian Chan, well known fly fishing
author and Fisheries Biologist of the Kamloops region.
The fly has experienced an ever growing following since it's
inception in the
early 80's.
The Lady McConnell was originally designed to represent an emerging
adult chironomid.
When used as an emerger pattern, the grizzly hackle in the tail
is meant to represent the trailing shuck of the emerging adult buzzer.
Fishing this Pattern
When fishing in conditions where trout riseforms indicate surface feeding,
casting a Lady McConnell ahead of the vicinity of where trout might be
headed is often a very productive method of using the fly. If one finds
trout feeding on emergers, often
letting the fly sit in the surface film is all that it takes to induce a strike.
Sometimes, however, fish key in on adult
chironomids returning to the water to lay their eggs. During this scenario,
casting the Lady McConnell
and giving it 1-2 small strips effectively imitates the egg laying process of
the adult chironomid.
Other times letting the fly
sit on the surface and sporadically twitching it will also draw attention and
entice a strike. Because the Lady McConnell
can be tied in virtually any colour, it can be used as a dry fly that imitates
much more than just chironomids. In particular, I have had great success
with larger sizes of the Lady McConnell during mayfly hatches. Overall,
I find the pattern particularly useful one- two hours before dusk when
trout tend to become active in the summer and feed in the calmer, surface
waters of the impeding night.
MATERIALS REQUIRED:
ORIGINATOR: Brian Chan
HOOK:Mustad or Tiemco Dry Fly Hook, Sizes 10-16.
THREAD:Black 6/0
TAIL: Small Grizzly Hackle Tips
BODY: Dubbing of Choice
SHELLBACK: Deer Hair, Natural or Cinnamon
HACKLE: Grizzly Hackle
Tying Instructions for the Lady McConnell
Step 1: Select two small hackle feathers from
the top of a grizzly neck and attach the tips of the hackle to the hook
as shown. Be sure to tie in the hackle tips so that they lie flat against
the hook shank. When in place, the length of the tail should be the same
length as the hook shank.
Step 2: Select a small clump of deer hair (between 10-40 hairs) for the
shellback. I prefer to use fine coastal deer hair as it is thin and easy
to tie with. Attach the deer hair, approximately 1/4 of an inch from the
hook eye and wind your tying thread back towards a point just above the
hook barb. If you have selected too much deer hair your fly will be bulky.
Using the dubbing of your choice, spin a very fine body and cover the tag
ends of the deer hair (as shown).
Step
3
Step 4: Using hackle pliers, wind the first
hackle clockwise to the hook eye. Secure the first feather with tying
thread and then grasp the next feather with your hackle pliers. Wind
the second feather very carefully through the first by rocking the hackle
fore and aft as it is wound onto the hook. Secure the hackle with tying
thread, cut off the extraneous tips of both feathers and build a small
neat head. Next, whip finish and apply head cement. To finish the fly,
cut a wide V into the bottom of the hackle. This greatly reduces spinning
of the fly in the air and, subsequently, twisted leaders!
This page and all of it's contents are the property of Robin
Pike.
Copyright 1999 - 2003.
